What Tribe Are We From?
One of the most common questions at a family reunion — and one of the hardest to answer. Most colonial church records note “Yndio” or “mestizo” but rarely the specific group. How to read the records, and the region, for the fullest answer available.
Colonial Mexico Death Records
Colonial death records rarely name a disease — they name a symptom, or nothing at all. “Cruz alta,” “cruz baja” and “de limosna” reveal a family’s standing; burial “vajo del coro” reveals its rank. Reading what these brief entries actually tell us about life and death in northern Mexico.
Colonial Mexico and the Encomienda
After the conquest came the harder question: what next? The encomienda was the Crown’s answer — a system of forced native labor defended as something other than slavery. For Chihuahua researchers, the 1657 Parral encomendero lists are also a founding roster of the region’s families.
Tenochtitlán-A Jewel in the New World
Before Cortés crossed the causeway in November 1519, Tenochtitlán was a city of 200,000 built on a lake — temples, canals, chinampas, and a marketplace drawing 60,000 people a day. For anyone with Mexican ancestry, this meeting is where a large part of the story begins.