“La Costumbre Del Pueblo”: Zapotec Negotiations of Social Status and Leadership in San Juan Guelavía, Oaxaca, 1786

The Zapotec guelaguetza system is composed of three separate types of collaboration: public labor (tequio); public offices called cargos; and gift deposits made during feasts, which are called guelaguetza in Zapotec. Guelaguetza was a community building system required of all the inhabitants of the community that was protected under the legal term of “usos y costumbres” under colonial law.  People of the Oaxacan Central Valley practiced this tripartite system of labor, service, and gifts from pre-Columbian times through the colonial period. Zapotecs relied on the system to maintain control of valuable community resources, such as property, labor, and agricultural goods. For indigenous elites of the late colonial period, participation in public office leadership was especially important as their hereditary privileges slowly vanished.

In 1786, two Zapotec lords named José Mariano Garcia and Agustín Hernández initiated a lawsuit against the “común y naturales” of their community, San Juan Guelavía, located in Oaxaca’s Central Valley.  The two men complained that the “cantor” and “topil” positions to which their respective sons had been elected in the local confraternity and cabildo were too low for someone of their social position, claiming that their families were members of the hereditary elite called principales. However, the community’s representative, a Licenciado named José Gabriel, argued that their election was based on the local tradition or “costumbre del pueblo.” This case highlights the distinct perspectives of community affiliation and the ways in which Zapotec members of this community sought governance in the face of a crumbling colonial system.  This paper will analyze some of the ways in which Zapotecs negotiated membership to specific social spheres and the privileges associated with belonging to a community as seen from the perspective of a late 18^th century indigenous society.