AHA Session 291
Conference on Latin American History 54
Conference on Latin American History 54
Sunday, January 11, 2026: 11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Salon 3 (Palmer House Hilton, Third Floor)
Chair:
Josefrayn Sánchez-Perry, Loyola University Chicago
Papers:
Session Abstract
This panel features work by experts on Mesoamerican ceremonies and practices and the ways in which they have been oppressed and suppressed in colonial discourse. Edward Polanco’s paper explores how etl (beans) were used for ceremonial purposes by Nahua people in the sixteenth century. His presentation sheds light on the important role of etl in the Nahua world and in Mesoamerica by extension. Anderson Hagler explores how Dominican clergy in Chiapas in the late colonial era viewed Indigenous magic and rituals, having been influenced by the chronicles and missives composed by sixteenth-century Franciscans in the central valley of Mexico. Josefrayn Sánchez-Perry analyzes three agents of Nahua collecting in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries: mothers called cuauhcihuatl, merchants called oztomecameh, and experimenters called motoyeyecoltiani. This presentation shows that Nahua collecting conveyed complex Indigenous knowledge via oral traditions which kept impactful healing practices alive. Lastly, Angélica Márquez-Osuna examines the changes and continuities in honey consumption patterns in colonial Yucatán to show that Maya communities were the primary beekeepers under Spanish colonial rule. Márquez-Osuna’s presentation thus illustrates how both Spanish and Maya communities shaped each other in their relationship to honey. Together, these presentations highlight the importance of Indigenous epistemologies and rituals, notwithstanding the opprobrium generated by clergy and officials in New Spain. Scholars interested in everyday rituals and beliefs practiced by Indigenous peoples may wish to attend.
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