​Customs and Life in Early New Mexico

The history of New Mexico extends as far into the past as the land stretches into the horizon. Like the land, much of that history has been carried away by wind and rain.

Between the establishment of San Juan de los Caballeros by Oñate in 1598 and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, the Land of Enchantment was shaped by the same three legal traditions that continue to influence it today: Tribal, Spanish and United States law, including the ongoing sovereignty and governance of New Mexico’s Tribal Nations and Pueblos.
The early history of these three traditions in New Mexico can be understood through three periods: Tribal history, Spanish colonization and United States colonization.

Tribal History and Governance
From the peoples who inhabited New Mexico for tens of thousands of years, there are today 23 federally recognized Tribal Nations in New Mexico, including 19 Pueblos.

While many Indigenous histories predate European written documentation, archaeological research, oral tradition and present-day governance practices offer important insight into the longstanding legal, political and cultural traditions of New Mexico’s Indigenous communities. 

Even Tribes, Pueblos and Nations that settled in particular places continue to work to better understand their past. Jemez Pueblo recently collaborated in the Wâavēmâ Archaeological Research Project to better understand its ancestral relationship with the Valles Caldera through obsidian tools dating back to the 1100s. Similarly, decades have been spent studying T’aitöna, a permanent village south of Taos in the 1200s. Acoma Pueblo, “the place that always was,” has persisted continuously atop its 600-foot-high mesa in eastern New Mexico for a millennium, but a clear picture of its historical governance remains elusive.

Oral history and present-day practices help illuminate the pre-Columbian past. The Acoma story of Ia’tik and her sister Nao’tsiti tells of the origin of the Acoma people. Some versions of the story describe Ia’tik prescribing rituals and even requirements for the manner of building kivas. Kivas still hold a central place in the legal and political life of the Pueblos, as they likely did both before and during Spanish colonization.

These traditions reflect longstanding systems of governance, cultural continuity and communal order. Of course, reading a translated version of a story written perhaps hundreds or even thousands of years after it was first told may not reflect the original version.

The Spanish Encomienda and Settlement
While the United States and its influence would come later, Spanish colonization of New Mexico was first carried out under the encomienda system. Encomienda was the designation of Indigenous people living on allotted lands, as well as repartimiento, the right to employ Indigenous people living on those grants.

Oñate arrived in and occupied the Pueblo of Ohkay Owingeh, which he named San Juan de los Caballeros. His encomienda was subject to the “New Laws” established in 1542 and the 1573 ordinances that charged conquistadors with pacification and incorporation of Indigenous peoples into Hispanic colonial society. These bodies of law were intended to improve the treatment of Indigenous peoples in New Spain.

Another important source of law was the Instrucción of Viceroy Bernardo de Gálvez, issued in 1786. Unlike the New Laws, the Instrucción laid out a plan of “both war and peace.”

As adelantado, Oñate was authorized to grant land and the title of hidalgo. Simply put, Oñate did not follow the spirit of the New Laws or the 1573 ordinances, instead employing violence as the primary means to subjugate the province.
The unchecked exercise of his authority was met with hostility from both tribal and Spanish communities and, due largely to Franciscan protest, he resigned as governor in 1607.

Even after Oñate, the governors of New Mexico maintained considerable authority. The territory was divided into eight districts, each presided over by an alcalde mayor appointed by the governor.

The governor could still grant encomiendas; however, the church acted as a balance to that authority. The conflict between the competing jurisdictions of civil and religious authority shaped political life and policy throughout the 1600s and 1700s.
When New Mexico was officially made a royal province in 1608, the explicit purpose was for Franciscan missions to convert Tribes, Pueblos and Nations to Catholicism. The power of the church grew in 1626 when the Inquisition designated the Father Custodian, who oversaw the missions in the province, as Commissary Apostolic for the Holy Office, with delegated authority from the pope.

One example of this religious power influencing civil authority occurred between 1658 and 1662. After a series of political conflicts between Gov. Juan de Manso and his successor, Gov. Bernardo López de Mendizábal, the Holy Office ordered the arrest of López.

The power struggle between civil and religious authority culminated in the end of the encomienda system in New Mexico after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, one of the most significant Indigenous resistance movements in North American history, which resulted in the temporary expulsion of Spanish colonial authority from the region.

Its legal and political consequences reshaped governance in New Mexico and influenced the province’s later reorganization following the Spanish return. The former encomendero families then entered a new period of Spanish settlement in New Mexico.
 

Spanish Return and Legal Codification
The Spanish returned to New Mexico in 1692 under Don Diego de Vargas with the Recopilación de las leyes de los reinos de Indias, used by alcaldes and governors as the applicable law.

It contained 6,377 laws across nine books and codified broad areas of law. Included in the compilation were Philip II’s Ordinances for Discoveries, New Settlements and the Pacification of the Indies of 1573.

The Recopilación was replaced by the New Code of the Indies in 1792, though enforcement of the new code was largely kept secret. This code was largely an update of the Recopilación, itself rooted in Castilian historical law.

The process for petitioning for a royal concession of land under the Recopilación reflected Crown of Castile policies from the 11th through 15th centuries.

As part of the reorganization of the province after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and the reconquest in 1692, these royal concessions established Sandia and Abiquiú Native settlements.

When a land grant and a tribal claim were in dispute, there was often deference to established tribal settlements. Unlike the encomienda system, these laws provided greater respect for and independence to Tribes, Pueblos and Nations.
This remained generally the law of the land, whether or not it was properly applied by governors, until Mexico won its independence in 1821.

Mexican Independence and United States Influence
The final 25 years leading up to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo were marked as much by upheaval as by law.
In February 1821, the Plan of Iguala established equal rights to employment and protections from the government. The Treaty of Córdoba, which established Mexico’s sovereignty from Spain, reflected similar principles.

The Mexican Constitution of 1824 did not directly address Indigenous peoples, but the Plan of Mexico of 1827 implied that Indigenous people were officially considered Mexican citizens.

Before these principles could fully take hold, a series of uprisings broke out among Tribes, Pueblos and Nations throughout Mexico. While Mexico struggled over federalism and centralism, there was no official Indigenous policy, leaving decisions about tribal relations to individual provinces.

In New Mexico, this largely meant continuation of the Instrucción of Gálvez and the broad authority of governors.

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Manuel Armijo, as governor of New Mexico, continued a policy of frontier leadership through gift-giving, regulation of trade and military campaigns with the assistance of tribal allies to protect frontier lands.

To finance the ongoing Navajo War and skirmishes with the Comanches, Armijo increased taxes on American merchants and settlers.

Prior to Mexican independence, Spanish colonists were prohibited from trading with the United States. After the new Mexican government changed this policy, strong trade relations with Missouri developed.

The influence of United States citizens and law began to affect New Mexico’s culture and policy. Foreigners, especially Americans living and trading in New Mexico, increasingly protested Mexico’s lack of security and enforcement of law.

Increased taxes under Armijo further strained relations between Mexico and the United States.

Threats to people and business interests led the United States to seek Texas and New Mexico well before the declaration of war. Mexico’s grasp on the territory was already weakening.

In 1834, leadership under the Federalist Constitution of 1824 was displaced by a centralist regime. The Constitution of 1824 was abolished in 1836.

A lack of military and financial support from Mexico, combined with new taxes, led to the temporarily successful Chimayó Rebellion in 1837, when a Junta Popular briefly established control of Santa Fe in August. However, the rebel-elected governor, José González, returned power to Armijo in September.

The last of Mexico’s legal authority in New Mexico ended in 1846.