Islands in the Lake: Environment and Ethnohistory in Xochimilco, New Spain (Cambridge Latin American Studies)
Cambridge University Press, 10/14/2021
EAN 9781316518892, ISBN10: 1316518892
Hardcover, 337 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
Now notorious for its aridity and air pollution, Mexico City was once part of a flourishing lake environment. In nearby Xochimilco, Native Americans modified the lakes to fashion a distinctive and remarkably abundant aquatic society, one that provided a degree of ecological autonomy for local residents, enabling them to protect their communities' integrity, maintain their way of life, and preserve many aspects of their cultural heritage. While the area's ecology allowed for a wide array of socioeconomic and cultural continuities during colonial rule, demographic change came to affect the ecological basis of the lakes; pastoralism and new ways of using and modifying the lakes began to make a mark on the watery landscape and on the surrounding communities. In this fascinating study, Conway explores Xochimilco using native-language documents, which serve as a hallmark of this continuity and a means to trace patterns of change.
Introduction
1. Ecological and Political Landscapes
2. Land
3. Canoes and Commerce
4. Demography and Society
5. Crisis in the Seventeenth Century
6. Late-Colonial Watersheds
7. Nahuatl Sources from Xochimilco
Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography
Index.