The Tlaxcalan Diaspora

The year 2020 marked the 499th anniversary of the first Tlaxcalan migration of the 16th century to other parts of Mexico. Starting on June 6, 1591, selected families from Tlaxcala left their native soil to populate various locations in central and northern Mexico.

The Tlaxcalans had first assisted the Spaniards in destroying the mighty Aztec Empire in an extended campaign (1519-1521). As a reward, the Spaniards awarded the Tlaxcalans special rights and privileges. In fact, the Spanish-Tlaxcalan alliance soon evolved into a “stable, institutionalized pact” in which “Tlaxcala became a state within the empire.”

From the 1590s to the 1700s, the Tlaxcalans established various settlements on the northern frontier, playing numerous roles in the expansion and stabilization of the Spanish Empire. The Tlaxcalan settlements in the north served as military outposts, sites for agricultural and infrastructural development, and centers for civilizing and Christianizing northern Indians. Serving as soldiers, colonists and emissaries of Christianity and civilization, the Tlaxcalans jealously guarded their autonomy and their residential segregation from other peoples, including the Spaniards. Eventually, Tlaxcalans would settle in at least eight Mexican states, as well as New Mexico and Texas. And many of the churches they established contain records that document their lives.

The Beginning of the Tlaxcalan Exodus

In 1590, Viceroy Don Luis de Valasco requested 400 families from Tlaxcala to help with the acculturation of the Chichimeca Indians to expedite their process into peaceful coexistence and eventual assimilation into colonial Spanish life. Each of the four leaders agreed to send 100 families from each of their four regions.

Sources: Stanley Lucero, “The 1591 Migration of the 499 Tlaxcalan Families” (March 6, 2010 Presentation); Teddy Herrera, “Indigenous Tejanos: Mestizaje Evolution 11th Century to 21st Century (Jan. 17, 2020).

Capitulaciones (Agreements) for Tlaxcalan Rights and Privileges

Before embarking on their journeys, the Tlaxcalans demanded and received numerous rights and privileges for their service to Spain.

Source: Philip Wayne Powell, Soldiers, Indians and Silver: North America's First Frontier War (Tempe, Arizona: Center for Latin American Studies, 1975).

The Tlaxcalan Destinations

Starting in 1591, the Tlaxcalans established numerous colonies on the northern frontier. The Tlaxcalan settlements in the north served as military outposts, sites for agricultural and infrastructural development, and centers for civilizing and Christianizing northern Indians. Serving as soldiers, colonists and emissaries of Christianity and civilization, the Tlaxcalans jealously guarded their autonomy and their residential segregation from other peoples.

Tlaxcalan settlers – in both small and large groups– spread out all over northern Mexico over the next two centuries.

The Tlaxcalans in SLP

Map Source: Francisco Peña de Paz et al., “San Luis Potosí: La Entidad Donde Vivo: Tercer Grado” (Distrito Federal, Mexico: Secretaría de Educación Pűblica, 2011).

In 1592, the City of San Luis Potosí was founded when gold and silver were discovered. This led to an influx of indigenous people from Michoacán, Zacatecas and other areas to find work as laborers. Hence the formation of barrios for the different types of Indians.

The Barrio de Tlaxcala in San Luis Potosí

Located in the north of the capital city of San Luis Potosí, the Tlaxcalan neighborhood was founded in 1592 by Tlaxcalan and Guachichile families, thus becoming the oldest neighborhood in the capital of Potosi. A convent – seen on this page – was founded in 1605.

From the beginning, Indians settled in their own barrios. The neighborhood of Tequisquiapan was a fertile place settled by Guachichil Indians in 1583. Tlaxcalilla was next founded in 1592 by Tlaxcalans. But there were also Tarascan Indians who later founded the town of San Miguelito to the south of San Luis. To the north, the neighborhood of Santiago was also established by the Guachichil Indians, who lived next to the Tlaxcaltecs, so that the sedentary life of former would be influenced by later.

Indian Barrios in the Ciudad de San Luis Potosí

The City of San Luis Potosí (SLP) was established in 1592. But it was important for the Tlaxcalans to maintain their distinct identity. In the vicinity of the church in Tlaxcalilla, there were three barrios: Tlaxcalilla, Santiago and Montecillo. In these baptisms for 1796 and 1797, we see Chichimeca Indians, Mexicanos from the Barrio of Santiago, and Tarascos from San Antonio. At first, the Tarascans dominated the migrants, but later the Tlaxcalans dominated.

Indian Migrants From Distant Places to Tlaxcalilla

According to Laurent Corbell’s “The Motions Beneath,” from 1591 to 1630, indigenous people arrived in the SLP Valley from 130 communities far and wide across Mexico. They included large numbers of people from central Mexico (both Nahua and Tlaxcalans), as well as from Tarascans from Michoacán and Chichimecas from the surrounding areas. Although the Tlaxcalans play an important role in the migration, there were many other Christian Indians on the move, such as the Mexican, Tarascans and Otomies.

Ethnic Affiliation of Indigenous People Appearing in the Parish Records of Tlaxcalilla, San Luis Potosí, 1594-1630

Source: Laurent Corbell, “The Motions Beneath: Indigenous Migrants on the Urban Frontier of New Spain” (Tucson: University of Arizona, 2018), p. 31.

The Barrios of Venado

According to “The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Volume II: Mesoamerica, Part 2,” pp. 119-120, the Indians of Venado were separated into four barrios– of Tlaxcalans, Purépechas, Guachichiles (Chichimecas) and Chanalas – that lasted at least till the end of the colonial period. This was because the Tlaxcalans, who were the largest and politically most powerful group, insisted on maintaining a separation between themselves and other groups, whether Chichimeca or Spanish.

Source: Richard E.W. Adams & Murdo J. MacLeod, The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Volume II: Mesoamerica, Part 2 (Cambridge University Press, 2008).

The Tlaxcalan Barrio of Venado

In the June 1752 document from Venado shown below, we see two “indios de el Barrio de Tlazcala” getting married. In the second document from the same place, dated May 1654, we see two Indians from the Nation of the Negritos, a tribe occupying northern San Luis Potosí. The patterns of Tlaxcalans and other Indians living in their exclusive barrios took place throughout Mexico and lasted for a century or more.

Migration As An Important Factor in Colonization

The Tlaxcalans in San Esteban and other settlements usually sent small contingents of 10 to 14 families of Tlaxcalans to help defend villas and mining camps and pacify the local Indians. Through this activity, the Tlaxcalans became widely distributed throughout the northeastern frontier of Mexico where the Chichimecas and Coahuiltecans posed a threat.

Even more important is the influence of all Indian migration throughout the northern reaches of the Spanish Empire. Tlaxcalans were not the only Indians who were encouraged to move to frontier settlements. Otomies, Tarascans, Mexica and numerous other Indians joined the movement.

According to Dana Velasco Murillo, the author of “Urban Indians in a Silver City,” by the 1550s, the Zacatecas mines brought in “a consistent influx of indigenous immigrants from western and central Mexico” because they were given exemptions from tribute collection. Wages and exemptions served as “pull” factors for migrants, while the heavy tribute obligations in central Mexican communities functioned as “push” factors.

Over time, the process of migration and settlement was repeated over and over throughout Mexico and Texas.

Sources: Tomas Martínez Saldaña, “La Expansión Tlaxcalteca al Septenrión Colonial Novohispano” (2000); David Bergen Adams, The Tlaxcalan Colonies of Spanish Coahuila, Nuevo Leon” (1971); Eugene B. Sego, “Six Tlaxcalan Colonies on New Spain’s Northern Frontier: A Comparison of Success and Failure” (Ph.D. Dissertation: Indiana University, 1990).

San Esteban de Nueva Tlaxcala (Coahuila)

Saltillo was established in 1577 in response to demand for livestock and agricultural products for the northern mines. However, the settlement was repeatedly attack by the local native people and was on the verge of abandonment in the 1580s. But Viceroy Luis de Velasco responded in July 1591 by bringing up 71 Tlaxcalan families and 16 bachelors to establish the town and church of San Esteban. The Tlaxcalans were armed and ready to assist in defending Saltillo. They joined the Spaniards on armed expedition, but also vigorously guarded their autonomy and self-rule.