CHAPTER 5 THE COLONIAL PERIOD IN MESOAMERICA 205At first, the traditional office of hereditary ruler was combined with the new of-
fice of governor, with no abrupt change in leadership. However, the political struc-
ture did change as the cabildosystem took shape. The governor had to share his
power with the other officials. And since cabildoofficials were subject to yearly elec-
tions and the local priest and the local Spanish corregidoror encomenderocould veto
cabildoappointments, men who hoped to remain in office had to cooperate with the
colonial administration. Unlike preconquest rulers, colonial governors often served
only for short terms. But some managed to hold office for many years. For example,
Antonio Valeriano, a noted Nahua scholar who spoke Latin and collaborated on
some of the great works of sixteenth-century Nahuatl literature (see Chapter 6),
served for eight years as governor of his hometown of Azcapotzalco and then be-
came the Indian governor of Mexico City for twenty-three years, retiring only when
his health failed. A commoner by birth, Valeriano was able to pursue this political ca-
reer thanks to his marriage to a member of Mexico City’s traditional royal dynasty.
According to law, cabildoofficials were supposed to be Indians from the com-
munity. But mestizos, typically the sons of local Mesoamerican noblewomen who had
married Spaniards, were occasionally elected, their ability to function in both Span-
ish and Indian worlds being seen as an asset by their Indian supporters. And some-
times outsiders would move into a community and gain office through aggressive
politicking, as we know from court cases in which disgruntled locals challenged the
authority of these usurpers.
The cabildomembers had jurisdiction over all affairs that were internal to the
community. They could imprison offenders, impose taxes and fines, assign commu-
nity lands to needy families, rent out community lands to raise money, and grant
permits allowing individual merchants or craftspeople to pursue their trade in the
community. They could allocate community funds to such projects as building roads,
maintaining the town hall and the church, and financing religious festivals. Non-
Indians who wished to take up residence in the town had to petition the cabildofor
permission, which was often denied. Cabildoofficers also had the unpleasant tasks of
collecting tribute payments and assigning local men to the labor drafts required
under the repartimientosystem. For an example of a cabildoin action, see Box 5.2.
If a legal dispute crossed community lines—perhaps a Spanish rancher was run-
ning cattle on community land, or people in one town were diverting water from ir-
rigation canals claimed by another town—the case would move up to the Indian
courts run by the Spanish colonial administration. Indians saw these courts as legit-
imate arbiters of their disputes, and their suits were often successful, even against
Spanish defendants. The Indians quickly gained a reputation of being excessively
litigious, ready to run before the court after the slightest injury.
Social Structure and the Family
Throughout the Colonial period, the basic division of native society into nobles and
commoners remained intact. It was reinforced by the colonial government’s recog-
nition of the nobles’ right to govern and to receive tribute from their vassals. Al-
though the degree of wealth differentiation between nobles and commoners shrank
over time, status differences within native society continued to be important