Alva Ixtlilxochitl's Native Archive and the Circulation of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico

A transgressive bequest of indigenous manuscripts by the Alva Ixtlilxochitl family to Carlos Sigüenza y Góngora bridged colonial Mexico's rigid social divide between república de españoles and república de indios, revealing mutual interest in historical knowledge over ethnic boundaries. The archive, amassed by mestizo-descended Alva Ixtlilxochitl (1578–1650) to assert indigenous lineage and economic rights, included oral histories and pictorial records. His son's 1674 bequest—paired with Sigüenza y Góngora’s commissioned vida of a holy aunt and relic-like skull—demonstrated how material culture and social networks facilitated knowledge circulation across colonial elites, challenging mestizaje as the sole mediator of Spanish-Indigenous relations. Analysis of legal texts and wills from Spanish and Mexican archives uncovered enduring collaborations, suggesting affection and shared historical inquiry transcended formal divisions.

Mundy, B. E. (2017). Alva Ixtlilxochitl’s Native Archive and the Circulation of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico. Hispanic American Historical Review, 97(3), 543–545. https://doi.org/10.1215/00182168-3934000