A Dialogue with Europe, a Dialogue with the Past. Ancestors and Tradition among the Colonial Nahua Nobility

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the ways in which the Nahua nobility referred to the past as reflected in the testimonies of the colonial period. The reading of sources allows us to distinguish two perspectives: intellectual and pragmatic. While the first of them was closely linked to attempts of combining the indigenous and European historical traditions, the second one involved the quest for arguments in an ongoing struggle for land and privileges. We approach this complex topic focusing on the Nahua concepts of «tradition» and «ancestors» (huehuetqueh), common for both perspectives. Our analysis of the terminology, rhetoric and iconography refines the understanding of the functions and meaning of these concepts in precontact Nahua culture, their modifications under colonial circumstances, as well as the role they played in the continuity of Nahua identity.