What is it about?

This article examines the life of an ex-slave of African descent and his indigenous wife in the city of Puebla, colonial Mexico (New Spain) during the mid seventeenth century.

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Why is it important?

The article suggests that by shifting our focus to afro-indigenous interactions, historians may discover new ways of understanding the colonial past. For the case of Puebla, it suggests that afrodescendientes and indigenous women were key actors in the city's economy, culture and politics.

Perspectives

"From Chains to Chiles" intertwines the rich Nahua heritage of the Puebla-Tlaxcala region with the emerging literature of the African diaspora. By combining both scholarly strands we arrive at new ways of understanding distinctly "Mexican" goods (chiles), places (temazcales) and practices.

Prof. Pablo M Sierra Silva
University of Rochester

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This page is a summary of: From Chains to Chiles: An Elite Afro-Indigenous Couple in Colonial Mexico, 1641-1688, Ethnohistory, January 2015, Duke University Press,
DOI: 10.1215/00141801-2854356.
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