This paper examines the ways in which native American peoples and people of African descent resisted, revolted from, escaped, adapted, and incorporated the dominating culture in Mesoamerica and Peru during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. The conquest of the Americas by the Spanish was among the most complete and oppressive in all the New World, managing to overpower and, in some cases, eradicate the existing cultures. However, the oppressed minorities were able to retain some elements of their own identities, often creating elegant adaptations and responsive solutions to the efforts of their conquerors. An ongoing nativist movement was also part of their attempt to retain their individuality in the face of powerful invading forces.
Within a few decades of European discovery of the New World, the Spanish had already laid claim to substantial portions of Mexico, Mesoamerica, Peru, and other contiguous areas, dominating the existing cultures and imposing their own rule over the lands. This domination lasted until 1821 but continues to have a profound effect on the area. By the 18th century, Spanish conquest had created a unique society in which those most resistant to Spanish influence were the most oppressed and impoverished. Yet some native peoples managed to evade the worst of these oppressions and even learned to thrive in a predominantly Hispanic culture. Steve J. Stern writes, "The growing poverty of Andean peoples by the early seventeenth century could lead us to overlook the rise of natives who escaped severe burdens imposed upon most Indians, in some cases climbed the social ladder, and accumulated considerable wealth" (112).
Most were able to achieve these levels by assimilating into Hispanic-mestizo society, adopting the customs, dress, education, and other ways of living of their conquerors. Some of these were artisans, whose skilled labor allowed them to charge high fees and hire local labor to con...