Indigenous Intellectuals

"It is refreshing to come across an edited volume whose every contribution displays an equal standard of excellence. In Indigenous Intellectuals we have such a volume. Here, we encounter a series of actors from Mexico and Peru–indigenous historians, interpreters, cartographers, notaries–whose presence on the colonial stage belies the notion that the 'lettered city' was composed exclusively of university-educated Spanish officials and clerics. The stories of these indigenous men of letters are the products of intensive archival research and are narrated in lucid prose; we come to know these colonial actors as thinkers and as individuals. The various contributions come together into a coherent book with a persuasive argument: it is clear that this volume was the product of a dialogue. Once you are introduced to Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, you want to meet Cristóbal Choquecasa and you will understand why they are included in the same book. The Mexico-Peru comparison is cogent, fresh, and insightful." - Joanne Rappaport, author of The Disappearing Mestizo: Configuring Difference in the Colonial New Kingdom of Granada

"This superb volume brings together a veritable who's-who of the scholars who have pushed the study of indigenous intellectuals into a coherent subfield of ethnohistory. Their essays are populated by a wide array of educated, native men from colonial Mexico, Oaxaca, and Peru, from interpreters and translators to lettered noblemen. The colonial cultural patterns that emerge are as fascinating and illuminating as the indigenous individuals who are brought to life in the essays. A must-read for all scholars of colonial Latin America."\ - Matthew Restall, coauthor of Latin America in Colonial Times

"The notion of indigenous intellectual embraces a wide variety of individuals with different educational backgrounds and skills sued to convey and use their knowledge in Mexico and the Andes."  - Rocío Cortés, Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies

"The beauty of this volume is that the collected essays touch on so many topics key to colonial studies today... that it is no longer possible to exclude indigenous intellectuals from the scholarly discussion or the university classroom. With regard to the latter, the volume is a boon to those who have long wished to include indigenous voices in their advanced undergraduate and graduate-level seminars but did not know where to begin." - Kelly S. McDonough, Ethnohistory

"The editors' framing of the project is thoughtful. They are sensitive to historical change on both the Indigenous and European sides of the cultural divide, and to the many ways in which knowledge could be inscribed.... The contributors to Indigenous Intellectuals deserve great credit for putting their topic on the map and making major advances within it." - Raphael Folsom, Canadian Journal of Native Studies

"[T]his volume... represents a major step forward in further deconstructing Spanish presentations of colonial realities." - Claudia Brosseder, American Historical Review