Land conflict between the town of Santiago Undameo and the Augustinian Order, Michoacán, New Spain

Abstract

This article analyzes the 18th-century territorial conflict between the native community of the town of Santiago Undameo and the Augustinian monks of Valladolid and Tiripetío. Documented legal disputes from the Archivo General de la Nación and the Archivo de la Provincia Agustiniana de Michoacán were analyzed; these were the sources with which cartography was elaborated using of Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. We observed how the studied conflict had different moments of territorial tension, originating from 16th-century land donations, and how it caused inaccuracies in the jurisdictional limits, the lack or disappearance of titles that accredited the property and the grabbing of land. In addition, it is argued that the ‘composiciones de tierra’ allowed the native communities to initiate processes for the recovery of their properties.