INDIAN CONQUISTADORS IN DIEGO MUNOZ CAMARGO'S DESCRIPCION DE LA CIUDAD Y PROVINCIA DE TLAXCALA (1584)

This paper proposes a critical approach about the place of the Indians in the Mesoamerican Conquest and colonization. To this purpose, we will use the notion of "Indian Conquistadors" to analyze and interpret Diego Munoz Camargo's Description de la ciudad y provincia de Tlaxcala (1584). We will follow four interconnected approaches. The first proposes a theoretical and methodological background about the notion of Indian Conquistadors. The second refers to the Descripcion's context of production and its contents. The third uses the notion of Indian conquistadors to reveal some specific aspects within the written text of the Description and in a selection of its well-known images. Finally, the fourth reconsiders the purpose of Munoz Camargo's hitorical-literary narration about the tlaxcalans' collaboration as conquerers in Mesoamerica.