Fals Borda. Indian Congregations in the New Kindom of Granada

Indian Congregations in the New Kingdom of Granada: Land Tenure Aspects, 1595-1850Author(s): Orlando Fals-BordaSource: The Americas, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Apr., 1957), pp. 331-351Published by: Academy of American Franciscan HistoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/979439 .Accessed: 08/07/2011 18:10

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INDIAN CONGREGATIONS IN THE NEW KINGDOM OF GRANADA: LAND TENURE ASPECTS, 1595-1850*

tN their essays on the congregation of Indians in New Spain, Lesley 1 Byrd Simpson and Howard F. Cline advanced information on the

general characteristics and legal bases of this royal policy.1 Essen- tially, the kings of Spain wanted to gather the Indians into towns for purposes of religious training and in order to facilitate fiscal and political administration. According to Simpson and Cline, the application of these laws in New Spain toward the latter part of the sixteenth century was largely ineffective and, apparently, the congregation program affected only a small portion of the native population. One of the main reasons for this partial failure was the fact that the Indians already had villages, and it was very difficult for them to move to newly established locations. The documentation of these socio-political processes is avowedly incomplete; investigators have not gone beyond 1606 and have not examined the intrinsic land tenure implications. Except for a case history presented by Cline in 1955, other social aspects of this policy have hardly been studied.2

The congregation policy called not only for the gathering of Indians into towns, reducciones, or pueblos de indios, but for the delimitation and delivery of land to the natives.3 This land, which was referred to as the resguolrdo (reserved area) or tierrols del resguardo de indzgenas (lands reserved for the benefit of the Indians) was as a rule already occupied and worked by the persons involved, and it was adjacent to the nsw towns.4 In contrast with New Spain, where the natives lived

# This article was awarded second place in the James Alexander Robertson Memorial Prize 1955 Competition sponsored by the Latin American Conference of the American Historical Association, Washington, D. C.

Acknowledgment is made to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation for a Fellowship that permitted the author to do sociological and historical research about his native Colombia, and to Professors T. L+Tnn Smith and Lyle N. McAlister of the University of Florida.

1 Lesley Byrd Simpson, Studies in the Adninistration of the Indians in New Spain: Te Civil Congregation [Ibero-Americana: 71 (Berkeley, 1934); Howard F. Cline, "Civil Congregation of the Indians in New Spain, 1598-1606," The Hispanic American His- torical Review, XXIX ( 1949), 349-369.

2 Cline, p. 369. FIoward F. Cline, " Civil Congregation of the Western Chinantec, New Spain, 1599-1603," The Americas, XII (1955), 115-117.

3The pertinent laws were issued by Charles V and Philip II from 1546 to 1578, and they are recapitulated in the Libro VI, Titulo III of the Recopilacion de las Leyes de las Indias.

4 Supplementing details and related information can be obtained from the sources cited

331

3 3 2 INDIAN CONGREGATIONS IN NEW KINGDOM OF GRANADA

in nucleated villages, the implementation of the congregation policy met with even greater resistance in the New Kingdom of Granada, where many Indians settled in scattered farmsteads.5 Nevertheless the land that corresponded to the natives was duly granted and delineated by government officials, and reductions or pueblos were built, with church and plaza, inside the premises. Most Indians remained on their lots in the country, but commuted to these towns whenever it was necessary. Thus the congregation policy had only a partial application in the New Kingdom of Granada.

In spite of their ineffectiveness, such laws were provocative of highly significant social situations. For example, as explained below, the system of resident laborers (of pointed importance nowadays) springs from some early tenurial arrangements that arose after the Indians were organized in congregations and given land reservations. Although most of these collective land grants given by the colonial authorities were terminated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many of them still survive, like oil drops on the sea, in various Colombian departments. The history of these institutions can be gathered from manuscript materials at diverse archives in Bogota and in the offices of notaries public of municipios.6

It is the purpose of this paper to treat, in summary form, the subject of Chibcha congregations in the provinces of Tunja and Villa de Leiva (present-day department of Boyaca, Colombia) from the standpoint of land tenure arrangements. The period covered is from 1595, when there is the first documented news of natives receiving collective titles to their resguorrdos, until 1850, when many Indians started to sell such land individually by virtue of republican laws.

above as well as from the following: Guillermo Hernandez Rodriguez, De los ChiDchols a la colonia y a la republica (Bogota, 1949), pp. 275-298; Juan Friede, El indio en lucha por la tierra (Bogota, 1944); Jose Maria Ots Capdequi, El regimen de la tierra en la America espanola (Ciudad Trujillo, 1946), pp. 93-104; and Orlando Fals-Borda, Peasant Society in tAoe Colombian Andes (Gainesville, Florida, 1955), pp. 89-106.

s The Chibcha Indians did not live in villages but in scattered farmsteads, and they were not too prone to move into the new pueblos. However, these towns survived as religious and trade centers, while the bulk of the population remained scattered in the area. For a documented treatment of this subject see the writer's "A Sociological Study of the Relationships Between Man and the Land in the Department of Boyaca, Colom- bia," doctoral dissertation, University of Florida, Gainesville, 1955, pp. 71-78. Cf. Orlando Fals-Borda, "Los orlgenes del problema de la tierra en Choconta, Colombia," Boletin de historia y antiguedades (Bogota), XLI (1954), 36-50.

6 For the present study, information was gathered from the seven volumes on " Res- guardos de Boyaca " in the colonial section of tlle Archivo Nacional de Colombia in Bogota, hereafter cited as ANC. Volumes and legajos were also consulted at the offices of notaries public at Tunja and Turmeque in the department of Boyaca.

ORLANDO FALS-BORDA 333

ESTABLISHMENT OF INDIAN Resguardos IN BOYACA, 1595-1642

The effort of the colonial government to establish Indian reservations in the provinces of Tunja and Villa de Leiva, as a collateral to the program of reducing the natives into pre-planned towns, was most successfully carried out from 1595 to 1642. This was a period of triumph of the royal patron over the local power of the encomenderos. Indian collective estates were delineated in the field under the title of the gobernador, or cacique, and they lay side by side with the estates, or mercedes, which had been granted to or purchased by private individuals.7 From a serf-like status such as he had possessed in the preceding years, the Indian was lifted to the position of a lessee of the Spanish king. The revision of titles ordered by King Philip in 1591 according to the first Cedula del Pardo 8 upset the two-layer pyramid (the conquerors and the conquered) which had been formed during the years of initial occupation. Moreover, such royal orders definitely curtailed the use of native labor. The final push for this local revolution came from the Ordenanzas promulgated on September 22, 1593, by Antonio Gonzalez, captain general of the Ne^r Kingdom and president of the Real Audiencia.9 Gonzalez ordered that a survey be made of the de facto situation created by the Spanish settlers, and that the land be formally returned to the Indians.

The oidor chosen by President Gonzalez to perform this work in the province of Tunja was Andres Egas de Guzman, a senior member of the royal council. The first Indian communities to be given back the land " which is theirs " were those located in Chiquinquira (September 6, 1595),1° Moquira (October 13, 1595),1l and Iguaque

7 Distinct from the Spanish grants, the Indian titles were given for collectivities rather than for individuals. In this it has been claimed that the colonial authorities were pre- serving the indigenous system of social organization. Communal ownership, however, does not necessarily go with primitive peoples. S-cudies of the Algonquins of Canada, the Tolowa of California, and the Veddas of Ceylon, among others, have disclosed that private ownership is possible in " non-civilized societies." As for the Chibcha Indians who occupied the mountain area of Boyaca, it is suspected that they knew the principles of inheritance and private ownership, although no definitive scudy has been made on the subject. See Juan de Castellanos, Historia del Nuevo lReino de Granada (Madrid, 1886), I, 38, 47, 190; and Liborio Zerda, El Dorado (Bogota, 1948), pp. 142-144.

8 Cf. Ots Capdequi, pp. 69-71. 9 Jose Manuel Groot, Historia eclesia'stica y civil de Nueva Granada (Bogota, 1889),

I, 516-520. 10ANC, V, ff. 311-321; Jose Mojica Silva, ed., Relacio'n de visitas coloniales (Tunja,

1948), pp. 202-203. 1l ANC, III, ff. 1-145. At the present time, Monqwra is a neighborhood (vereda) in

Villa de Leiva.

3 34 INDIAN CONGREGATIONS IN NEW KINGDOM OF GRANADA

(October 29, 1595).12 In each case Egas de Guzman made a census of Indians, noted who were paying tributes to encomenderos, observed that the natives were congregated in the reduction and, with the assis- tance of local officials, notaries, and witnesses, went to the field to delineate the boundaries of the resguardo. These boundaries were fixed by surveyors armed with a rod and a rope (vara and cabuy), and landmarks were placed at strategic locations.13 In Iguaque, Egas also separated a communal-crop land within the reservation area.

These resguardos were not given in fee simple to the Indians, although there were lots for individual exploitation inside the premises. The land could not be sold or rented to outsiders, and the limits of the resguardos were fixed until official revisions were made. The fact that the Indian land never really left the realms of the regalza may be seen in the adjustments made in the grants every time there was an inspection. If it was found that the natives had decreased in numbers, a part of the reservation was separated and sold to secinos, the proceeds going to the king's treasury. This prerogative of the king was exercised often during the eighteenth century, mJhen the wars with England required extraordinary financial measures. Sometimes the titles to reservations came to be little more than precaria, when whole communities were displaced from their resguardos after these were sold in toto for the king's benefit (see below). Thus the situation of the Chibcha Indians in regard to the tenure of reservation land approached the form of a lease, a sort of foro by which tenure was allowed for a number of generations.

The visits of Egas de Guzman are not completely documented, but it can be established that he delineated and issued the titles for the resguard os in the communities of Tinjaca,14 Moniquira,15 Cucaita (December 16, 1595),16 Toca (March 20, 1596),17 Turmeque (May 18, 1596) 18 Sichaca (May, 1596) ,19 Pesca-Soaca (June 8, 1596) 20

19 Mojica, pp. 34-36. Iguaque is now a vereda in the municipio of Ch;quiza. 13 For further details, see Fals-Borda, "A Sociological Study . . .," pp. 87-91. ls Andres Berdugo y Oquendo to Viceroy Solis, Chiquinquira, April 30, 1756, ANC,

VI, f. 902, 905. 16 Mojica, p. 227. 16 " Confirmacion de los resguardos de Cucaita por Andres Berdugo y Oquendo,"

Cucaita, February 1, 1756, ANC, V, ff. 921, 928v. 17 Mojica, p. 72. 18 ; Diligencias del resguardo de Turmeque de la Real Corona, Turmeque," May 18,

1596, Archivo Nacional de Colombia, Sala Colonia, Resguardos de Cundinamarca (hereafter referred to as ANC,Cund.), I, ff. 9-18.

19 Mojica, p. 54. This town, now disappeared, was near Siachoque and Firavitoba. 20 Ibid., pp. 37, 54; " Los indios de Soaca contra su encomendero, 1647," ANC, V, ff.

762-769. Soaca has also disappeared; it was located near Pesca.

ORLANDO FALS-BORDA 33S

DEPARTMENT OF BOYAC A

( CO LO MBIA)

Indion Resguord os D uring

Coloniol Time s

( Spon; sh PorrO quiOs in Porenthesis.)

NoTE: Names shown are only of those pueblos that have survived and that at the present iime are municipios.

3 3 6 INDLKN CONGREGATIONS IN NEW KINGDOM OF GRANADA

Tuquecha-Moquecha (June21, 1596),21Bombaza (June28, 1596),22 Guaquira (July 7, 1596),23 Custiva (July 9, 1596),24 Iza (July 14, 1596) ,25 Sogamoso (August 31, 1596) ,26 Bonza (September 25, 1596) ,27 Ocusa (October 25, 1596) 28 Sora (November 2, 1596),28 and Samaca (November 27, 1596).3° This was a tremendous undertaking which seems to have succeeded in curtailing the power of the encomenderos and in limiting their temptation to occupy Indian lands, at least temporarily.

When Egas de Guzman left, his successor, Luis Enr1quez, undertook to investigate the resguardos already granted, and proceeded to form new Indian congregations. (Simultaneously, other resguolrdos were established, with the usual procedure, either by Enr1quez or by his deputy Antonio Beltran de Guevara, at Somondoco (October 31, 1601), Cerinza (January 8, 1602), Socota (January 19, 1602), Cocuy-Panqueba (January 30, 1602), Soata (February 7, 1602), Sumita (February 19, 1602), Tapagua, Quelpa, Culagua, Tempaquela, Pisquira, Ravicha- Chilagaula (February 24, 1602), Guaca (May 20, 1602), and Arca- bucazo (June 12, 1602).31 The stipulations were the same-the Indians were to remain congregated in the reductions, to keep their land as lessees, and to distribute it among themselves for individual and familial exploitation and for the payment of taxes and tributes. The corregi- dores were to protect such land from invaders.

Subsequent sisitadores and oidores continued to inspect the previous work and to create new reductions and reservations, until the moun- tainous area of Boyaca was well covered with organized Indian communities holding collective titles to their land. One such visitador was Lesmes de Espinosa Saravia who, on June 28, 1617, granted a reservation of land at Pare.32 But foremost was the work of Licenciado

21 Mojica, p. 39. It seems that this Moquecha is the old name of a vereda now called Tobal, at Tota.

22 Ibid., p. 58. Bombaza was near Tota and Tuquecha. 2S Ibid., p. 60. Today, one of Tota's veredas.

4 Ibid., pp. 4243. 25 Ibid., p. 45. 26 "Auto del Licenciado Juan de Valcarcel, Sogamoso," April 26, 1636, ANC, I, f. 204v. 27 Mojica, p. 41. Today, one of Paipa's veredas. 28 Ibid., p. 38. 29 Ibid.,p.44. 80 Ibid.,p. 45. S1 Ibid., pp. 46-106, 178; ANC, Cund., I, ff. llv-12. Some of these towns have dis-

appeared and it is difficult to know where they were established. However, ie can be gathered that, with the exception of Somondoco, these congregations were in the Soata region in the northern section of Boyaca.

'2 Mojica, p. 218.


Juan de Valcarcel who, following new directives from President Sancho Giron Marquis of Sofragas established resguardos in 1635 at the following localities: Tequia (August 25), 33 Chiscas-Tunebia (September 2),34 Guican-Panqueba-Cocuy (September 13),35 Chita (October 3),36 Beteitiva (October 31),37 Combita (December 15),38 and Motavita.39 In 1636, Valcarcel gave reservations of land to Indians at Garagoa,40 Tenza (January 20),41 Tibana (February 21),42 Ramiriqu1 (February 27),43 Boyaca (March 12),44 Mongu1 (April 21),45 Oicata-Nemuza (July 6),46 Tuta (July 12),47 Suta (October 5),48 and Tibasosa-Nobsa- Chameza.49 Valcarcel's work differed somewhat from that of his predecessors in the manner of distribution of land. While Egas and Enriquez merely set the boundaries of the resguardos and determined the communal-crop areas, Valcarcel also established communal pastures, or potreros. These were usually located on the hills above the pueblos.

The intensive period of organization of resguardos closed with the tour of Visitador Diego Carrasquilla Maldonado in 1642. Apparently most of the Indian communities of the Tunja province by then had been grouped, because the available record of this visitador shows the establishment of only two resguardos, those at Gachantiva-Turca 50 and Sorocota (November 22).51

33 Ibid@, pp. 170-171 34 Ibid., p. 173.

36 Titulos del resguardo, Panqueba," September 13, 1635, ANC, VI, f. 663v; Mojica,

p. 179. The deed states: " Los dichos dos pueblos estan juntos y poblados en este pueblo en contorno de la iglesia como se ordeno en la visita ultima pasada."

86 Ibid., pp. 184-185. 87 "Diligencia de reconocimiento del resguardo de Beteiiiva y Tutaza por Jose M.

Campuzano, 1777," ANC, V, f. 206; Mojica, p. 182. S8 Mojica, p. 186 89 4 Diligencias de ajuste del resguardo de Motavita por A. Berdugo y Oquendo,"

December 16, 1755, ANC, III, ff. 665-668. 40 ANC, III, ff. 505-511. 41 ANC, VI, ff. 782-786. 42 4 Confirmacion del resguardo de Tibana por A. Berdugo y Oquendo," January 20,

1755, ANC, VI, f. 940. 48 Mojica, p. 206. 44 " Confirmacion de los resguardos de Boyaca por A. Berdugo y Oquendo," January

23, 1755, ANC, V, f. 986v. 45 "Amparo del nuevo respardo de Mongui por A. Berdugo y Oquendo, 1755," ANC

III, ff. 770-824; Mojica, p. 197. 46 Mojica, p. 191. It seems that the Nemuza Indians were incorporated to Oicata;

Nemuza does not exist today. 47 "Asignacion de las tierras del resguardo de Tuta por Juan de Valcarcel, Tuta,"

July 12, 1636, ANC, VI, ff. 9-15; Mojica, pp. 192-194. 48 Mojica, p. 202. This is called Sutamarchan today, by adopting the name of the first

encomenderos. 49 ANC, VI, f. 952v; cf. Mojica, p. 250. 6° ANC, III, ff. 997-1002. 51 Mojica, p. 208. These lands were located at Novillero, today a vereda in Moniqliira.


Reservations and partial congregations in reducciones continued to be organized and confirmed sporadically in subsequent years. Archival documents indicate that these organized communities were numerous. Besides those already mentioned in the text, there were resguardos in the following localities (dates uncertain): Agustilia, Boavita, Busbanza, Carsi, Chitaraque, Chivata, Citaquepa, Coper, Cormechoque, Duitama, Firavitoba, Gameza, Giramena, Guacamayas, Guateque, Labranza- grande, Mongua, Morcote, Muzo, Onzaga, Paipa, Pauna, Paya, Raquira, Saboya, Sachica, Sativa, Siachoque, Socha, Sotaquira, Susacon, Tasco, Tobas1a, Topaga, Tota, Tutaza, and Viracacha. Ninety-four have been documented, and there may have been more.

But the local settlers were not entirely idle, and forces were already at work undermining the structure of the resguardos. Out of this struggle between the Indians and the Spanish settlers new tenurial arrangements arose. In this manner, after 1642 the history of Boyaca no longer records predominantly the granting of resguardos-rathers the documents start to show the overwhelming atmosphere of conflict, maladjustment, and insecurity that permeated rural life. A new act was starting in the tragedy of the Indian who, while attempting to defend his land was, in reality, battling for his life.

Smparos AND THE ORIGIN OF THE SYSTEM OF RESIDENT LABORERS, 1642-1754

In a sense, the adjudication of resguardos amounted to an amparos that is, to an act of protection. The Indians needed the protection of the authorities, especially in regard to labor, because the Spaniards tended to reject menial activities. If it was necessary to work the farms in order to secure a title, such work was to be done by the conquered race, not by the neo-aristocrats. This attitudeX as well as pressing economic and political needs, was recognized by sisitadores and oidores, who had to permit the use of Indians in private and public pursuits. The " personal service " for encomenderos, which formerly allowed for the use and abuse of native hands, gave way in part to a regulated system of mitayos, or laborers. This transition will now be studied.

Different from the mitayos mineros, or miners, the mitayos agrzvolas, or agricultural wage hands, deserve close attention. When the Spanish settlers could no longer obtain the land and the Indian in one package,52

62 See Fals-Borda, "A Sociological Study . . .," pp. 97-101.


the need was felt for a way to permit the natives to work in haciendas. A system was devised whereby the cacique of each reduccion was to furnish a certain number of able-bodied Indians, distributing them among the Spanish farms of the surroundings. A redistribution of personnel was to be made each year according to manpower and the needs of the local farms. Such Indians were entitled to a wage and to the application of certain regulations, such as an eight-hour work day.53 As time passed, the laborers thus engaged were called concertados.

The earliest reference to concertados in Boyaca in the available documents is in the titles of the reservation of Soaca (Pesca-Soaca), issued by Egas de Guzman in 1596. He ordered that the Indians were not to be " concerted " for more than six months:

Y se manda al dicho corregidor [de Soata] que los indios que hubieren de servir en las labores, guarda y crios de los ganados de los espanoles y vecinos labradores no los concierte mas que por seis meses remudan- dose y entrando otros en su lugar para que tengan tiempo de acudir a sus proprias labores y granjerlas y acudir a la fabrica de mantas que ellos suelen fabricar.54

But it was not until August 7, 1657, that the system of concertados was regulated in detail by President Dionisio Perez Manrique:

It is my command that hereafter in this pueblo of Duitama as well as in all others in the districts of Santa Fe, Tunja, and Villa de Leiva, Indians will be given as concertados, and they are those who comprise one-fourth of all able-bodied Indians who pay tribute in each town. They are to be remunerated every six months, when they will each be paid a wage of fourteen poltacones per year, and will each be given eight folnegols of corn on the cob . . . every Efteen days, six pairs of alpolrgoltols, and a straw hat.... Said concertoldos shall be distributed among the farms wtihin the jurisdiction of the town, with preference given those farms nearer to the town and those of older title.55

63 Wages had been required as payment for labor when the Indians were declared subjects of the Crown in 1542. Regulations of this system were set forth in 1593 by Philip II, in 1598 by the Real Audiencia de Santa Fe de Bogota, and again according to a royal cedula in 1601 (Groot, I, 202, 301-302, 524).

64 44 Los indios de Soaca contra su encomendero Francisco Ramirez Melgarejo, 1647," ANC, V, f. 776v. Unfortunately no other details are given, such as the number of Indians involved and their obligations. Cf. Mojica, p. 39, for Tuquecha and Moquecha ( 1596) .

65 Transcribed by Hernandez Rodriguez, pp. 265-266. See regulations for concertados at Somondoco, Tenza, Sutatenza, and Sunuba in 1621 by Antonio de Obando, in Mojica, p. 142.

340 INDIAN CONGREGATIONS IN NEW KINGDOM OF GRANADA

Such a system, however, slowly degenerated, as it reverted into the seignorial arrangement to which it was leading: there were natives who, after being allocated to a farm, stayed there, practically as serfs, for an indefinite period of time. When landlords offered plots on which such Indians could settle (thus securing a dependable and steady labor force) and cash wages, the germ of the present system of resident laborers, with a tint of feudalism, was quick to gain strength. The de facto situation of these settlers moved Spanish officials to recog- nize their status and, eventually, pertinent instructions were issued:

If the Indians do not want to remain on the farms, they shall not be detained there by force, and they may return to their reductions. But if the Indians do not return within two years, the hacienda in which they work shall be their confinement, and there shall be inside the farms a place suitable for [Indians] to live together.56

In addition to the disintegration of resguclrdos from within, there occurred the challenging intrusion of whites from without-while many natives left the reservation to work on neighboring haciendas, white settlers invaded Indian lands. After 1642 it became necessary that the sisitcldores not only investigate the manner by which the Indians were put to work, but also that the officials revisit the premises in search of Spanish invaders. Thus new clmpclros had to be proclaimed in which it was also ordered to correct the illegalities within a period of time. Many cases can be cited which may illustrate this period of initial disintegration. For example, the 1670 clmpclro for the Indians at San Jose de Pare is clear in this regard. The local reservation had been granted by Lesmes de Espinosa Saravia in 1617 and confirmed by Diego Carrasquilla Maldonado in 1642. The Indians had been paying tribute to encomendero Diego de Velasco, but there was a great reduction in intake during the 1660's, indicating that the resguclrdo was decaying. Visitcldor Jacinto de Vargas Campuzano went to Pare in 1670 to study the situation, and he discovered that the Indians lived scattered in the fields and not in a congregation, that they had diminished to less than one-tenth of the number encountered by Espinosa Saravia, and that Spaniards were squatting on the Indian land. On the other hand, when Vargas Campuzano investigated the 46 farms and trapiches managed by Spanish settlers in the province of Velez (of which Pare was then a part), there were ten Negroes and 488 laborers who were described as " slaves." In the region of Chitaraque and Santa Ana, where it was

66 See the Recopilacsn de las leyes de las liias, Libro VI, Titlo III, Ley XII. Cf. Jose Maria Arboleda Llorente, El indio en la colonia (Bogota, 1948), pp. 164-166.


suspected that a part of the Pare Indians were, 55 laborers attended the trapiches. It was clear that the protected collective holders of the Pare reservation had left it in order to work in haciendas nearby. Moreover, the Indians had rented land within the resguclrdo, which was clearly against the law. Thus Vargas Campuzano, after meeting and talking with the Indians and the Spaniards, determined to correct the situation by regulating the system of concertcldos and annulling conflicting grants.57

Most resguclrdos had trouble with squatters and invading neighbors; archival records are full of such conflicts. Some areas were worse off than others; as a rule, those far away from Tunja did not fare well in this regard-the reservations of Guican and Chiscas, for example, were practically nibbled away by whites.58 Contemporary accounts, such as one by Basilio Vicente de Oviedo 59 and viceroys' reports,60 all bear witness to the trying times that the Indians were having at the hands of non-Indians, and the considerable dwindling of the native race.

THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE Resguclrd os AND THE ORIGIN OF Agregados, 1755-1810

The trend towards disintegration was hastened by royal policy, especially by the second Cedulcl del Pclrdo signed by Ferdinand VI in 1754. Of course, this cedulcl once more proclaimed that the Indians were to be protected, but in reality the state's fiscal interest was by then stronger than any feeling toward the economic welfare of the Spanish commonwealth. International difficulties dictated that money had to be obtained, and one easy manner was the sale of realengcl, or crown land.

An appraisal of land titles and a revision of occupied land thus became mandatory. Among other things, it was decided to sell the lands whose titles could not be documented, and to auction the land which had not been occupied or used after 1700.61 Most of the Indian land was " composed " in 1755 and subsequent years, after orders issued by Viceroy Jose Solis Folch de Cardona; and such land was found faulty both in the number of settlers and in its use, thereby requiring

Mojica, pp. 216-220. 68 ANC, I, ff. 780-81 1; III, ff. 148-148v; V, ff. 420425, 532-538v. 69 Basilio Vicente de Oviedo, Cualidades y riquezas del Nuevo Reino de Granada

(Bogota, 1930), passim. 6°Eduardo Posada and Pedro Maria Ibanez, eds., Relaciones de mando (Bogota, 1910),

passim. 61 Ots Capdequi, pp. 107-112.

3 42 INDIAN CONGREGATIONS IN NEW KINGDOM OF GRANADA

important adjustments. This tenurial revolution is linked with the end of a number of reservations.

When Andres Berdugo y Oquendo, the newly appointed visitcldor, started his difficult mission in 1755, the lines of demarcation which had been drawn so clearly between whites and Indians were blurred both in race and in the geographic distribution of the population. Pueblos or " parroquias de espanoles " were no longer white, and " pueblos de indios " had been pretty well intermixed. It was difficult to define who belonged in the respective racial communities originally designed. This problem was faced by Berdugo in Soata, where he decided tO count mestizos (most of the community) as " legal " Indians and proceeded to visit the resguardo.62 Of course, if the Indian community of Soata had been intermixed to such an extent, it was simply due to the imme- diate presence of Spaniards. Indeed, Berdugo found that the Indians had been renting their land to whites, leaving only a small portion of the resguclrdo to themselves. Not only were the whites occupying much of the land but some of them were living, illegally of course, in the pueblo itself.63

Berdugo was confronted with two realities. One was the evident dwindling of the native race, and the other was the tremendous pressure upon resguclrdo lands exerted by the non-Indian population. In fact, both realities could be considered as two sides of the same coin. This pressure seemed to be exerted not so much by the big landowners, or Icltifundistcls, as by a new and large class of resident operators-specifically referred to as a " middle class " by Viceroy Manuel Guirior_ 64

who were content with having small farms. This new class may have been part white and part mestizo, or it may have been almost all mestizo. The fact is that it rapidly grew in numbers. This group of land-hungry farmers found itself squeezed by the landholders of the provinces of Tunja and Villa de Leiva: the heirs of the senores who had received large mercedes, the Church, and the Indians. The newcomers (chapetones) and the local mestizos could live on Spanish lati- fundia but only as renters.65 On the other hand, they could not live officially in resgualrdos because they were not Indians. Nevertheless,

62 Andres Berdugo y Oquendo to Viceroy Solis, Soata, May 25, 1755, ANC, IV, f. 7. 63 ANC, IV, ff. 9-9v. sg Posada and Ibanez, p. 149. 66 There are many cases in which such small operators sewled on Spanish haciendas.

For instance, during the 1770's Diego de Caycedo had 23 vecinos as renters (arrenda- tarios) in his Teguaneque farm at Turmeque (" Memorial de Diego de Caycedo, Santa Fe de Bogota," October 14, 1777, ANC, VII, f. 78). Nicolas de Rutia had 53 vecinos as renters in his Toca estates in 1785 (" Padron que se hizo este ano de 1785 de las personas que hay en esta agregacion de Toca de confesion y comunion," ANC, Cund., I, ff. 33-35).


a way was found to circumvent the law and, as was the case in Soata, many who were not Indians were actually renting and living on reservation land.66.

It was clear that amparos styled after Vargas Campuzano could no longer be enforced, and that a more pragmatic system of dealing with the situation was necessary. Berdugo's solution was to sell for the king's treasury all or part of resguardos in which the number of Indians did not justify the amount of land involved. He decided to move the relatively few Indians who would be displaced to other pueblos. Resident vecinos who were squatting or renting inside the resguardos were entitled to purchase at auction such land under a system called encabezonamiento, whereby one vecino represented the others and took part in the legal proceedings. This meant, of course, that such communities would lose their status as reducciones or pueblos de indios and that they would be turned into parroquias de espanoles. Berdugo undertook such action in Soata on June 21, 1755,67 Toca on January 18, 1756,68 Moniquira on April 12, 1756,69 San Jose de Pare,70 Saboya,71 Tinjaca on April 30, 1756,72 Tenza, Somondoco,73 and Ramiriqui on June 11, 1756.74 Part or all of the lands in these resguardos were publicly auctioned, as a rule, in Santa Fe de Bogota. The true Indians were ordered to move away to work at nearby pueblos, and to take along all belongings. Certain privileges were granted to those displaced, such as freedom from tribute for one year.75

There were illegal renters in other reservations, but Berdugo did not undertake the overhauling of the entire resguarrdo system. This was more nearly the accomplishment of Jose Maria Campuzano y Lanz, corregidor of the partido of Tunja who, with the sponsorship of Vice-

66 There were illegal renters in most reservations, some with only one (Boyaca), others with a good number (Certinza). Blas de Valenzuela to the Viceroy, Santa Fe, December 24, 1777, ANC, V, ff. 82-83; " Confirmacion del resguardo de Boyaca por A. Berdugo y Oquendo," January 23, 1755, ANC, V, ff. 990-995.

67Joseph Antonio de Penalber to Viceroy Solis, Boavita, June 21, 1755, ANC, IV, f. 13.

68 Andres Berdugo y Oquendo tO Viceroy Solis, Toca, January 18, 1756, ANC, IV, f. 961v.

69 Mojica, p. 235. 70 Ramon C. Correa, Monografias (Tunja, 1928-1941), III, 123. 7lANC,IV,ff.30-33.

72 Andres Berdugo y Oquendo tO Viceroy Solis, Chiquinquira, April 30, 1756, ANC, VI, ff. 905-911.

73 Moiicas pp. 243 247- 74 Memorial of Clemente Robayo tO the Viceroy, Santa Fe, March 22, 1782, ANC, I,

ff. 293-295; Mojica, p. 239. 76 " Memorial de los oidores, Santa Fe," July 15, 1755, ANC, IV, ff. 22-22v.


roy Manuel Antonio Florez, abolished in 1777 and 1778 the entire reservations of Sativa,76 Busbanza,77 Chiscas, Boavita, Guacamayas,78 Cerinza,79 Beteitiva,6° Tutaza,81 Sogamoso,82 Tasco,83 Viracacha,84 and Tibasosa.85 Campuzano also sold a part of the reservations at Guateque,85 Pesca,87 Tota,88 Soraca,89 Cheva, Onzaga, and Mongui.90 Campuzano's criteria were the same as those of Berdugo-the Indians were not working the land but were renting it to " whites " in order to obtain means to pay the tribute, and these "whites" had practically taken over the native pueblos. However, foremost in the mind of the Spanish rulers was the danger of the impending war with England. By selling Indian land-still considered as realenga-much needed cash could be collected for the armies of the king.

A new parroquia was instituted in each case with the blessings of the Church.91 The status quo of landholding was maintained, except for a change in the status of most of the vecinos from renters to owners. This happened in communities where the method of encabezonamiento was used to effect the transition of the land from the Indians to others, namely, in Ramiriqui,92 Guateque,93 Soata,94 Cerinza,95 Beteitiva,96 Pesca,97

76 ANCs IVs ff. 298457. qq ANCs IVs ff. 705-761. 78 ANCs IVs ff. 869-1002; Mojicas p. 266. 79 "Diligencias del remate de los resguardos de Cerinzas Santa Fe" June 25 1777,

ANCs Vs ff. 54-56. 80 ANCs Vs ff. 225-238. 81 ANCs VIIs ff. 974-1006. 82 Mojicas p. 259. The first order to abolish the Sogamoso resguardo was issued in

1767 (ANC, Is ff. 166-167, 186 202), but the Indians resisted the change. The final orders were given by Campuzano and Oidor Francisco Antonio Moreno y Escandon (ANC, VIIs ff. 726-727).

83 ANCs VIs ff. 824-841. Mojicas pp. 245-246.

86 Ibid, p. 250. 86 Ibid., pp. 250-265; ANCs IIIs f. 283. 87 Tomas de Guevara to Viceroy Caballeros Julys 1781 ANCs VIs ff. 579-589. 88 Mojicas p. 244. 89 Ibid., p. 247. 90 ANC, Vs f. 44v.; Mojicas p. 273. 91 In this regard see the monumentals though somewhat disorganized work of Correa,

already cited. The legal wording was: " Se erige en parroquias extinguiendose su primi- iiva constitucion de doctrina " (cf. " Memorial de los oidoress Santa Fe" July 15 1755, ANCs IVs f. 25v).

92 Clemente Robayo to the Viceroys Santa Fes March 22 1782 ANCs Is ff. 293-295. 93 ANCs IIIs ff. 277-299. 94 Joseph Antonio de Penalber to Viceroy Soliss Boavitas June 21 1755s ANC, IVs ff.

13-76v. 96 ANC, V. ff. 54-112v. 96 ANC, Vs ff. 238-240. 97 Tomas de Guevara to Viceroy Caballeros Julys 1781 ANCs VI, ff. 580-581.


Tasco,98 and Tibasosa.99 But at Tinjaca,100 Tutaza10l and Toca,l02 a sirlgle vecino was sole beneficiary in each locality. In these three communities the numerous class of cash renters continued in such manner that the few landowners were accused of living as " senores solariegos." When a census of vecinos was taken at Toca in 1785, it showed that there were only five owners who had 53, 84, 47, 27, and 4 families or households of renters respectively.103

As an outgrowth of the legal dissolution of the resguardos, Indians were transferred by force from one community or congregation to another, together with thetr families and private belongings. In referring to those displaced from Soata in 17551 the oidores used the familiar term agregados.l04 It is important to study the meaning of this tenurial term because it has varied from time to time and even at the present time it has regional variations.105

When resgtlardos and reducciones were organized by Egas de Guz- man and Valcarcel, agregados were simply those natives who lived at some distance from the reduction. They still went to the assigned pueblo, however, for religious and admlnistrative purposes. For instance, in 1626 the Indians of Osamena, who lived one league away, were " agregados to Vijua, where there is a church for everybody X; 106 the Indians of Guatensana in 1635 likewise were attached to Motavita; 107 and those natives who lived in Sasa, Chausa, and Tibaquira in 1636 were agregados to Samaca.108 This seems to have been a common practice during the early colonial period, as it was realistic from the standpoint of religious administration: one curate could minister to two or more Indian groups. Distinct from forajidos, or Indians who were strangers or foreigners

98 ANC, VIs ff. 850-860. 99 Mojicas p. 250.

ANC, VIs ff. 908-926. 101 ANCs VIIs ff. 1001-1023. 102 ANCs VII, ff. 83-107V 103 44 Padron que se hizo este ano de 1785 de las personas que hay en eta agregacion

de Toca de confesion y comunion,' ANC,Cund., I, ff. 33-35. 104 4' Memorial de los oidores, Santa Fe," 1U1Y 15, 1755, ANC, IV, ff. 22-22v. 106 The term " agregado " is used at the present time in Giron (Santander, Colombia)

to refer to a tobacco sharecropper; see Roberto- Pineda Giraldo, "Estudio de la zona tabacalera de Santander," in Seguridad Social Co7npesina (Bogota, 1955), p. 52. There are agregados in diverse areas of Colombia, but their distribution has not been documented. The Boyaca agregados are different from the Brazilian agregados who are resident laborers on fazendas; see T. Lynn Srnuth, Brazil: Peoples and Institutions (Baton Rouges rev. ed. 1954) pp. 60 383-387.

6 Mojicas p. 195. 107 ANCs IIIs f. 665; Mojicas p. 222. 108 Mojicas p. 2W.


amid the specific group with which they lilred, the agregados had duly assigned lands, and they belonged within their local communities.

Agregados of another kind arose early in the seventeenth century. These consisted of the white settlers who lived away from Spanish towns and who had difficulties in traveling each Sunday to church. This problem was first observed by Archbishop Fernando de Ugarte in 1622, when he permitted the missionaries to Indians to minister the sacraments to such isolated Spaniards.109 These took the designation of " agregado de confesion y comunion," 110 or " vecino y agregado." 111 The number of secinos y agregados seems to have risen as the reservations disintegrated. As will be seen, they were an important element in bringing about the end of the resguardos.

The new type of agregados that made its appearance in 1755 did not have the religious overtones of its predecessors. It was a real land tenure class. In principle, the agregados resulting from the reorganization of reservations were to continue with land for their own use within the new locations. They were permitted to harvest from the lots that they were going to abandon and to start planting immediately on the land they were to receive in the new locations.1l2 Moreover, no differences were to be established between the old residents and the newcomers, and the latter were entitled to elect and to be elected to political offices. Even the priests were requested to promote amalgamation.

In practice, however, the algregados became landless laborers who suffered hardships not only in the process of moving from one place to another, but at the pueblos where their Indian fellows were supposed to receive them '4 with open arms." The pathetic case of Beteitiva is probably typical. The leaders of this community wrote as follows in 1779 after they were ordered to move to Duitama:

About two years ago Don Jose Campuzano commanded us to leave with all speed the lands which we possessed in said [Beteitiva] and Tutaza and to move with our families and belongings to the pueblo of Duitama where we were to receive suflicient land. We pleaded with him all we could . . . but he paid no attention. On the contrary,

9 Oviedo, pp. 116-117. 110 " Padron que se hizo este ano de 1785 de las personas que hay en esta agregacion

de Toca de confesion y comunion," ANC, VII, f. 33; " Interrogatorio por el cual seran examinados los testigos, Beteitiva," May 25, 1777, ANC, V, f. 232v.

Oviedo, p. 117. 112 Such was ordered for the Sogamoso Indians upon their transfer to Paipa; see "Auto

del Visitador Francisco Antonio Moreno y Escandon, Paipa," June 8, 1778, ANC, VI, f. 726v. The same was ordered for those Indians at Soata upon their transfer to Tequia and Boan7ita; see " Memorial de los oidores, Santa Fe," July 15, 1755, ANC, IV, f. 22-22v.


he said that if we did not obey his commands he would order our houses and huts to be burned. Therefore, we obeyed and walked to Duitama under the greatest diEculties, with so many hardships that we have no words to describe . . . how we reached Duitama after two days of traveling with our women and more than sixty children, our cattle, and other animals. And when we arrived at Duitama, our only shelters were the trees and the eaves of the houses of the Duitama Indians.... We stayed, but until the present no land has been assigned to us, for which reasons we live like renters [arrendados], on the verge of perishing.... The greatest [of our afflictions] is the ill treatment that we receive from the Indians of Duitama.ll3 -

It should be noted that the Indians of Beteitiva had no choice but to become, as they said, " arrendados," or tenant laborers. They were not given land as promised, but had to work for the residents of Duitama.

Cases of Indians who would not move from their abolished reservations were also common. In this instance the natives were likewise converted from lessees of the king to landless laborers, because they remained in opposition to the orders and on land that was no longer legally theirs. The term used to describe these Indians was also that of agregado, if for no other reason, because it was impossible to refer to them as belonging to any local resguolrdo. Such was the case of the Cerinza Indians who did not move to Duitama-they described themselves in 1784 as agregados to the parroquia of Belen.1l4

Still another case is known whereby those who tried to settle in the new location found this difficult and returned to their native communities. This happened at Tasco in the 1780's, whither the local priest sponsored the return of thirty Indians from Socha.1l5 But, of course, such Indians returned as laborers to a land that was no longer theirs.

Apparently, in the course of time the word agregado was lost as a reference to a tenure form in most of the critical areas selected bzz Campuzano. In these as well as in many other areas in Boyaca, the concept of resident laborer embodied in the concertordo system (see above) continued to keep its hold, although at the present time this system is working on a voluntary basis.1l6 New terms have been adopted in Boyaca to describe the same arrangement: arrendatario, viviente, and

113 "Bruno y Agustin Acero, capitanes de los indios desagregados del pueblo de Beteitiva," to the Viceroy, Santa Fe, July 12, 1779, ANC, V, f. 269-270.

114 "Don Pedro de Bargas . . . por los capitanes e indios naturales del pueblo de Cerinza," to the Viceroy, Santa Fe, August 19, 1784, ANC, V, f. 120.

116 Agustin Baldeon, Indian captain, to the Viceroy, Santa Fe, November 25, 1789, ANC, VI, f. 895v.

llff Fals-Borda, Peasant Society, pp. 66-67, 102-112 passim.

348 INDLAN CONGREGATIONS IN NEW KINGDOM OF GRANADA

dependiente.ll7 It appears that only in the small municipality of Pan- queba, and specifically in the cveredol or neighborhood of Orgoniga, have both the renting arrangement hinted by the Beteitivans and its appellative agregoldo been preserve d. ll8

In the meantime, the disintegration of the remaining reservations continued. When the Indians got into arrears in the payment of taxes, parts of their reservations were rented by the Spanish authorities. This happened in Raquira,ll9 Tuta,l20 and Motavita in 1803,l2l and in Fira- vitoba in 1804.122 The remnants of reservations already reduced in size were rented to secinos for the purpose of covering the Indians' tributes. There were about two hundred such renters inside the resguardo of Guateque in 1801.123 Even such a powerful cacicazgo as Turmeque which, on the basis of the available materials, alone succeeded in aug- menting its resguolrdo at the expense of a Spaniard,l24 was suspected of having at least three hundred " white " renters living inside the reservation. When a fight developed between the secinos of Toca and Diego de Caycedo (who had relinquished his farm at Teguaneque to the Turmeque Indians), one priest certified that a number of whites " had listed themselves as Indians with the purpose of remaining [in the resguardos]." 125

117 For a discussion of these terms and others, see Fals-Borda, "A Sociological Study . . .," pp. 133-151. Notably, today in many areas of Boyaca to be called " concertado " is considered an insult or somewhat degrading.

118 In Panqueba, an agregado is now a share renter. When Campuzano visited El Cocuy in 1777, he listed three parcialidades of Indians at Panqueba which belonged to the El Cocuy community, apparently agregados since the visit of Berdugo in 1755 (Mojica, pp. 249, 265). Orgoniga was a part of the resguardos of El Cocuy in 1806, when a priest requested its delivery in order to help with the construction of the church (ibid., p. 275). The share renters of this locality have preserved the term " agregado," although the meaning and functional relationship of the term has changed from " those

attached tO E1 COCUY in 1755, tO those left landless on their own plots and who pay

rent in produce, after the priest's probable purchase in 1806. The principle that governed this transition was similar to that one in Cerinza in 1784.

119 Don Pedro Mendinueta, Viceroy, to corregidor of Raquira, Santa Fe, February 13, 1802, ANC, II, ff. 262-263, 269V.

120 ANC, VI, ff. 3741, 675-685. 121 ANC, VI, ff 686-699. 122 ANC, IV, ff. 641-688. 123 ANC, VI, ff. 797 797V. 124 Don Bisente Joya, governador del pueblo de Turmeque, to the Viceroy, Santa Fe,

April 25, 1775, ANC, VII, f. 3. The whole proceedings for this transaction take up to folio 141 of the same volume.

125"Certificado a pedimento de Francisco Marino, San Antonio," January 23, 1778, ANC, VII, f. 141. On the other hand, Oviedo believed that Turmeque had been little invaded by Spaniards (p. 118).


THE END OF THE Resgaard os IN BOYAC4, 1 8 1 0-1 8 5 0

When the flower vase was broken in the Llorente store on that rebellious day, July 20, 1810, the end of the resguolrdos already was looming on the horizon. The new Junta, probably a little more daring and much more practical than the viceregal government, decided to finish all the complications altogether and decreed the end of reservations and tributes on September 24, 1810.126 Although the socio-political situation remained unchanged because of the unsettled state of the new government and the Spanish reconquest of 1816-1819, the precedent had already been set. The days of the Indian as a precarious leaseholder of the king were numbered. In agreement with the ideology of the times, the natives must be made, and were made, full-fledged citizens and landowners in fee simple.

By 1810 the population of Boyaca had largely become a great community of mestizos. Most of the mountain localities had been by that time converted into parroquials regardless of whether they were in- habited by Indians, mestizos, or whites.127 Therefore, it seems that the government's decision to finish the resguardos altogether was more realistic than it has heretofore been considered.128

The basic law which put an end to the reservations in Colombia was signed by Bolivar on October 11, 1821. It stipulated that within five years the resguardo land was to be distributed among tribute-paying Indians who would then become owners in fee simple.129 Administra- tive difficulties delayed the application of this law until 1832, when the manner of dividing the reservations was set forth in detail; however, the Indians were forbidden to sell their newly acquired lots for ten years. Further regulations were promulgated in 1834 and in 1843. Finally, on June 22, 1850, the Indians were made full owners by the government of Jose Hilario Lopez, being entitled " to dispose of their property in the same manner and in the same titles as the other [citizens]." 130

Although the colonial authorities had ended numerous resguardos

126 Eduardo Posada, El 20 de Flio (Bogota, 1914), pp. 211-213, 353-356. 127 Cf. the work of Correa, already cited; cf. above, note 70. 128 The authority of the Colombian government to make such a decision rested upon

the conviction that the State had subrogated from the Spanish Crown the eminent domain. This is contained in a decision by the Supreme Court of Justice of Colombia dated April 7, 1897; see Jose Maria Serrano Zuniga, Investigaciones urtdicas sobre bald10s (Manizales, 1936), p. 79.

129 Hernandez Rodriguez, p. 286. 180 Ibid., p. 287.


prior to 1810, there were many still left to merit the consideration of republican legislators. According to the available records, the work of subdividing the reservations in Boyaca was largely in the hands of the " scientific surveyor," Juan Nepomuceno Solano. Aided by other surveyors and assisted by town officials, witnesses, and notaries, Solano abolished the following resgualrdos and subdivided the land among their tribute-paying users according to a meticulous census and a man-land ratio established for each reservation: 131 Samaca on July 5, 1834,132 Tuta on March 24, 1836,133 Turmeque on June 4, 1836,134 Sotaquira on July 22, 1837,135 Combita on March 14, 1838,136 Motavita, the lower section on August 9, 1838,137 Sora on March 21, 1839,138 and Cucaita on August 27, 1840.139 The resgualrdos at Siachoque and Oicata were parcelled also during this period, because the local Indians were already selling their lots, and even their rights to the land, in November, 1850, probably as a result of the law of June 22 of the same year.140 Many other resgualrdos were terminated during this period, but no documentation is yet available. The social and economic consequences of this policy are of such varied interest, that they deserve to be treated at length in special monographs.

It appears that there are no resgualrdos in Boyaca at the present time, except for one in the municipio of Coper and, in principle, one for the Tunebo Indians at Guican. It is not known when the Coper reservation was established. The local Indians had been given in encomienda to Miguel Gomez on April 28, 1561; a repalrtizniento was in force (especially for the local emerald mines) in 1629, when Diego de Argote was encomendero.14l The reservation had been organized prior to 1770, because in this year the local priest was put in charge of the adminis-

131For the size and number of the resulting lots, see Fals-Borda, "A Sociological Study . . .," pp. 197-201. For details on the parcellation of one resguardo in Cundina- marca, see Fals-Borda, Peasant Society, pp. 97-109.

132 These dates represent the day on which the actual partition was completed in each locality, after the Indians had been given possession of their respective lots. The record for the Samaca reservation is in the Notaria Segunda de Tunja, legajo Samaca, ff. 1-99v.

133 Notaria Segunda, leg. Tuta, ff. 1-98. 134 Notaria Municipal de Turmeque, leg. 1836, folios not continuously numbered. 136 Notaria Segunda, leg. Sotaquira, folios not numbered. 136 Notaria Primera de Tunja, leg. Cucaita, ff. 36-124. 137 Notaria Primera, leg. Motavita, ff. 1-18. The paramo, or higher section, was sub-

divided much later, in 1871. 138 Notaria Primera, leg. Cucaita, folios not numbered. 139 Notaria Primera, leg. Cucaita, ff. 1-87. 140 Notaria Primera, leg. Protocolos de Siachoque y Oicata, 1850-1856, folios not con-

tinuously numbered. 141 Mojica, pp. 140-141, 154, 163.


tration of a parc of the resguardo.l42 Coper was converted lnto a polrro- quiol on December 29, 1776.143 But there is no record of the abolition of the resguolrdo during either the colonial or the republican period. At present, the Coper " Indians " pay an annual levy for the use of their land.

In conclusion, it should be noted that while the land of the resgualrdos organized according to congregation laws passed from collective to individual hands, most pueblos or reductions which were built as a result of the same policies remained as focal points for each community. This seems to be the most important lasting achievement of the civil congregations in Boyaca: the perpetuation of ecological communities of farmers regardless of race, farmers who, while remaining scattered over the countryside, became dependent on a definite church and market center for local religious and economic activities. The loyalty of the peasants, either as Indian lessees of the king or as free mestizo citizens, to these centers, has been of paramount importance in the social structure of Boyaca. The cohesiveness of those ancient rural microcosms formed in pre-conquest days was thus successfully preserved by the socializing policies of the civil congregation, in spite of their failure in gathering the population into the newly created villages. This con- tinuity of social solidarity throughout the centuries appears to have been maintained through the bondage to the soil unposed on Indians and their descendants, either as agricultural laborers or as owners.

ORLANDO FALs-BoRDA Bogotoi, Colombia

142 ANC, III, f. 643v. 148 Correa, ItI, 60.

Documents

Fals Borda. Indian Congregations in the New Kindom of Granada