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Nancy E. an Deusen. Global Indios: The Indigenous S uggle o Jus ice in
Six een h-Cen u y Spain. Du ham and London: Duke Uni e si y P ess, 2015. 336 pp.
h ps://www.dukeup ess.edu/Global-Indios
We o en end o hink ha globaliza ion is he sign o ou own imes, he key o
cha ac e ize he con empo a y wo ld in con as o ea lie his o ical pe iods. Nancy E.
an Deusen’s Global Indios makes us econside his assump ion wi h i s in e es ing
analysis o he play be ween he global and he local in six een h-cen u y Cas ile. The aim
o his olume, as he au ho makes clea om he beginning, is o gi e oice o he
oiceless, mo e pa icula ly he indigenous people who we e impo ed as sla es in o
six een h-cen u y Cas ile om Ame ica. As pa o he massi e in e -Ame ican o ced
mig a ion in he pe iod—a leas 650,000 indigenous people we e ic ims o he luc a i e
ansa lan ic indigenous sla e ade ha s a ed in he 1490s— an Deusen disco e s ha
mo e han wo housand indios eached he Spanish kingdom o Cas ile. A e Cha les
V’s New Laws we e passed in 1542 s a ing ha indios om he Spanish domains we e
ee and could no longe be ensla ed, and due o ambi alence and loopholes in he
unde s anding and applica ion o he law, a numbe o indigenous men and women
decided o ini ia e lawsui s in o de o acqui e a piece o pape om he Spanish cou s—
la Casa de la Con a ación o he Council o he Indies—saying ha hey we e ee
assals. Many o hem became wha an Deusen calls “ ans-impe ial” subjec s wi h
complica ed iden i ies (2) because o hei o ced c ossing o Spanish-Po uguese bo de s.
This is he side o he s o y ha he au ho is se ou o ell by s udying he a ied cases o
184 indio li igan s be ween 1530 and 1585, and as she does so, she calls he eade s’
a en ion o he p ocess o cons uc ion o hese and o he iden i y- ela ed bo de s.
Van Deusen goes beyond he mas e na a i e o he in asion pe iod by ocusing on he
su i o s a he han on he o en s udied disin eg a ion and ex e mina ion o he indios.
She is no pa icula ly conce ned wi h he oes ei he , al hough she acknowledges he ole
o Ba olomé de las Casas as well as o he oic indigenous indi iduals like Ha uey,
En iquillo o Manco Inca Yupanqui (18). She ocuses ins ead on he s o ies o li igan s,
s udying hei cases in de ail o exce p s o na a i e ha she hen econs uc s in o de
o o e a wide iew on he se e al housand indio sla es li ing in Cas ile and how hey
made sense o hemsel es as hey endu ed bondage. Because o he way she cons an ly
emphasizes dialogues be ween Ame ica and Cas ile, he global and he local, he pas and
he p esen , he e lec ions on he scale o human bondage and he con adic ions and
meanings o sla e y go beyond he six een h cen u y Spanish con ex o acqui e a much
wide and con empo a y ele ance.
One o he exp essed objec i es o he ex is o ecognise he mul iplici y and complexi y
o indios, “ o a gue agains he sameness o hose indi iduals called indios” (28). As an
Deusen explains, o e he cou se o he six een h cen u y, he e m indio “ e e ed o
people om he Eas and Wes Indies, China, he Moluccas, India, B azil, Hispaniola,
Mexico, and Pe u. […] F om i s incep ion, indio was a homogenizing label ha
cons i u ed di e ence based on unequal powe ela ions” (11). E oking A jun
Appadu ai’s neologism e hnoscape, an Deusen coins he e m indioscape, which e e s
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o he high mobili y o indios and hei lack o connec ion o a gi en place in o de “ o
a gue ha indio iden i ies we e no longe spa ially bound o cul u ally homogeneous, bu
a he ansimpe ially p esen in he imagina ions o hose sla es and mas e s whose own
‘local’ expe iences […] we e mi o ed agains he expe iences o o he sla es and
mas e s” (12). App op ia ely, she e e s o how he no ion o an indioscape includes bo h
a sense o oo edness, “o belonging o places and cul u es o he han Cas ile and in
Cas ile” (13), and oo edness, “o a dis inc sense o ime and space based on expe iences
o bondage and de acina ion” (13). The accoun o indios in his ex unde lines hei
mobile and dynamic na u e and add esses hei cha ac e is ic ensions be ween
ensla emen and indica ion, de acina ion and newly o med connec ion, conques and
su i al. The c ea ion o indioness is unde s ood as a se ies o global in e ac ions which
illumina e he p ocess o cons uc ion and e o mula ion o sel in ela ion o he o he
and i is p ecisely he dialogue be ween he local, ansa lan ic and global dimensions o
indigenous sla e y, which an Deusen cons an ly emphasises, ha con ibu es o an
unde s anding o iden i y poli ics wi h a ele ance beyond he pe iod she analyses.
In chap e 1 he au ho cen e s on he globalized Cas ilian illage o Ca mona, nea
Se ille, o explo e “how he ou pa s o he wo ld could inhabi Ca mona” (35). She
s udies he li iga ion sui s o wo indigenous women, who did no p ecisely emb ace hei
ansimpe ial iden i ies bu on he con a y, sea ched o a ixed de ini ion as indias ha
would allow hem o be ee. Village and impe ial poli ics a e a play he e, and he
chap e o e s a good iew on anscul u a ion wi hou eso ing o his use ul e m.
Chap e 2 cen e s on he ansi ion om ee sel o commodi ied objec , he o ced
A lan ic c ossing o sla es, hei en ance in o Cas ilian households and hei
econnec ion in o new communi ies o indios. Van Deusen’s s udy o his dynamics o
mobili y, dis up ion and econ igu a ion, oge he wi h he accoun o se e al ac s o
li iga ion, o e a good pe spec i e on he in icacies o bondage and he ine line be ween
eedom and sla e y. Chap e 3 deals wi h he e ec s o he wo oyal inspec ions by
G ego io López Tó a (1543) and He nán Pé ez de la Fuen e (1549) in Se ille. O special
in e es he e is he accoun o he changes in he discou se on sla e y and he new
meaning o he wo d libe ad ( eedom). Chap e 4 goes beyond he me e analysis o he
na a i e con en s o documen s o wi ness deposi ions and cen e s on he physical
e idence used in he cou oom as an ac i e si e o powe : bills o sale, a el documen s,
b ands on he bodies o sla es, o he ypology o wi nesses a e s udied as wha Hayden
Whi e would call “plo elemen s” in he me ana a i e o bondage (126). Van Deusen
also commen s on he ele ance o he s ong belie in “pape eali y” and he di icul y o
e e i by means o o al es imony. In Chap e 5 she cen e s on legal ocabula y— e ms
like na u aleza, esca e o jus wa — hei ele ance in he de ini ion o indios, and he
sla es’ a emp s o e e hem. Chap e 6 s udies he con en ions, mainly physiognomic
and linguis ic, used o iden i y indios, and ca e ully examines he speci ic unde s anding
o colo in he six een h cen u y. Chap e 7 ocuses on ansimpe ial indios and deals wi h
li iga ions ela ed o h ee dis inc impe ial si es which an Deusen cha ac e izes as
bo de lands: he Moluccas ( oday he Maluku Islands), he bo de lands o B azil and Río
de la Pla a, and Pegu (now called Bagu, in Myanma ). In his chap e we ge a good iew
o he b oad concep ualiza ion o indios, he enuous na u e o colonialism due o limi ed
dominion o e hose e i o ies and people, and especially, he dispu es o e he meanings
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o so e eign y. I ha e ound he in oduc ion and conclusion pa icula ly clea and use ul.
These, oge he wi h he opening and closing chap e s, a e he pa s o he book ha will
p obably be mo e use ul o eade s who a e in e es ed in ex apola ing some o an
Deusen’s heo e ical conclusions o o he pe iods o con ex s, o i is he e ha we can
ind he key o he heo e ical amewo k o he ex , whe eas chap e s 2-6 a e mo e
ocused on he de ailed analysis o he pe iod.
Van Deusen adop s he me hods used in mic ohis o ical analyses, as she compa es
e idence om o e one hund ed li iga ion sui s wi h o he eco ds “ o access he global
and local dimensions o sla e y in indi idual li es” (14). Pa o he me i lies in he way
she uses in o ma ion om he li iga ion sui s and an ou s anding amoun o eco ds om
local and impe ial a chi es in Spain and La in Ame ica, ex ac ing he na a i e
agmen s in all o hem. She also d aws on a numbe o schola s who ha e s udied
indigenous sla e y. In ac , an Deusen uses a ich a ie y o sou ces, which, apa om
he ex ensi e numbe o a chi es, includes a ho ough bibliog aphy o p in ed sou ces
ha co e s he Hispanic wo ld as well as some colonial and pos colonial heo ies om
he Anglo-speaking wo ld. I pe sonally hink he wo k migh ha e bene i ed om
es ablishing some ela ions o US Na i e Ame ican s udies, which would ha e posi i ely
illumina ed he de ini ion o Indianness. Howe e , he au ho ’s amilia i y wi h
e e ences on sla e y and indigenei y is wide- anging and au ho i a i e.
As pa o he analysis, Van Deusen o e s a clea and pe inen discussion o ele an
ocabula y: he de ini ion, s udy and implica ions o “jus wa ,” “ esca e,” “nabo ías,”
“na u aleza,” and o he s a e pa icula ly illumina ing. O special ele ance in his espec
is he ac ha she is ne e a aid o acing complexi y o ambi alence; on he con a y,
pa o he s eng h o he wo k de i es om he way she add esses hem di ec ly. As a
esul o his c i ical a i ude, he eade can ex ac se e al pa icula ly use ul heo e ical
implica ions om he ex : By examining he changes o he global mo emen s in he
local p ac ices, and he changing way Eu opeans looked a hemsel es and he wo ld, an
Deusen o e s a ele an iew on he cons uc ion o he sel in ela ion o he o he ; He
a en ion o he cons an complica ion o bo de s—geog aphical, like hose be ween
Po ugal and Spain, o concep ual, like hose be ween sla e y and bondage—d aws he
eade ’s a en ion o he cons uc ed, in e es ed na u e o hose and o he bo de s o
he o ical ma ke s o di e ence; He s udy o he jou ney in o and ou o sla e y
na a i e coun e s he iew o sla e y as he na u al o de o hings and emphasizes i s
p ocess o cons uc ion. Las bu no leas , he app ecia ion o he ex ual s uc u e and
logic o he cases, hei s o y elling ame, he in e es ing s udy o he s uggle o con ol
o ep esen a ion and he ele ance o posi ioning—indios s. mas e s—and he
pe cep i e iew o he in en ion, e-c ea ion and e ision o his o y p o ide a e y use ul
e lec ion on ep esen a ion. Needless o say, all o hese a e ele an issues which s ill
equi e ou c i ical a en ion a he beginning o he wen y- i s cen u y.
Van Deusen is no only a skilled his o ian and c i ic, bu also a alen ed s o y inde and
elle . I especially alue he e o a acing and ex ac ing p e iously hidden s o ies and
gi ing hem back o us o ganized as solid, a imes e en g ipping na a i es. Fo example,
he P e ace ells he s o y o he sla e Ca alina de Velasco and he encoun e wi h
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Ba olomé de las Casas, who iden i ied he as an india om he Spanish empi e, a e
which she was eed. The an icipa ion ha some s o ies o injus ice could ha e a happy
ending and he e lec ion on he complica ions o ace de ini ions and ela ions makes he
eade eage o mo e om he e y beginning. The eading is especially g a i ying when
an Deusen ocuses on he di e en s o ies o indios and indias s uggling o hei
eedom, as in he cases o Bea iz and Felipa. One o he e y ew impe ec ions ha I
can men ion abou his ex is ha , because o he au ho ’s emphasis on he in en ion o
gi e oice o he oiceless, I expec ed o hea mo e indios oices in he ex , mo e quo ed
lines han he ones ha a e o e ed. In spi e o his, i is ob ious ha an Deusen’s
na a i e is he esul o a ca e ul job o esea ch and econs uc ion and i s me i needs o
be acknowledged.
Global Indios will be o in e es o schola s in he a eas o legal his o y, 16 h cen u y
his o y, and ci il igh s his o y. I will also be welcome in he ield o indigenous and
pos colonial s udies o i s iew on he diaspo a and i s pe inen obse a ions on he
p ocess o ace and e hnici y cons uc ion. All in all, his is a necessa y s udy, and i ells
a s o y ha s ill needed o be old. As we lea n he e, he indios’ alking-back oices we e
il e ed and silenced, bu ha does no mean hey we e no he e. Thei wo ds, like an
Deusen su ely p o es wi h he own, “a e no emp y wo ds” (29).
Sil ia Ma ínez-Falquina, Uni e si y o Za agoza, Spain