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INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY — PUBLICATION NO. 11 



1522 until 1527/29. A mayordomo represented 

 Cortez in Tzintzuntzan and collected the tribute 

 from the Indians. When Cortez entered a period 

 of disgrace the members of the first audieneia 

 (1528-31) seized these lands, and entered the trib- 

 ute in the name of the crown {Corona de S. M.). 

 The representation of royal administration and 

 justice was in the hands of temporary alcaldes 

 mayores (high constables) and corregidores (over- 

 seers or magistrates), with seat in Tzintzuntzan 

 (also known as Uchichila and Michoacdn) from 

 about 1528 to 1540. The records are scanty and 

 contradictory as to administration during this 

 period. 



In 1543 Mexico had been divided on paper into 

 four provinces, one of which was the Provincia 

 de Michoacan. This province did not materialize 

 as a political unit until 1787, but its area was oc- 

 cupied by the bishopric of Michoacan (1536-), 

 and the term was used popularly for the entire 

 region. One must keep in mind that until 1787 

 the various alcaldias mayores and corregimientos 

 within the so-called province of Michoacan were 

 dependent only on the audience and viceroy in 

 Mexico City. The highest political and judicial 

 unit was the alcaldia mayor. After the 1550's we 

 no longer read of a corregidor in the Patzcuaro 

 area. We must assmne that until the establish- 

 ment of the in tendency in 1787, Cocupao looked 

 to Tzintzuntzan and Patzcuaro for administration 

 and justice. Despite much that has been written, 

 it is evident (Diez de la CaUe, 1646; Villasenor, 

 1746-48; Beaumont, 1932) that from about 1540 

 until 1787 PMzcuaro was the official capital of the 

 restricted province or alcaldia mayor of Michoacan. 

 When the seat of the bishop was shifted in 1540 

 from Tzintzuntzan to Patzcuaro, the seat or capi- 

 tal of the alcalde mayor also shifted from the one 

 barrio of the City of Michoacan to the other barrio, 

 and his title remained alcalde mayor of Michoacan 

 or of Uchichila-Pascaro (combining the names of 

 the two places). In 1576 the principal adminis- 

 trative and judicial functions of the alcaldia 

 mayor or provincia of Michoacan were removed 

 to the Spanish villa of Valladolid (founded 1541) 

 which became the de facto capital. The alcalde 

 mayor now took the title of Michoacan alone, or 

 Valladolid alone, but also it appeared as Huit- 

 zizila-Patzcuaro-VaUadolid (from the three differ- 

 ent cities known as Michoacan). The alcalde 

 mayor usually resided in his de facto capital, but 



he appointed a lieutenant {teniente de alcalde 

 mayor) who represented him in the official and 

 nominal capital of Patzcuaro-Michoacan. At 

 times the residences were reversed. The al- 

 caldia mayor of Michoacan was divided into a 

 number of areas or partidos among which was that 

 of the former capital, Uchichila or Tzintzuntzan, 

 within which was the Indian village of Cocupao. 

 Apparently descendants of the last cazonci or 

 ruler of the Tarascans held the position of gov- 

 ernor in Tzintzuntzan and Patzcuaro, and were 

 over the appointed governors and elected alcaldes 

 or judges in the surrounding Indian villages. The 

 tribute or taxes paid by the Indians of Cocupao 

 went to the representatives of the crown in 

 Tzintzuntzan and Patzcuaro until the period of 

 Independence, excepting for the years 1539-54 

 when possibly they were included in the eiu;o- 

 mienda of Juan Infante. (See Land Settlement, 

 pp. 10-11). 



The entire framework of administration be- 

 comes clearer with the erection of the intendency 

 of Valladolid in 1787. This intendency had legal- 

 ly defined boundaries (the first in the political 

 history of Michoacan), and all the powers of 

 alcaldes mayores, and corregidores (which were 

 abolished in Mexico at this time, with a few 

 exceptions) were placed in the hands of the in- 

 tendent whose capital was Valladolid. The in- 

 tendency was divided into 20 departamentos or 

 partidos or sub-prefecturas, among which was that 

 of Patzcuaro which included Cocupao. ^Vhat 

 role Tzintzuntzan played between Cocupao and 

 Patzcuaro is uncertain. Cocupao continued to 

 be an essentially Indian pueblo ruled by its 

 governor, judges, and religious officials. This 

 pueblo exercised control over the village lands, 

 whose boundaries were a matter of almost con- 

 stant conflict with the neighboring Indian com- 

 munities of Tzintzuntzan and Sante Fe de la 

 Laguna, and with the white and mestizo owners of 

 haciendas. 



With independence in 1821, the province of 

 Valladolid soon was converted into the State of 

 Michoacan (1824-25). After that it alternated 

 in title between an estado of a federated republic 

 and a departamento of a centralized republic or 

 empire. Since 1867 Michoacan has been a "free 

 and sovereign" federated state. With the acqui- 

 sition of statehood Michoac&n was divided (1822- 

 24) into major divisions which went under the 



