Abstract

Drawing upon her work on the emergence of indigenous Christianity in colonial Cholula, Puebla, Mexico, Verónica A. Gutiérrez provides readers with an overview of the current historiography on native ritual, resilience, and resistance to the introduction of European Catholicism in sixteenth-century Mexico. Offering rich insight into the relationship between native peoples and Christianity in New Spain, her essay challenges the dominant Eurocentric narrative about passive or fatalistic native peoples, details the various forms of resistance emerging in the wake of colonial rule, outlines indigenous resilience in responding to the Catholic practice of appropriating local sacred sites, and reveals the close association, strategic alliance, and genuine friendship often forged between friars and native peoples.