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dc.contributor.advisorPavao-Zuckerman, Barneen_US
dc.contributor.authorJenks, Kelly Lee
dc.creatorJenks, Kelly Leeen_US
dc.date.accessioned2011-10-14T22:17:07Z
dc.date.available2011-10-14T22:17:07Z
dc.date.issued2011
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10150/145426
dc.description.abstractIdentities are forged through interaction, as people simultaneously seek to distinguish themselves from--and are influenced by--other populations. This dynamic is especially pronounced along frontiers, where multiple societies engage in sustained contact. Centuries of interaction between Spanish colonial and indigenous populations in New Mexico blurred the traditional social categories of caste and race, prompting the colonists to conceptualize themselves in new ways. In the late eighteenth century, Hispanic New Mexicans began to self-identify as Vecinos (literally, "neighbors"). This term described a civic rather than ethnic identity, characterizing individuals as residents and members of a Hispanic corporate community. This social category was particularly relevant in the multiethnic settlements along the eastern frontier, where Vecinos regularly interacted with Plains Indian nomads, Pueblo villagers, semi-nomadic Apache bands, and American traders and immigrants. One such settlement was San Miguel del Vado, established around 1794 as part of a community land grant in the Upper Pecos River Valley. Situated just east of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains beside a ford ("vado") in the river, this settlement served as a gateway between New Mexico and the Great Plains, hosting Plains Indian and American traders during the Spanish colonial and Mexican periods and American immigrants after the United States conquered the territory in 1846. These interactions shaped Vecino identity within San Miguel del Vado, motivating residents to distinguish themselves from outsiders while introducing foreign goods and concepts. Vecino identity was expressed and reinforced through the structure and routine of daily life within Hispanic villages; therefore, it can be interpreted archaeologically through an examination of spatial organization and the material remains of daily practices. Similarly, distinctive regional or temporal patterns within these data can provide insight into the different forces shaping Vecino identity across space and over time. In this way, this dissertation utilizes archaeological data to explore the expression and evolution of Vecino identity at San Miguel del Vado, and to place this site within a regional and historical framework. These archaeological data are supplemented with historical sources and interpreted using a framework derived from archaeological theories of culture contact, identity, and practice.
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherThe University of Arizona.en_US
dc.rightsCopyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.en_US
dc.subjectFrontieren_US
dc.subjectIdentityen_US
dc.subjectNew Mexicoen_US
dc.subjectPractice theoryen_US
dc.subjectSpanish colonialismen_US
dc.subjectTradeen_US
dc.titleVecinos en la Frontera: Interaction, Adaptation, and Identity at San Miguel del Vado, New Mexicoen_US
dc.typeElectronic Dissertationen_US
dc.typetexten_US
dc.identifier.oclc752261415
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Arizonaen_US
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen_US
dc.contributor.committeememberMills, Barbara Jen_US
dc.contributor.committeememberMajewski, Teresitaen_US
dc.contributor.committeememberMajewski, Teresitaen_US
dc.identifier.proquest11552
thesis.degree.disciplineGraduate Collegeen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineAnthropologyen_US
thesis.degree.namePh.D.en_US
refterms.dateFOA2018-08-22T08:28:25Z
html.description.abstractIdentities are forged through interaction, as people simultaneously seek to distinguish themselves from--and are influenced by--other populations. This dynamic is especially pronounced along frontiers, where multiple societies engage in sustained contact. Centuries of interaction between Spanish colonial and indigenous populations in New Mexico blurred the traditional social categories of caste and race, prompting the colonists to conceptualize themselves in new ways. In the late eighteenth century, Hispanic New Mexicans began to self-identify as Vecinos (literally, "neighbors"). This term described a civic rather than ethnic identity, characterizing individuals as residents and members of a Hispanic corporate community. This social category was particularly relevant in the multiethnic settlements along the eastern frontier, where Vecinos regularly interacted with Plains Indian nomads, Pueblo villagers, semi-nomadic Apache bands, and American traders and immigrants. One such settlement was San Miguel del Vado, established around 1794 as part of a community land grant in the Upper Pecos River Valley. Situated just east of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains beside a ford ("vado") in the river, this settlement served as a gateway between New Mexico and the Great Plains, hosting Plains Indian and American traders during the Spanish colonial and Mexican periods and American immigrants after the United States conquered the territory in 1846. These interactions shaped Vecino identity within San Miguel del Vado, motivating residents to distinguish themselves from outsiders while introducing foreign goods and concepts. Vecino identity was expressed and reinforced through the structure and routine of daily life within Hispanic villages; therefore, it can be interpreted archaeologically through an examination of spatial organization and the material remains of daily practices. Similarly, distinctive regional or temporal patterns within these data can provide insight into the different forces shaping Vecino identity across space and over time. In this way, this dissertation utilizes archaeological data to explore the expression and evolution of Vecino identity at San Miguel del Vado, and to place this site within a regional and historical framework. These archaeological data are supplemented with historical sources and interpreted using a framework derived from archaeological theories of culture contact, identity, and practice.


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