Document 1 Text |
Summary |
| Isabel Guayra, india, native of Checasupa, and wife of Don Juan Pariguana, agreed to serve Juan de Xexas for one year. Juan de Xexas is to give her one hundred silver pesos plus the rent of a store for Isabel. Isabel said that she agrees to serve with the said Juan de Xexas for one year to serve him by selling coca in a store. | Isabel Guayra from Checasupa agrees to work for Juan de Xexas for one year. He will pay her one hundred silver pesos and rent a store for Isabel. She will sell coca for him in a store. |
| And, for doing this service and renting the store, he is to give her [a quantity of] silver which is 146 pesos and she is to take her clothing and shoes and good from those pesos. | Juan will pay Isabel a total of 146 pesos. She will need to buy her own clothing and food with that money. |
| And Isabel, india, agreed to keep good accounts for the said Juan de Xexas of all the coca that he delivers to her so that nothing is unaccounted for. And, during this time, Isabel agreed not to sell any other person’s coca apart from the said Juan de Xexas. | Isabel agrees to keep records of the coca she sells for him. She will not sell coca for anyone else. |
| Signed by Martin de Barrientos (public notary). | Signed by notary public. |
Work Contract of Isabel Guayra, 1571. Via the publication Women in Colonial Latin America 1526 to 1806: Texts and Contexts. (Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2018). Edited by Nora E. Jaffary and Jane E. Mangan.
Document 2 Text |
Summary |
| In the Imperial Villa (city) of Potosí, on October 17th, 1659, some indios appeared before me, Juan Pérez de Goynativia, public notary of this Villa. One is named Luisa Sisa, a yanacoana (personal retainer) of the principal church of this Villa, and with express license and agreement of Francisco Saes, indio, who said he is her legitimate husband. | Luisa Sisa, an Indigenous woman, appeared before me with the approval of her husband. |
| [Sisa] agreed with Francisco Yanguren, vecino, of this Villa that she would serve him as a wet nurse to raise a son of his and breastfeed him and do all that is necessary that she can do insofar as raising the son as well as what she can do in the house of Francisco Yanguren. Further, she is obliged to never be absent during a year-and-a-half. | Luisa agrees to serve Francisco Yanguren as a wet nurse. She will stay at his house for a year and a half to take care of his son. |
| Yanguren agrees that he is to give her five pesos every month. At the end of the stated year-and-a-half, he is to give her a basic dress and a custom dress for which he will reserve ten pesos. | He will pay her five pesos a month. He will also give her clothing worth ten pesos when she completes her service. |
| And, likewise, it is a condition that on any occasion when Francisco Saes would like to see Luisa Sisa, his wife, or sleep with her, it must be with the consent of Francisco Yanguren because of the risk this could have for the baby. | Luisa and her husband need to request permission from Francisco Yanguren if they want to see each other. |
| Signed Juan Pérez de Goynativia. | |
Work Contract for Luisa Sisa, 1659. Via the publication Women in Colonial Latin America 1526 to 1806: Texts and Contexts. (Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2018). Edited by Nora E. Jaffary and Jane E. Mangan (Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2018).
Background
Initially, Spanish colonizers used the exploitative encomienda system to force Indigenous communities to work for free. In 1542 the New Laws phased out the encomienda system, ushering in a new era in which Indigenous people could now demand pay for their work. The Spanish colonial government continued to require Indigenous men to pay tribute, but this did not apply to Indigenous women.
By the late 1500s Indigenous women were making labor contracts with their employers across the colony of Peru. These contracts spelled out the responsibilities of both the employer and the employee and were confirmed by a notary public. The sheer number of contracts in the records show that many married Indigenous women in the Spanish colonies needed to work outside the home to support their families.
About the Document
Work contracts reveal a lot about the work done by Indigenous women in the Spanish colonies. In the first contract, Isabel Guayra agrees to sell coca in a store rented by Juan de Xexas. In return, Juan agrees to pay Isabel one hundred pesos for a year’s work. Employers typically paid for a worker’s clothing and food, but this agreement explicitly states that Isabel would cover those costs herself from her pay.
In the second contract, Luisa Sisa agrees to be the wet nurse of Francisco Yanguren’s infant son for eighteen months. Starting in the mid-1500s, wealthy Spanish colonists employed Indigenous women to breastfeed their infants. This freed wealthy Spanish women from the demanding labor of breastfeeding. In the contract, Luisa agrees to live in Francisco’s household for the duration of her service. In return, Francisco will pay her five pesos a month, feed her, and give her two dresses worth a total of ten pesos. Because of the intimate nature of Luisa’s work, Francisco is able to make some additional demands not found in Isabel’s contract. Luisa agrees to live with Francisco’s household at all times, and her husband agrees to always ask permission before visiting her.
Vocabulary
- coca: A plant that can be chewed or brewed for tea.
- encomienda: A grant by the Spanish king or queen that allowed a person to demand tribute and forced labor from the Indigenous people in a defined territory.
- New Laws of 1542: A set of laws issued by the king of Spain that ended the encomienda system of exploitation of Indigenous people and required Spanish colonists to treat Indigenous people more humanely.
- notary public: An official who can certify documents.
- wet nurse: A woman paid to breastfeed and care for an infant.
Discussion Questions
- What types of work did Indigenous women perform in the Spanish colonies?
- What payment did Isabel Guayra and Luisa Sisa receive in exchange for their labor?
- What do these work contracts suggest about the lives of Indigenous women in the Spanish colonies?
Suggested Activities
- APUSH Connection: 1.5 Labor, Slavery, and Caste in the Spanish Colonial System
- Include this resource in a lesson about life in the Spanish colonies. These documents can help students understand the dynamics between Indigenous communities and Spanish colonizers.
- After examining these two contacts, ask the students to compare the compensation offered to the two women. Which woman makes more? Why do you think that is? What does this say about how different types of labor were valued in the Spanish colonies?
- Pair this resource with Life in Encomienda. Have the students consider why the encomienda system was ended. How did this impact the lives of Indigenous women? How did the Spanish continue to exploit Indigenous communities?
- Teach this resource alongside Life Story: The Gateras of Quito. What do these resources have in common? How did Indigenous women navigate the Spanish colonial system?
- For a larger lesson on the role of women’s labor in Indigenous communities during the colonial period, combine this resource with any of the following:
Themes
WORK, LABOR, AND ECONOMY
