The Codex Osuna: A Landmark Nahua Lawsuit in Early Colonial Mexico City
Thu 3/6/2025 • 12PM - 1PM PST
Ph.D. Student Sofia Yazpik presents a work-in-progress session on The Codex Osuna, or the Pintura del gobernador, alcaldes y regidores de México (Painting of the Municipal Governor, Judges, and Councilors of Mexico), a pictorial and Nahuatl-language text produced by Nahuas for a legal dispute in Mexico City during the sixteenth century. This type of pintura, or pictorial writing, functioned as legitimate evidence that Indigenous peoples could present to viceregal authorities in a legal dispute. Completed in 1565, the Indigenous municipal governor, judges, and councilors from Mexico City utilized these pinturas to accuse the Spanish viceroy and judges of the Real Audiencia of exploiting the Indigenous population by physically abusing them and not paying them for their labor. This codex demonstrates how Indigenous litigants strategically used the Spanish legal system to defend their rights against corruption and exploitation.