Cowlonialism : Colonialism, cattle and landscapes in 16th century New Spain

Abstract: Cattle are not endemic to the American continent. Nevertheless, they are present and thrive in many landscapes, all the way from Canada to Argentina. The narratives about the process of colonisation of the American continent include human actors, but there is very little literature in comparison that deals on the influence of cattle in landscapes in the continent. In this thesis, I will contribute to the discussion about more-than-human processes of landscape modification, by analysing archival sources from the New Spain. This region included a big part of the West of the United States, Mexico and Central America. The period I analyse, between 1550 and 1602, represents the first decades of encounter between the Spanish settlers and indigenous communities, in the region of New Spain, where the Spanish established administrative institutions to manage their empire. The documents that I analysed showcase the transformations that cattle caused in the landscape, from how indigenous people lived, to what plants and crops could be cultivated. Inspired by Multi-species studies, ethography, and the concepts of “animal” and “landscape”, I use Actor-Network Theory to create a thoroughly described network of relations. In my analysis, I find that cattle influenced the activities that were performed in the landscape, as well as the ways that other actors interacted with each other. These actions, complemented by religious, economic and cultural ideas that circulated during the XVI century, would form what I call Cowlonialism, a regime of ideas and practices where cattle invade the land and displace their inhabitants, exercising power over other actors.