Huexotzinco Codex, 1531
Early Native American Legal Testimony: This is one of eight sheets prepared by the Nahua Indians of Huejotzingo to protest the excessive tribute they were forced to pay the Spanish colonial administrators whom Hernando Cortés had left in charge. When Cortés returned, the Nahua people joined him in a legal case against those Spanish administrators. The codex gives a precise accounting of what the people of Huejotzingo were required to provide. The displayed sheet is a record of the amount of gold and feathers the Indians provided to produce a banner of the Madonna and child for a Spanish military campaign.
