REVISIONING THE COLONIAL RECORD

Abstract

This essay discusses two recent Mexican films that draw on the written and pictorial narratives represented in La relación de Michoacán, a sixteenth-century codex. This text is widely attributed to the Franciscan friar Jerónimo de Alcalá but could more accurately be described as a composite account of multiple Indigenous and Spanish authors. Eréndira ikikunari (2006) explores the moment of Spanish invasion in the region of Michoacán, portraying the varied responses of the P'urhépecha people of the area through the heroic resistance of a young woman. Eréndira is compared with a film directed by a P'urhépecha filmmaker, Auikanime: la que tiene hambre (Auikanime: The Hungry One) (2010), which, like many of Pavel Guillén Rodríguez's fiction shorts, also draws on the Relación for its inspiration. In analysing the discourses that frame and reflect the use of the codex and its aesthetic transposition to the screen, I demonstrate how the films dialogue with dominant constructions of indigeneity as experienced in post-revolutionary Mexican nationalism.

Keywords:

• Auikanime
• Eréndira ikikunari
• indigeneity
• La relación de Michoacán
• Mexico

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the organizers of the Festival de Cine y Video Indígena in Morelia, Michoacán, where in 2010 I was first able to view Pavel Rodríguez Guillén's work. I would also like to acknowledge the work of Jávier Sámano Chong for the CDI's video archive. This research has been funded by the European Research Council as part of the interdisciplinary project, ‘Indigeneity in the Contemporary World: Performance, Politics, Belonging’, led by Professor Helen Gilbert at Royal Holloway, University of London. I am thankful to Helen Gilbert for her insights regarding this article.

Notes

¹This destruction probably occurred in a 1557 campaign when the study of pre-Hispanic beliefs was outlawed by the colonial Spanish authorities (Luiselli 2000: 640).

²The P'urhépecha people were called Tarascas by the Spanish, and many sources continue to use this term today. The group in question prefers P'urhépecha, which has been the dominant term since the 1990s. The Indigenous constitution of Michoacán is very diverse, with the most populous groups being the P'urhépecha, Nahua, Mazahua and Otomí peoples.

³Unless otherwise noted, all translations are my own.

⁴In fact, Rodríguez has cited Retorno as an influence that made him reflect on the possibilities of the historical film (see Sámano Chong n.d.).

⁵All translations from Eréndira are taken directly from the film's English subtitles.

⁶The petámuti is played by fellow videomaker Raúl Máximo Cortés, who was also responsible for translating the screenplay into P'urhé.