16th Century Grants of Arms to Mexican Indians

I thought you may like to see my new webpage with images and texts of
two dozen 16th Century Spanish Grants of Arms to Indigenous Mexican
Indians:

Some of these grants are among the earliest, if not the earliest,
grants of arms made to individuals born in the Americas. The webpage
is written in English and Spanish, and some of the images are large, so
it may take a few seconds to load.

Enjoy!

-Sebastian Nelson

George Lucki...

As we wade into the waters of correctness I think it important to note that
many Indians identify themselves as such - although that should not be taken
as an invitation to others to use the same term. Preferences also evolve
over time and this has much to do with a sense of identity and also with
political considerations. The same discussions occur in other contexts
(Black, Negro, African American, etc.). In Canada we make reference to First
Nations, Inuit and Metis and among the first nations for example to the
specific nation, proplr or band. The common adjective is Native as in
'Native Friendship Centre' or 'native sprituality' but Native is used less
frequently as a noun. The same holds true for Aboriginal. The terms
themsleves are not so much the issue but rather the perjorative meanings
that have have historically tainted these terms and the racism that went
with those perjorative attributions. Used respectfully and with permission
none of these terms are inherently racist. The best way to avoid the
suggestion of racism is to enter into dialogue with people as to their own
preferences.
For a different example the term Polack, or Polak comes from the word by
which Polish people refer to themselves in Polish. In North Amrican English
it has acquired historically perjorative meaning and so my preference in
this context is for the more neutral Pole. But used resectfully Polak is
still quite correct.
Kind regards, George Lucki