Testament from San Sebastián Teitipac, 1744
A last will and testament in Colonial Valley Zapotec
About the Testament
This manuscript is the Zapotec-language last will and testament of Manuel de la Cruz, written in 1744 in San Sebastian Teitipac, Oaxaca, Mexico. A contemporaneous Spanish translation of this manuscript was made in 1798 and is also available on Ticha: https://ticha.haverford.edu/en/texts/Te744T/.
The testator, Manuel de la Cruz, was fairly well-off. Among the items he allocates to others in his will are 520 maguey plants, 185 furrows of land and numerous other land plots (some of which he holds as collateral for loans), a yoke of oxen, and a horse. Among the people who receive these items are his only daughter, his nephews (of whom one shares his name), his wife, and his sister. His daughter receives the majority of his belongings.