Conclusion

Summary

I conclude the book by musing why Festín is the last source about Afro-Mexicans’ festive practices, when most of the sources from other latitudes are posterior. Through the analysis of a 1699-1702 Inquisition case that shows Mexicans of all “especie” (kind) acting in concert, I propose that the case may demonstrate the natural result of creolization: the incorporation of different cultures into a new one. Thus Afro-Mexicans, who had gone from Africans to Afro-Mexicans, become simply Mexicans. This scenario underscores the kind of cultural intimacies Afro-Mexicans developed with other groups and further complicates Mexican narratives of mestizaje.