The Seris “sharks” and the government of Sonora. Two cases of judicial inclusion, 1773 and 1831

Abstract

This paper investigates two lawsuits that were filed in Sonora in cooperation with the independent ethnic group of the Seris. Covering the transition phase between colony and independent republic, these cases show a considerable continuity of modes of governance in interethnic contexts during this time, and reveal the causes and the consequences of the adaptation of national law to local customs in the Mexican periphery.