Paper short abstract:

New Spain's Inquisition persecuted sorcerer Martín Ocelotl for trading divinations for gifts with powerful Indians. Their failed attempt to sell his property thwarted their appropriation of his influence, resulting in the trial of another Ocelotl.

Paper long abstract:

In 1537 the Apostolic Inquisition of New Spain charged an Indian sorcerer named Martín Ocelotl with sorcery, divination, and dogmatizing against the faith. Ocelotl had allegedly predicated against Christianity along Spanish communication and trade routes. There, he had influenced Indian leaders by exchanging his prognostications for gifts, which he then re-distributed among other important Indians. These transactions created a symbolic economy in which all of the Indians knew and feared Ocelotl. The Inquisition publicly humiliated and exiled the powerful Indian as they had others, but rather than confiscating or destroying his belongings—a common outcome of "muerte civil" under Roman law—they made the unusual decision to publicly auction them. By selling the sorcerer's property to the Indians, I argue that the Inquisition tried to harness his system of influence to their advantage rather than destroying it. The Inquisitors hoped that the Indians who purchased Ocelotl's property would acknowledge them and enter the Spanish economy. They offered his belongings for any amount of gold yet three consecutive auctions ended without any takers. The Inquisition thus concluded that the sorcerer's property still remaining in Indian hands presented a great obstacle to their objective. As they learned about the missing items, they broadened the category of "property" that they demanded the Indians surrender. Ultimately, I argue that the Inquisition's failure to collect and sell Ocelotl's things thwarted their attempt to appropriate his influence and resulted in the subsequent trial of Andrés Mixcoatl, who would claim that he himself was Martín Ocelotl.