Indio

Working Definition:

A term originally used by Spanish colonists to describe peoples born in the Philippines who were considered lower class within the Spanish casta system. Though this term was a marker of race, Spanish conceptions of race differed from those of American colonists and were part of a complex caste system undergirding Spanish imperialism throughout the globe between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Related Terms:

Suggestions for Further Reading:

Luis H. Francia, A History of the Philippines: From Indios Bravos to Filipinos (New York: The Overlook Press, 2014); J. H. Elliott, Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America, 1492-1830 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006)