Encomienda

A system assigning Indigenous communities to Spanish colonists to provide labour or tribute, supposedly in return for protection and Christian instruction.

A Spanish colonial grant allowing its holder to demand labour or tribute from Indigenous people. In Cuba, it was used to extract forced labour.

A Spanish colonial system granting holders the right to demand tribute and labour from designated indigenous communities.

A system in Spanish America that granted a recipient the right to receive tribute, including goods or labour, from an Indigenous community, in return for supposed duties of protection and Christian instruction. It did not legally grant ownership of the community’s land or people.