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How did Spanish colonial policies affect Indigenous peoples in the Southeast and Southwest?

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A dancer in a bright pink shawl with fringe, wearing traditional regalia adorned with blue and black accents, performs at an outdoor cultural event. — Native American November is the traditional time of harvest, gathering, and celebration in Native communities.

Spanish colonial policies profoundly disrupted Indigenous societies in the Southeast and Southwest through forced labor, religious suppression, and violence. While the Spanish Crown enacted legislation intended to protect Indigenous welfare, these policies were frequently ignored or abused by colonial officials in the Americas.1

The Southwest

In the Southwest, the Spanish implemented the encomienda system, which forced Indigenous peoples to provide labor and food as tribute. Missionaries aggressively sought to eradicate traditional religions, using torture, execution, and the destruction of sacred regalia to enforce Roman Catholicism. These abuses, compounded by smallpox epidemics and drought, led to the Pueblo Rebellion in 1680, where Indigenous peoples successfully drove the Spanish from the region for a time.234

The Southeast

In the Southeast, initial contact with expeditions like that of Hernando de Soto was marked by violence. Spanish forces frequently kidnapped Indigenous people for slavery, transporting many to Caribbean markets. As populations were decimated by disease and conflict, survivors often fled to remote areas or sought refuge in Catholic missions, though these communities remained subject to colonial control.5