This article examines the motivations, discourses, and legal strategies of indigenous peoples, their protectors, and authorities in response to the relocation, extinction, and aggregation projects of pueblos de indios in the province of Antioquia between 1755-1759. The aim is to reconstruct and provide comparative elements regarding the intentions behind the reform of indigenous lands in this regional context as part of the Spanish Empire, drawing from judicial documents and specialized literature on this and other regions. The study explores indigenous political agency through strategies and discourses of legal culture, in a context where crown agents devised a novel scheme of collective harm that affected the vassalage pact for indigenous peoples. It highlights the success indigenous groups achieved in contesting and reversing initial plans for the extinction and sale of lands, utilizing arguments and phenomena such as mestizaje and the establishment of local temples, among others, within the discourse of community protection and charity towards the vulnerable, tied to improved population administration. This helps to contextualize the regional character of the indian relations with the monarchy and the Bourbon reforms.
