ABSTRACT
During the first half of the sixteenth century changes in Indian culture were brought about directly as a result of Spanish conquest and colonization and indirectly as a result of population decline. Although Indian solidarity was fostered to a certain degree by conquest, its ultimate effect was to weaken the social structure of chiefdoms through the imposition of Spanish institutions and through the decline in the Indian population it induced. Unfortunately there is little evidence of the cultural changes amongst tribal groups in eastern Honduras, although undoubtedly some changes did occur as a result of enslaving raids and the establishment of mining enterprises in Olancho. Diseases were undoubtedly a major factor in the decline of the Indian population of Honduras. Although very few contemporary observers attributed the decline in the Indian population to die economic, social, political, and ideological changes brought about by Spanish conquest and colonization, it is clear that their effects were considerable.
