Final answer:
Some caciques or native leaders cooperated with the Spanish to gain advantages such as government positions, military roles, or business opportunities. The encomienda system and strategic alliances played a role in this cooperation, as did religious conversion and potential benefits for their descendants.
Step-by-step explanation:
Some caciques, or native leaders, agreed to work with the Spanish during the period of colonization for a variety of reasons. Fear of the consequences of refusal played a significant role, as did the potential for various benefits and opportunities. Through cooperation, native leaders could gain advantages for themselves and their communities. These advantages included positions in government bureaucracies, roles as soldiers or police—which could be particularly appealing to minority tribal groups previously under the dominion of more powerful tribes—as well as jobs as interpreters, guides, or business partners with the Europeans.
The Spanish had convinced themselves of their right to control native labor and to impose their religious beliefs. Under systems like the encomienda, this control was formalized, allowing Spanish settlers to profit from native labor. Moreover, the Spanish allied with certain indigenous groups, such as the Totonacs, who saw them as liberators from oppressive empires like the Aztecs. For these native groups, aligning with the Spanish was a strategic move that allowed them to overthrow rival powers and possibly assume more favorable positions under the new regime.
Finally, some native individuals converted to Christianity and may have found more in common with Christian Europeans than with their non-Christian peers, which facilitated cooperation with the Spanish. This collaboration sometimes extended into intergenerational advantages, such as education for the children of cooperating natives, potentially leading to jobs in the colonial bureaucracy or further opportunities abroad.