This dissertation examines the interplay of conflict, negotiation and collaboration among the natives of Laguna and the Spanish authorities in the formation of colonial spaces: the pueblos. As the pueblos were founded in the late 16th and 17th centuries, and their corollary institutions established, the people of Laguna, the friar missionaries and the Spanish government became enmeshed in a web of interactions contextualized in these spaces. The dissertation studies and clarifies the process of pueblo foundation. It also explains the institutions that were inextricably linked to the pueblo—the Church, tribute, labor and personal services—and examines the kinds of interactions that arose within these institutions. Finally, it elucidates the roles of the principalia of Laguna as brokers in these interactions.