Cochineal

This is the story of a color—one that began as an evolutionary tale, and evolved to shape the course of human history. Cochineal, a tiny, cactus-dwelling insect that produces a vibrant red pigment, was harvested for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples to produce a dye for their own textiles. Following the Spanish invasion of the Americas, cochineal ultimately became a globally traded commodity. In Europe, its red became the color of power, tinting the red coats of English soldiers and the Catholic clergy’s capes. Its commerce transformed the world of textiles, art and trade, but at the expense of the Indigenous knowledge systems and labor that brought it to bear in the first place. This is a story of how a color changed the world, and how the world exploited a resource.

Spain’s conquest of much of the New World in the 16th century introduced cochineal dyes to Europe which quickly sparked global demand. It was brighter and more saturated than any other red dye in the Old World, roughly ten times more potent than the next best option. Explosive demand led to rapid growth in production, which was done almost exclusively in Oaxaca by Indigenous producers. It became Mexico’s second-most valued export after silver, and by the 17th century, it was traded as far away as India. Cochineal red became an international symbol of power in Europe and beyond, and access to it was controlled exclusively by the Spanish who kept the true source of the pigment a carefully guarded secret until the 18th century when European biologists finally deciphered its source to be an insect. Farms began cropping up elsewhere which effectively ended the Mexican monopoly. By the 19th century, cochineal was largely replaced by synthetic dyes, though it is still used today in many foods, beverages, clothing, and cosmetics.

Esta es la historia de un color que comenzó como un cuento evolutivo y evolucionó para dar forma al curso de la historia humana. La cochinilla, un diminuto insecto que habita en los cactus y que produce un pigmento rojo intenso, fue cosechado durante miles de años por los indígenas para producir un tinte para sus propios tejidos. Tras la invasión española de las Américas, la cochinilla acabó convirtiéndose en un producto comercializado en todo el mundo. En Europa, su rojo se convirtió en el color del poder, tiñendo los abrigos rojos de los soldados ingleses y las capas del clero católico. Su comercio transformó el mundo de los textiles, el arte y el comercio, pero a costa de los sistemas de conocimiento y la mano de obra indígenas que lo hicieron posible. Esta es la historia de cómo un color cambió el mundo, y de cómo el mundo explotó un recurso.