<P> The encomienda was strongly based on the encomendado 's tribal identity . Mixed - race ( Mestizo ) individuals , for example , could not by law be subjected to the encomienda . This moved many Amerindians to deliberately seek to dilute their tribal identity and that of their descendants as a way for them to escape the service , by seeking intermarriage with people from different ethnicities , especially Spaniards or Creoles . In this way the encomienda somewhat weakened Amerindians ' tribal identification and ethnicity , which in turn diminished the pool of available encomendados . </P>
how were some of the indigenous workers able to escape the encomienda system
dilute their tribal identity and that of their descendants