Encomienda, in Spain's American and Philippine colonies, legal system by which the Spanish crown attempted to define the status of the indigenous population. It was based upon the practice of exacting tribute from Muslims and Jews during the Reconquista (“Reconquest”) of Muslim Spain.
The encomienda system was a trusteeship system used during the Spanish colonization of the Americas, conquistadors were granted the towns of the indigenous people they conquered. The conquistadors, known as encomenderos, were able to tax these people and summon them for labor.
they lived in single- room cabins made of logs are clay. And they owned the land on which they worked. And they made up more than 3 - quarters of the population I hope this helps
