nepantla

[Galen Brokaw]

In the preface to _The Darker Side of the Renaissance_, Walter Mignolo
states that the word "nepantla" was "coined by Nahuatl speakers in New
Spain during the sixteenth century to designate the inter-space between
cultures" (xvi).
I am familiar with the word, but I was not aware that it was coined in
the sixteenth century. Mignolo doesn't give any source for this claim.
Does anyone have any information either supporting or negating it?
Thanks,
Galen