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Mission Manifesto: A Document
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2015
Extract
The Spanish mission system was a tool of empire. If we consider it oppressive by modern standards, it was—at least in intent—a lesser of the many evils invariably accompanying the historical tactics of imperialism. With the Enlightenment and the new world republican movements of the early nineteenth century, the lot of the “mission Indian” grew worse rather than better. Although along with the other “citizens” of the new American republics he was declared “liberated,” he soon found out that some citizens were more liberated than others. With the rejection of the centralized authority of the Spanish monarchy, land-grabbing became the order of the day and Indian lands were the easiest target.
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- Copyright © Academy of American Franciscan History 1987
References
1 The Spanish Cortes of 1810–1814 made an attempt to introduce egalitarian ideals into the Spanish empire. Although the attempt was thwarted in 1814 by the restoration of Ferdinand VII as absolute monarch, the ideas propagated by the Cortes continued to influence large sectors of the empire, as witnessed by the present testimony.
2 The Franciscan missionary referred to was Fray Faustino González, native of Burgos, who served the Caborca mission district from 1804 through 1840. He died at Caborca in early 1841 at the age of sixty-nine, the last of the Spanish-born missionaries to serve the Pimeria Alta.
3 By reason of age and infirmity, Fray Faustino was exempted from the decree of the Mexican National Congress of December 20, 1827, expelling all peninsular-born Spaniards from Mexico. To the day of his death he had to live under the cloud of false accusations used as a pretext to justify the federal decree.
Los Llanos was the site of a gold strike early in last century. It was only a few miles southeast of Caborca. In 1834 gold was discovered at Quitovac in the Papago heartland north of Los Llanos, an event that later became a major factor in the confusion our document goes on to describe.
4 The mission districts described as critical (Caborca, Oquitoa, Tubutama, and Sáric) were those most accessible to the waterless Papaguería. The desert Papagos traditionally came in to these river villages en masse once a year to help with the autumn harvest. Every year some Papago families would elect to stay and join the mission community permanently. This amalgamation process is clearly visible in the Pimería Alta baptismal registers. Our document warns against a reversal of this process. Settlers moving into these villages would force all of the Indians. Pimas and Papagos, off the rivers and up into the Papaguería where there was not enough water even for the few Papagos already there. The advent of the mines, which demanded even more water, further aggravated the crisis.
5 If the covering letter from González to Pérez Llera was written, it has not been preserved.