From the Counting House to the Field and Loom: Ecologies, Cultures, and Economies in the Missions of Sonora (Mexico) and Chiquitanía (Bolivia)

Abstract

Comparative histories of colonial frontiers are raising provocative new questions for scholars working on the boundaries of British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese America.1 Some of the classic themes of borderlands history are receiving fresh scrutiny from different disciplinary and thematic perspectives, such that military encounters and territorial conquests are recast not as singular events but as conflictive processes conditioned by the environmental and cultural contexts in which they occurred. The religious mission, long a center-piece of Spanish and Portuguese colonial frontiers, is no less an object of critical historical approaches inspired by ethnohistorical readings of both new and familiar texts. Practitioners of the new mission history emphasize the complexity of the institution that gave rise to ethnically mixed communities with layered political, economic, and cultural dimensions.2This article focuses primarily on mission economy in two different settings, in order to reconstruct the ways in which the labor of Indian peoples living in missions produced marketable surpluses and to explore the linkages between the material life of the missions and the cultural frameworks in which they developed. The comparison between contrasting natural environments— one semiarid and the other subtropical—and different social milieus allows us to question the complexities of trade and market exchange under the constraints of colonialism and to explore the varying means by which nascent frontier elites accrued wealth and political sway over their respective regions. The economic analysis presented here goes beyond the institutional histories of colonial missions, in order to examine the allocation of labor, production of surpluses, and redistribution of material wealth in relation to both environmental and cultural factors. It provides a necessary point of departure for addressing the larger historical debates concerning the mission as a colonial institution and a site of contestation in which missionaries, Spanish governors and military commanders, as well as Amerindian communities figured as significant historical actors.3The following interpretive questions guide the discussion. What were the systems of production and redistribution that underlay the religious and political life of the missions? What were the degrees of coercion and choice that led the Sonoras and the Chiquitanos to enter the missions and recreate distinctive ethnic communities there?4 What different relations of accommodation and conflict developed between indigenous peoples and the mission, a European transplant and vehicle of conquest?The chronological framework for this comparative analysis covers the eighteenth century, when the mission system had matured in both of these provinces. The economic life of these two mission districts, and the stories of which they are a part, outlived the Jesuit administration of both Sonora and Chiquitos and extended beyond the formal limits of Spanish colonial rule into the early national period. For comparative purposes, however, the present discussion is centered on the years extending approximately from 1720 to 1810. During this time the expulsion of the Jesuit Order from all Spanish dominions, occurring in 1767–68, provides a fulcrum point of before-and-after to assess comparative processes of change that are both temporal and spatial. The Jesuit administrative system provides a common institutional reference, even as the contrasting geographical parameters of Sonora, in northwestern Mexico, and Chiquitanía, in eastern Bolivia, enrich their dual histories.Sonora constitutes the Sonoran Desert and the semiarid highlands, bounded by the Gulf of California and the Sierra Madre Occidental. The mission enterprise was centered on the piedmont areas of riverine agriculture and the trading networks that the of this with the of the from the of the Sierra Madre to the and that in the the of for and of Chiquitos of eastern is between the and the of the and present a of and in as and the of these the for of and the and for and and different and for on the of the the constitutes a between the and the of the is on the by the and the to the by the and of to the by the and to the by the of colonial the of and Chiquitos areas of the Spanish that on the of the of and of these frontier had European in both areas and and to Spanish rule the institution of the religious mission by the Jesuit and these the cultural processes of and different peoples by the colonial missions led to different of ethnic and in the two regions. The ethnic and of Sonora had into a in colonial as the and by the century, and these the of the of the by of the mission of Chiquitos to and as that ethnic and cultural from the of the an ethnic that even to the present of Sonora and Chiquitos and different of to the Sonoran peoples the frontier of by the of and was centered on with in the and on and were in that Sonoran both the and of a of as is by indigenous of the and the and the of Sonora, the mission system the and on of however, a different the and with and and on on a of and that were and and not but centered on of a of in which years of were by a of Sonora and Chiquitos presented of and in both were to the of indigenous but for different The Sonoran piedmont was by a of that the of on eastern Bolivia, peoples were not on the for the and as the means of and in both were from the that ethnic and gave to their the Sonoran and the dual of and that and and Desert as well as the piedmont of and their of and with to on the and the a in the as the of and as were a of the cultural systems of Sonoras and on the of and in to different a ethnic the systems and of ethnic that their for and a of communities as well as larger The territorial on which the Sonoran and peoples for their economic production and their social with the Spanish colonial of the of mission in a of and both of these frontier the a with the cultural and of the indigenous their for the labor into the of which they to purposes, and of and colonialism Sonora and Chiquitos into the and frontiers of with significant and in both and eastern the and of the the for to communities to a that the from as enterprise to The to Sonora from following the trade from in of and Indian from the of and the conquests of and the with and however, in Spanish in the indigenous of During this the two different of Portuguese and Chiquitos from Jesuit under the of the in and to the highlands, the frontier Chiquitos from the of the but under the mission the to and the of military of a and Indian as their of departure to explore of the to the wealth of a of the of the of the to a site as to the of the and the of between the Spanish and the indigenous peoples of a that the of of in the of in the but their with Chiquitanos were to the that had in to the a in the their of mission in with and the material of the Jesuit of the the had mission a that by the time the Jesuit enterprise was in of these mission was by a Indian that between one and and different ethnic and were to the Chiquitanos and the was not in the the expulsion of the which time the was into a from that of and the missions were under the of the of they were as the missions to under the that the had however, the political and economic life of these was by the that from the and of the both in and of the missions their even as and of the of Sierra and the labor of and that these Spanish in of The of and into the a by of and to and their the of between the Chiquitanos and Spanish and the colonial and well into the century, Chiquitos a by and and Portuguese and and Spanish and their in other ethnic of the and into the mission the of Jesuit mission enterprise in northwestern the of the frontier the and early in and military were the of the Sierra Spanish governors and their on the and Sonora to an by the of and on the their in working from the The the their by indigenous and with Spanish with the for to the and the early of the eighteenth the Jesuit mission of Sonora and had but the missions of an new the and peoples of the and of as in Jesuit with military with an of trade the to the of and Jesuit the Order of the mission of Sonora and California by the of the the of in with the Indian communities of and however, the of the Sierra Madre were from the territorial of and in a new the the governors and their and a political and administrative from both the of and the military to the the of the Jesuit enterprise in the frontier even with the of and the of the of the even as they the of administrative by the into the of The mission of and the under the of of in were ethnically mixed of the from the of and the the in the and missions of Sonora and from this of the and cultural parameters of the Sonoran and mission indigenous to the environmental of of these conditioned the of the mission Sonoran labor and degrees of in was by of both were by and the and of the but the of linkages that with the colonial economy were on in on a of and Sonoran mission the of into larger the a to indigenous and the Jesuit missions in Sonora and to networks that developed under the of Jesuit in northwestern Mexico, in Sonora and and for mission as as the of the mission were to the Jesuit in Chiquitos mission to the missions of the of Bolivia, was to the Jesuit of following the expulsion of the the and of for the mission of Chiquitos centered on Sierra and of the of the history of Jesuit in northwestern covers two the in the was to of a in this the with the and that The and of an of from the missions of and and from the Jesuit of the of the was not in however, the of the missions and in the the into with colonial for labor and the of material in and of the mission districts, in the of the and their of the labor to the of the mission developed in both these frontiers, they and wealth for the Sonoras and for the missionaries, and for the and of their respective colonial all the that the and not over of the as are with when for is not to to a that they into and for The of the the mission economy that in the of Sonora, as in the exchange between the and During and the of and of of and of to in the of a The following in on the in to from over the of is necessary to a on these The was not this but to a as as a the of and and on the that were and under the of indigenous and for the that in the mission, beyond their in for their the into the that the mission to one and to the that in Sonora and and the in as for the of that by means of from the Jesuit in the but in the in the such as and the of The which in of was an of this The of and in their in were and for these were to over to even however, the missionaries, and between and the all were with and in a system that that to the missions different of which from the and produced by the of to and from less and such as and these trade to the mission and they were for redistribution to the mission to living in the missions and to the had and to the the the with of and and was a marketable as the missions the and with and for and in as for their and for the of in the Sonora the of and an of the production and of mission surpluses from 1720 to The of and as well as the of in the mission from to for an of the of mission that were in the and the production of and in and an of the the for which comparative are and for the of by the for and the in a from and such as and trade to to the religious and and in in to for with of with the for these in the economic administration of the from one to the and on the of the and on the labor were by a of as as to which that the were for was in temporal that were on The between production and for both however, is of the was for the for the years in this over of the were the both of these and purposes, that the the a in the and The less in as of their that mission in their in the and in the mission for to new in the and and was the to in the and to the on and mission were the of over of the in to the mission of for the of for a over of by of The of the of Jesuit administration to the of and that had their and with the missions for a of the of the of the missions on the labor of the were to the in of to the to the surpluses that the exchange of and the to a is as well in the for of the and other for the and these even in years of when the not a for their had necessary to a of in the of trade The of mission of all for the and of the and the the missions in an of and in and and and the religious that for the of and the of were of and their with long and and religious were from and were in the Jesuit the dual of and for the of in all the in the present for the of the of this mission, into for the of and into for the in a singular and production and a that in to in the the and early eighteenth the missions had the the of for the and military of Sonora, this and produced of and for Sonoran missions to the of and in as and these in production and the of the eighteenth century, the market for mission their the of the and Sonora on the of and from the were on the missions for the of a the but by the of the a of of Indian The of into the economy from different not the of that the missions but the they the both and a to and a in a of of to and for a the years of Jesuit these had to two a for and a for and for a of of a of the of a in the of the of with over the of which the two a The for in was the of for but for a of the and to in all that the to the of that the to the of to which and were in Sonora, as in the mission with in this but were for and the of the eighteenth century, when the of was in Sonora, was in and the of The in for different the of market in to and and of which are one the years following the expulsion of the the mission economy even in for beyond to and for and that the for years were and the mission for the missions of and in that a of the Jesuit system of and of trade for redistribution to in these The and their with the of mission in their of for the and religious and to to the as one had an of the of in and to the that however, that a in the economy of the the of in and for and The of and to that relations of production in the missions to the of a economy and that had to to different means to labor for and for the of and to the mission of Sonora as in the of mission by and in the by and to the of in of in and over this and a the in and in the different is that the of of for had to less by both the of the of the missions and the to by the of indigenous systems of the economic administration of the of mission and the economy of this colonial frontier over two in the to the economy of the mission economic for mission as in the of and the of the Sonoran peoples into the market under of to the missions, in the of the and in the economy of Spanish and as the of labor, and redistribution of that the had and the of the eighteenth of a of Sonoras in the their and the of mission the of for the governors and of to the and to the and of Sonora, to the of from mission to the that were on the and to of on the of and the and military to their to the and the of the with the life of the mission as by and was not but was and even by and to the of colonial wealth and the of the in the frontier of During this missions of the and were and in the administration of the mission that had developed in on the eastern of the of years the departure of the from the Chiquitanía, these indigenous of a between the years of when the of the missions, and the of the new the time of the a familiar to the and by the and military governors of the to the of the to the What us here is to reconstruct the economic system that the had for the Chiquitos missions, to the in that system the and to which the as of administration for their in both the material and of their us to the economy of the Chiquitos missions of the Jesuit system of and of the that were Jesuit a of their administration from to they of the economic system by the the mission for of the Chiquitos the expulsion of the the of the system of and to the Chiquitos missions, in to the of in the of The by the in of the from to an of by the in the Chiquitos missions for not the from the that the from the missions the of to the It however, the of the and their with were the The for which are both and covers the years these are for all of the missions, the administration of the in by from to the over to in to the of the from which the developed a between the mission enterprise and the economy of that to the colonial of the into two and and of varying and that were for and Jesuit were in mission they different and of and that were in the of and in the colonial of from for and the to of for Chiquitanos had and from a of of to the a on the colonial market for and The this to by of by the which was for and and in for to the the were for their labor with from the in the that to the and with a of trade that from the The a in an and the from the missions and the that the in their The of trade to the Chiquitos frontier from and produced in the to of different and religious and and of and to the for the the missions for and and other for and other for the in to mission The of these to the for and in the a that was to mission to to the and a to the Jesuit the the Chiquitos mission for from the the histories and of life in the the of and the mission in the that the economic administration of the in the of the these and to living in the necessary to with a and of by the of the and the was for the and the the and the and were for the mission the Chiquitanos the of and that the of and for this production from and that the and on the that had to the of and the from that was the and from to in to which and life in communities and of social and political for and of these the Indian an in the mission in the in to the and to the the of the on the in the of that the were in the of trade in of of and of and the the trade networks that the parameters of the Chiquitos mission economy and this frontier with the colonial of in to the social on which the life of the missions enterprise the religious life of the Chiquitos as in Sonora, the of the and the During the of the eighteenth century, from the early to the time of their the in the missions that were well and were to the and of these were into and the was into and were to the and were to the and to the and other and of the religious that gave were and and with of and and their was with such as and The the and the that the to the the for and were in the Chiquitos missions and to religious and the were and the of was a the social of the the expulsion of the the formal of the economy they had in The of a of for the temporal and of the Chiquitos on the and the exchange of for labor that had an the the of the military the and the to of the missions to the that the with the the of to the of the and their economic production the of the the for their comparison of the and for the Chiquitos missions the Jesuit and a in the of and in their and in the of the of this mission the by the of the to the from the missions to and and the trade to the missions and as well as the and to the and in and to the of Chiquitos and in the the missions were to the to the of in the eastern frontier of the of the labor that the mission to and with the of however, is that the market of over that of the of mission the between and over the years The by that mission production had over the in but the the missions had the from the of were the by the and the mission the of mission to the missions for redistribution to the and and administrative that extended beyond the the and by and a in the of trade and administrative in the to the missions in the period. It was the of that the between and and that the of mission under of the of the of this that the were of economic even the early years of the new the had their the of their centered on the of trade and the of and in the mission were by the of the of Th

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