2001/02/01 by Cynthia Radding · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Archaeology and Natural History #Latin American history and culture #Colonialism, slavery, and trade
paper · doi:10.1215/00182168-81-1-45
openalex publication_date 2001/02/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2025/11/06
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 communities What different of and between peoples and the mission, a and of for analysis the the mission in both of The economic life of two mission and the of which they are a the of both and and beyond the of Spanish colonial the the is on the from to the of the from Spanish in provides a point of to processes of that are both and The provides a institutional as the contrasting of in and in their the and the semiarid by the of and the The mission on the of and the that the of with the of the from the of the to the and that in the the of for and of of is between the and the of the and a of and in as and the of the for of and the and for and and different and for on the of the the 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 of the Spanish that on the of the of and of frontier in both and and to Spanish the institution of the religious mission by the and the cultural processes of and different peoples by the colonial missions led to different of and in the two regions. The and of a in colonial as the and by the and the of the of the by of the mission of to and as that and cultural from the of the an that to the of and and different of to the peoples the frontier of by the of and on with in the and on and were in that both the and of a of as is by of the and the and the of the mission the and on of a different the and with and and on on a of and that were and and not but on of a of in which of were by a of and presented of and in both were to the of but for different The by a of that the of on peoples were not on the for the and as the means of and in both were from the that and gave to their the and the of and that and and as well as the 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 the systems and of that their for and a of communities as well as larger The territorial on which the and peoples for their economic production and their social with the Spanish colonial of the of mission in a of and both of frontier the a with the cultural and of the their for the labor the of which they to and of and colonialism and the and frontiers of with significant and in both and the and of the the for to communities to a that the from as to The to from following the trade from in of and Indian from the of and the conquests of and the with and in Spanish in the of the two different of Portuguese and from under the of the in and to the the frontier 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 peoples of a that the of of in the of in the but their with Chiquitanos were to the that in to the a in the their of mission in with and the material of the of the the mission a that by the the in of mission by a Indian that between one and and different and were to the Chiquitanos and the not in the the of the which the a from that of and the missions were under the of the of they were as the missions to under the that the the political and economic life of by the that from the and of the both in and of the missions their as and of the of and the labor of and that Spanish in of The of and the a by of and to and their the of between the Chiquitanos and Spanish and the colonial and well the a by and and Portuguese and and Spanish and their in other of the and the mission the of mission in the of the frontier the and in and military were the of the Spanish governors and their on the and to an by the of and on the their in working from the The the their by and with Spanish with the for to the and the of the the mission of and but the missions of an new the and peoples of the and of as in with military with an of trade the to the of and the of the mission of and by the of the the of in with the Indian communities of and the of the were from the territorial of and in a new the the governors and their and a political and from both the of and the military to the the of the in the frontier with the of and the of the of the as they the of by the 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 and from of the and cultural of the and mission to the environmental of of conditioned the of the mission labor and degrees of in 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 mission the of larger the a to and the missions in and to that under the of in in and and for mission as as the of the mission were to the in mission to the missions of the of to the of following the of the the and of for the mission of on and of the of the history of in two the in the to of a in the with the and that The and of an of from the missions of and and from the of the of the not in the of the missions and in the the with colonial for labor and the of material in and of the mission in the of the and their of the labor to the of the mission in both frontiers, they and wealth for the Sonoras and for the missionaries, and for the and of their respective colonial the that the and not over of the as are with for is not to to a that they and for The of the the mission economy that in the of as in the exchange between the and 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 The not but to a as as a the of and and on the that were and under the of and for the that in the mission, beyond their in for their the the that the mission to one and to the that in and and the in as for the of that by means of from the in the but in the in the such as and the of The which in of an of The of and in their in were and for were to over to the missionaries, and between and the were with and in a that that to the missions different of which from the and produced by the of to and from less and such as and trade to the mission and they were for redistribution to the mission to living in the missions and to the and to the the the with of and and a marketable as the missions the and with and for and in as for their and for the of in the the of and an of the production and of mission surpluses from 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 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 in the economic 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 in that were on The between production and for both is of the for the for the in over of the were the both of and 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 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 to the of and that 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 in of the not a for their necessary to a of in the of trade The of mission of 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 the of and for the of in the in the for the of the of mission, for the of and for the in a singular and production and a that in to in the the and the missions the the of for the and military of and produced of and for missions to the of and in as and in production and the of the the market for mission their the of the and 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 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 of 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 the of for but for a of the and to in that the to the of that the to the of to which and were in as in the mission with in but were for and the of the the of in in and the of The in for different the of market in to and and of which are one the following the of the the mission economy in for beyond to and for and that the for were and the mission for the missions of and in that a of the of and of trade for redistribution to in The and their with the of mission in their of for the and religious and to to the as one an of the of in and to the that that a in the economy of the the of in and for and The of and to that of production in the missions to the of a economy and that to to different means to labor for and for the of and to the mission of as in the of mission by and in the by and to the of in of in and over and a the in and in the different is that the of of for to less by both the of the of the missions and the to by the of systems of the economic of the of mission and the economy of colonial frontier over two in the to the economy of the mission economic for mission as in the of and the of the peoples 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 and the of the 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 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 not but and by and to the of colonial wealth and the of the in the frontier of missions of the and were and in the of the mission that in on the of the of the departure of the from the of a between the of the of the missions, and the of the new the 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 that the for the missions, to the in that the and to which the as of for their in both the material and of their us to the economy of the missions of the of and of the that were a of their from to they of the economic by the the mission for of the the of the the of the of and to the missions, in to the of in the of The by the in of the from to an of by the in the missions for not the from the that the from the missions the of to the It the of the and their with were the The for which are both and the are for of the missions, the of the in by from to the over to in to the of the from which the a between the mission and the economy of that to the colonial of the two and and of varying and that were for and 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 and from a of of to the a on the colonial market for and The to by of by the which 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 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 to the for and in the a that to mission to to the and a to the the the mission for from the the histories and of life in the the of and the mission in the that the economic of the in the of the and to living in the necessary to with a and of by the of the and the for the and the the and the and were for the mission the Chiquitanos the of and that the of and for production from and that the and on the that to the of and the from that the and from to in to which and life in communities and of social and political for and of 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 that the of the mission economy and frontier with the colonial of in to the social on which the life of the missions the religious life of the as in the of the and the the of the from the to the of their the in the missions that were well and were to the and of were and the 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 with such as and The the and the that the to the the for and were in the missions and to religious and the were and the of a the social of the the of the the of the economy they in The of a of for the and of the on the and the exchange of for labor that 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 missions the and a in the of and in their and in the of the of 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 and in the the missions were to the to the of in the frontier of the of the labor that the mission to and with the of is that the market of over that of the of mission the between and over the The by that mission production over the in but the the missions the from the of were the by the and the mission the of mission to the missions for redistribution to the and and that beyond the the and by and a in the of trade and in the to the missions in the It the of that the between and and that the of mission under of the of the of that the were of economic the of the new the their the of their on the of trade and the of and in the mission were by the of the of The of the the of to and from the for two that the and in the missions not the and that were in the to the trade that to receiving of were a of their material a of and other in their to of the Chiquitanos the missions to and in the and governors the to mission with new and a of in the mission the for the to the that the to the not their religious and were mission of here a and they no of of are the to not the in less two governors of that the of in the on the of between the and their The for their to the of to the of their the in the missions, the the and the concerning the of in the were in for the were to in in to the to an a for their the of and the to mission by in the trade in and and from the of and in the of and the exchange of mission for trade wealth on the of the the of the as trade to between the missions and The of the in the of the missions and the to the and to The to the of and in the as well as from as as to their the missions to Spanish in and the to the natural for in a were and the of and for a as well as to the of that the that the from trade and and to the of the as the for and by the that for the missions that the on the economic that missions in the of from in the of the by the to the the of the and the of the were to the for and to the to missions, the no beyond the of the It the of to both on a by production and the of the in the that conditioned the of from the on from the of mission the from the surpluses by the not in to the The the mission economy by the in the wealth to the of for their the of their economy in the of and from and concerning the of mission and to the of the in with from the mission with an and with mission for with the of to from the and for in the of the to to the in the and the frontier with the Portuguese in The of the military in the of that the in of the that gave a with that the with and that the as as they the the to to with and and the for their with of to the of from the of the the the to to and to the to and to the Indian and over of to they were with and to the of a a to the they were and the of the the of to their and to Chiquitanos their for the of a of both and The of the of and the of that on and and to the to the the for for to the of and to the and the of the to the to the with the of two from their and the of a and in the of the and the in the the by to the and for by the trade as well as and from mission and for the and the of presented a long of the mission that to on to and and the that were in the and to the that the and in the the that the of of with and the of that the in the the of the of the with their and material well the of the the of the mission, and on the histories of both mission the and of their and of frontiers in and on the two mission in to their natural and cultural a analysis of their different in of regions. mission their and as in the and of their production and but the and by the wealth of the the of the missions as the significant in and to the questions the of the economic history of and the from to to the ways that the the and cultural of the communities that The between two frontier from the ways in which the mission to their natural and with the colonial to which they marketable surpluses of two of the that for the in the and The market economy of the as and by the of the to mission that the Sonoras between the two of their communities and Spanish and with as in their and between and over to the and labor of the Indian of Chiquitanos not to the colonial they were to on and for the and they to their with two in and The of exchange from to of the of and to the as for a of the marketable their the production of in the missions, by the for the of the missions produced and for the and to and two were under the colonial for and mission of for of labor under to in the in the mission of from on the colonial market by from and by in the of for for in of the labor that to and in the mission of of and in the of the and by of the to the and the and were the to mission life for the in two colonial of to labor in the and of the they by and an for and were as for the and the the with and with and a their and a that their Chiquitanos were to the mission to were as the they were to in an of and the of by the of to the and of the they the of but the of as well as natural and economy of the missions questions for the of in both of frontier in both the and to and to means of and the of and the of and in and of and different the systems to the exchange of mission and trade to and from between the missions and their the of The in the of from the wealth in trade by the labor of Indian and in the mission and the to the the missions to the of the economy the of the and a that a economy in which a and in the of new and in and of in the of to and in the to the of and the of the not The of were the and of to the of the missions and the wealth by the mission in the of the as with the and but their economic of the missions to the the of are of the by the they were not in elites in both of the of their respective but different of exchange and of missions an on the of both regions. the on the a of and a in and the peoples of frontier of the missions a of of that the of Spanish The of in the exchange of labor for and the of a political in the of and cultural less the and in mission a for Indian and and by their of their as and of the that they to the of the labor of their communities under both the and significant in their cultural and political and in their of analysis presented here of two of significant economic with cultural are with two the natural and cultural of and the historical of the mission that in both the colonial missions the of two frontier the of the of under and the of new The missions were for but for by a and and and with and the missions of with and for and The of of production in and in to and that the labor of and to marketable a and the of and a of from the to the The political of the and to the and of the of and the of of as over in both were conditioned by the constraints of and and by cultural of The of mission economy in two frontier the by the Sonoras and the Chiquitanos of and in the of historical analysis of the and from the economic processes are to a larger of and and and in which colonial and one over cultural to and the of for their of the and of the of the of gave on an of are to for with the for the by the in the from and the of the of the and of the of the and of The is to of the and to and of