M I X T E C EVANGELICALS Globalization, Migration, and Religious Change in a Oaxacan Indigenous Group Mary I. O’Connor MIXTEC EVANGELICALS MIXTEC EVANGELICALS Globalization, Migration, and Religious Change in a Oaxacan Indigenous Group Mary I. O’Connor UNIVERSITY PRESS OF COLORADO Boulder © 2016 by University Press of Colorado Published by University Press of Colorado 5589 Arapahoe Avenue, Suite 206C Boulder, Colorado 80303 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America The University Press of Colorado is a proud member of The Association of American University Presses. The University Press of Colorado is a cooperative publishing enterprise supported, in part, by Adams State University, Colorado State University, Fort Lewis College, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Regis University, University of Colorado, University of Northern Colorado, Utah State University, and Western State Colorado University. ∞ This paper meets the requirements of the ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992 (Permanence of Paper). ISBN: 978-1-60732-423-2 (cloth) ISBN: 978-1-60732-424-9 (ebook) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data O’Connor, Mary I. Mixtec evangelicals : globalization, migration, and religious change in a Oaxacan indigenous group / by Mary I. O'Connor. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60732-423-2 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-60732-424-9 (ebook) 1. Mixtec Indians—Mexico—Oaxaca (State)—Religion. 2. Mixtec Indians—Migrations. 3. Return migrants—Mexico—Oaxaca (State) 4. Return migration—Mexico—Oaxaca (State) 5. Evangelicalism—Mexico—Oaxaca (State) I. Title. F1221.M7O37 2016 299.7'89763—dc23 2015012980 An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high-quality books open access for the public good. The open access ISBN for this book is 978-1-60732-564-2. More information about the initiative and links to the open-access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org. Cover photographs: the Sinaloa congregation of the Iglesia de Jesucristo de las Américas in front of their church, photograph by author (top); interior of the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán, photo by DavidConFran/Wikimedia Commons (bottom). To Na Ñuu Shaavi The People of the Land of Rain Contents List of Figures xi List of Tables xiii List of Abbreviations xv Acknowledgments xvii Introduction xix Chapter 1. Ñuu Shaavi, The Land of Rain 3 A Brief History of the Mixteca Region 3 The Spanish Conquest and Afterward 5 Political Organization in the Mixteca Area 6 Politics in Mixtec Villages: Usos y Costumbres 7 Politics and Religion 11 Migration and Religious Change 11 The Churches 13 The Conversion Process 14 Hermana Adela—Migrant and Convert 16 Non-Catholic Churches in the Mixteca Region 18 vii viii Contents The Response of the Catholic Church to Religious Change 23 Conclusion 24 Chapter 2. Mixtecs and Modernity 27 Modernity, Indigeneity, and Religious Conversion 27 Modernity and Religion 27 “The Great Transformation” 28 Globalization and Neoliberalism 30 Mixtecs in the New World Order 31 Globalization, Migration, and Modernity 32 Cultural Remittances 33 Mixtec Communities in the Context of Globalization 35 Globalization and Religious Conversion 39 Indigenous Modernities 40 Conclusion 41 Chapter 3. San Juan Mixtepec: Ñuu Vicu, the Land of Clouds 43 The Municipio 43 The Setting 44 Two Agencias: San Lucas and San Pedro Yososcuá 46 Discussion 49 Relations between Catholics and Non-Catholics 50 Non-Catholic Churches in Yososcuá 52 Discussion 53 Relations between Catholics and Non-Catholics in Yososcuá 53 Migration and Religious Change 55 Social and Economic Indicators 55 Modernity and Usos y Costumbres 58 Chapter 4. San Juan Diquiyú: Village on a Rock 61 Why San Juan Diquiyú? 61 The Setting 61 The Village of San Juan Diquiyú 62 Contents ix The Fiesta System 64 Orthodox and Folk Catholicism 65 Non-Catholics in San Juan Diquiyú 66 Seventh-Day Adventists 67 Trinitarians in San Juan Diquiyú 69 Conflict, Peace, and Ridicule 70 Discussion 71 Chapter 5. Colonia Sinaí: Los Expulsados 73 Introduction 73 The Village 73 The Expulsion 74 After the Expulsion 75 The Return to the Village 77 Discussion 79 Chapter 6. Four Communities Compared 81 Variations on a Theme 81 The Settings 81 Language and Religion 82 Socioeconomic Characteristics of the Communities 83 Migration and Community Development 84 Catholics and Non-Catholics 87 Usos y Costumbres in Three Communities 88 Migration, Religious Change, and Modernity 88 Chapter 7. Mixtec Diaspora? 91 Introduction 91 Mixtec Migrants in Mexico 92 Conversion in Culiacán 94 Miguel Alemán, Sonora 97 Non-Catholics in Miguel Alemán 99 Baja California 99 x Contents San Quintín 100 Tijuana 102 Mixtecs in the United States 104 California 105 Oregon and Washington 106 Discussion 107 Generations, Present and Future 109 Ethnic Organizations 110 The IJA: An Alternative to Ethnic Organizations? 112 Mixtec Diaspora? 113 Chapter 8. Concluding Remarks 115 Mixtecs in the Modern World-System 115 Transnational Communities and Religious Conversion 116 Mixtec Villages as Transnational Communities 116 Transnational Studies, Globalization, and Religious Conversion 117 Selective Modernity 118 Toward a General Explanation of Religious Conversion 120 Glossary 121 References 123 Index 131 Figures 1.1. Map of Mixteca region 4 1.2. Eroded hills next to a cornfield 6 2.1. A migrant’s house built next to the old house 34 2.2. Buses leave Tlaxiaco every Saturday bound for agricultural communities—migrant destinations—in northern Mexico 35 3.1. Iglesia de Jesucristo de las Américas, San Lucas 49 3.2. Iglesia de Jesucristo de las Américas, San Pedro Yososcuá 54 7.1. Seed advertisement in Sinaloa for seeds for growing products that are exportable to the United States 94 7.2. The Sinaloa congregation of the Iglesia de Jesucristo de las Américas, in front of the church 97 7.3. Some patterns of migration by Mixtecs 101 xi Tables 3.1. Socioeconomic indicators, San Lucas 56 3.2. Socioeconomic indicators, San Pedro Yososcuá 56 3.3. Language and religion, San Lucas 57 3.4. Language and religion, San Pedro Yososcuá 57 4.1. Language and religion, San Juan Diquiyú 63 4.2. Socioeconomic indicators, San Juan Diquiyú 65 5.1. Language and religion, Colonia Sinaí 77 6.1. Language and religion in four communities 83 6.2. Households in three communities 84 6.3. Migration in two municipios 84 7.1. Indigenous language speakers, Sinaloa 95 7.2. Non-Catholics, Sinaloa 95 xiii Abbreviations CDI Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas; Indian agency that replaced the Instituto Nacional Indigenista (INI) DIGEPO Dirección General de Población de Oaxaca, Oaxacan population survey IJA Iglesia de Jesucristo de las Américas INEGI Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, Mexican national census MICOP Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project, located in Oxnard, California; provides services to Mixtecs and other indigenous people in the area NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement among the United States, Can- ada, and Mexico; went into effect on January 1, 1994, and has had many negative impacts on Mixtec lives UPBJ Centro de Unidad Popular Benito Juarez, centered in Bakersfield, Cali- fornia; a cultural organization dedicated to education and the continu- ation of indigenous traditions xv Acknowledgments First and foremost, I must thank the People of the Land of Rain, the Mixtecs, for their participation in this project. The members of the villages and the transna- tional communities with whom I worked had a very hard time figuring out what I was doing and I had a hard time figuring out what they were doing, but at the end I think we came to an understanding, or understandings, of each other. Among the many people who contributed to my work, Azucena Hernández Cruz, who worked as interpreter, was absolutely essential to the project. I would like to express my grat- itude to the members of the Iglesia de Jesucristo de las Américas, who were a focus of my work over several years. In addition to the Mixtecs, Alberto Hernández—my friend, colleague, and collaborator for many years—deserves special thanks. He helped identify Mixtec non-Catholics in Tijuana, San Quintín, and northern San Diego County. He and I have had many discussions about migration and conver- sion and their relationships during the many years of our collaborations. His contri- bution has been invaluable. I would also like to thank the organizations that supported my research over a period of ten years. These include the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship Program as well as several different granting agencies within the Uni- versity of California: UC MEXUS, the UCSB Interdisciplinary Humanities Center, and the UCSB Office of Research. The UCSB Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research, whose directors have shown tremendous patience with me, must also receive a bow. The University of California, Santa Barbara, in general xvii xviii Acknowledgments has supported me over many years, for which I am much indebted. Finally, the Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios Superiores en Antropología Social, in Oaxaca, allowed me to affiliate with them during my time in the Mixteca region. I am very grateful for their support. Introduction The indigenous Mixtec people of Oaxaca, Mexico, have developed complex, multi- sited transnational communities rooted in the ancestral villages of their homeland, the Mixteca region. The ways that these transnational communities are maintained are tightly connected to the tradition of usos y costumbres. This system is a hier- archy of alternating civil and religious cargos, or posts, which must be taken up by representatives of each of the families in the community. This includes people outside of the village in the far-ranging transnational communities. By continuing to recognize and participate in this system, Mixtecs help to create and maintain transnational networks.