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The Transcultural Dynamics of Spanish-Guaraní Relations in the Río De La Plata: 1516-1580 Tuer, Dot

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The Transcultural Dynamics of Spanish-Guaraní Relations in the Río De La Plata: 1516-1580 Tuer, Dot OCAD University Open Research Repository Faculty of Liberal Arts & Sciences 2013 Tigers and crosses: The transcultural dynamics of Spanish-Guaraní relations in the Río de la Plata: 1516-1580 Tuer, Dot Suggested citation: Tuer, Dot (2013) Tigers and crosses: The transcultural dynamics of Spanish-Guaraní relations in the Río de la Plata: 1516-1580. PhD thesis, University of Toronto. Available at http://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/1882/ Open Research is a publicly accessible, curated repository for the preservation and dissemination of scholarly and creative output of the OCAD University community. Material in Open Research is open access and made available via the consent of the author and/or rights holder on a non-exclusive basis. Tigers and Crosses: The Transcultural Dynamics of Spanish-Guaraní Relations in the Río de la Plata: 1516-1580 by Dorothy Jane Tuer A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto © Copyright by Dot Tuer 2011 Tigers and Crosses: The Transcultural Dynamics of Spanish-Guaraní Relations in the Río de la Plata: 1516-1580 Dorothy Jane Tuer Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto 2011 Abstract This is a study of the early colonial period of the Río de la Plata from first contact in 1516 to the emergence of a predominantly mestizo population in Asunción by 1580. The central focus of the study is the period from 1537, when Spaniards founded Asunción in the territories of the Guaraní-speaking Carios, until the establishment of the encomienda, a colonial labour system, in 1556. Through a close reading of archival documents and chronicles, the study presents a narrative history of the transcultural dynamics of Spanish-Guaraní relations, including the convergence of kinship and alliances, cacique and conquistador rivalries, competing spiritual beliefs of shamanism and Catholicism, and the role of castaways, lenguas (interpreters) indigenous women, priests, and mestizos as intermediaries. How these transcultural dynamics were dominated by indigenous norms until 1556, and how they shaped the cultural, social, and spiritual dimensions of mestizaje (racial mixing) are analysed. The study covers key moments in the conquest and early colonial period. These include Sebastián Caboto’s exploration of the Río de la Plata from 1527 to 1529; Pedro de Mendoza’s armada to the Río de la Plata in 1535 that led to the founding of Asunción in 1537 and the first governorship of Domingo Martínez de Irala from 1539 to 1542; the rule of Asunción by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca as adelantado from 1542 to 1544; and Domingo Martínez de Irala’s second governorship of the ii region from 1544 to 1556. An in-depth examination of the establishment of the encomienda is undertaken to consider how cultural identification, social status, and ethnic distinctions were reconfigured between the Cario and other Guaraní-speaking groups, the Spanish, and mestizos after 1556. The study concludes with an analysis of the Oberá Rebellion of 1579-80 as an example of how kinship and warrior norms, Christianity, and shamanistic practices converged in indigenous resistance to colonial rule. iii Acknowledgments In undertaking this study of the early colonial period of the Río de la Plata, I want to foremost thank my dissertation committee for providing guidance and support. Timothy Brook played a pivotal role both as my initial supervisor while he was a Professor at the University of Toronto, and for agreeing to remain on the committee as I changed course and centuries to focus on the early colonial period of the Río de la Plata, and he took up positions at Oxford and the University of British Columbia. My trajectory as a student of history and the seeds of my current project lie in his remarkable course on World History, which was the first course I took as a masters student at the University of Toronto. My dissertation benefited greatly from Peter Blanchard’s reading and commentary on chapters as they were revised and his insistence on clarity and precise argumentation. Kenneth Mills graciously agreed to assume the stewardship of the doctoral studies as a supervisor with expertise in colonial Latin American history after he arrived at the University of Toronto. His engagement with the ideas of the dissertation has informed my analysis of the intercultural dynamics of Spaniards and Carios and my thinking through the field of ethnohistory. I want to thank Natalie Zemon Davis for serving as the internal-external examiner and for her support of my initial scholarship in this field of study during the Colonial Saints conference held at the University of Toronto in the early 2000s. Her insightful reading of the dissertation and her suggestions for how to animate the historical lives and presence of women and the cultural exchange of worldviews are invaluable. I also would like to thank Catherine Julien for agreeing to serve as the external examiner and for sharing her expertise in the primary sources and anthropological literature of colonial Rio de al Plata through her careful reading and commentary of the dissertation. There is much in her external report to reflect upon and guide me as I continue to research the history of the region. In the process of researching this dissertation, I worked at the Archivo Nacional de Asunción, Archivo General de la Nación, Buenos Aires, the Biblioteca Nacional de la República Argentina, the CONICET libraries in Resistancia and Corrientes, Argentina, and the Robarts iv Library and Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in Toronto. I would like to acknowledge and thank the staff of these archives and libraries for their assistance. For the writing of this dissertation, I am indebted to the advice, intellectual exchange, and support of my colleagues at OCAD University and the University of Toronto, and my friends. They include Donald Ainslie, Isabelle Cochelin Jennifer Francisco, Rebecca Garrett, Allan Greer, Caroline Langill, Elizabeth Legge, David McIntosh, Kathy Shailer, Rhonda Ward, and the members of the Toronto Latin American Research Group and the Toronto Photography Seminar. I would particularly like to thank Rhonda Ward for reading and commenting on my final chapter drafts and Caroline Langill for her encouragement and support in the final stages of writing. I also would like to thank my colleagues and friends in Corrientes, Argentina, where most of the research and writing of this dissertation took place, for sharing their knowledge of the Guaraní culture, both past and present, and their deep understanding of Corrientes’s and Asunción’s hybrid culture They include Emilio José Chuaire, Alejandra Fernández, Aurelio Schinini, and Alfredo Vara. In particular, I would like to thank Aurelio Schinini for providing access to the collection of rare books at the Botanical Library of CONICET in Corrientes. Most of all I want to thank my partner, Alberto Gomez, for his intellectual companionship and insights. In his decision to return to his natal city of Corrientes lies the genesis of this study of Spanish-Guaraní relations. As I travelled to Corrientes to spend extended periods of time with him, I was able to encounter a world where Guaraní is still spoken by many as a mother tongue, and the cultural and spiritual dimensions of mestizaje that reach back in time to the colonial past are present in the everyday. It is my hope that this study has expressed in some small measure the origins and richness of this mestizaje I have had the privilege to know and experience. v Table of Contents Introduction: Page 1 Chapter One: Settlers, Jesuits, and the Guaraní: Historiographical Considerations. 19 Chapter Two: Explorers and Castaways: First Encounters. 1516 -1529. 48 Chapter Three: Women and Warriors: The Founding of Asunción. 1535 -1541. 89 Chapter Four: Shamans and Priests: The Arrival of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. 1541 -1542. 137 Chapter Five: Raiding and Captive-Taking: The Expedition to Puerto de los Reyes. 1542 -1544. 177 Chapter Six: Conquistadors and Caciques: Infighting in Asunción and the Insurrection of the Carios. 1544 -1546. 220 Chapter Seven: Rancheadas and Entradas: The Rule of Domingo Martínez de Irala. 1546 -1556. 254 Chapter Eight: Mestizos, Christians, and Carios: The Encomienda and the Legacy of Amistad y Alianza. 1556 -1580. 303 Chapter Nine: The Oberá Rebellion of 1579 -1580: Reflections on Transculturation. 350 Map 369 Bibliography 370 vi 1 Introduction This is a study of the early colonial period of the Río de la Plata from first contact in 1516 to the emergence of a predominantly mestizo population in Asunción by 1580.1 The central focus of the study is the period from 1537, when conquistadors from Spain founded Asunción in the territories of a large nucleus of Guaraníes called the Carios, until the establishment of the encomienda, a colonial labour system, in 1556.2 The historical record I draw on consists primarily of the letters and relaciones (reports) written by conquistadors and clerics in the 1500s in Asunción, and published chronicles and histories.3 Through a close reading of these sources, I present a narrative history that accounts for the transcultural dynamics of Spanish- Guaraní relations, including the convergence of kinship and alliances, cacique and conquistador rivalries, competing spiritual beliefs of shamanism and Catholicism, and the role of castaways, lenguas (interpreters), indigenous women, priests, and mestizos as intermediaries. Through the telling of a narrative history,
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