THE SPANISH COLONIAL EXPERIENCE AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY OF SAN AGUSTIN DEL TUCSON: A CASE STUDY OF SPANISH COLONIAL FAILURE Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Young, Monica Zappia Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 04/10/2021 03:49:11 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/620721 THE SPANISH COLONIAL EXPERIENCE AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY OF SAN AGUSTIN DEL TUCSON: A CASE STUDY OF SPANISH COLONIAL FAILURE by Monica Zappia Young A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF ANTHROPOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2010 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIG APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis had been approved on the date shown below: l~~CZD\0 d: d ll Date Professor of Anthropology 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My interest in the San Agustin del Tucson Mission began when Ms. Diana Hadley, (now retired) director of the Office of Ethnohistorical Research (OER) at the Arizona State Museum, hired me as a graduate research assistant to work on the mission project. Along the way she helped to build my confidence with her trust and constant support, leading to a deeper interest in this subject. It was the encouragement and guidance of Dr. J. Jefferson Reid that led me to apply to the graduate program in the School of Anthropology. Jeff helped to make this a truly enjoyable and rewarding experience with his humor, wisdom, and resourceful­ ness. Dr. Dale Brenneman has served not only as my supervisor at OER and committee member, but also as a mentor. With her skills and experience in historical archaeology and documentary research, she has contributed a wealth of knowledge and encouragement. To all my committee members, including Dr. Teresita Majewski and Dr. Barnet Pavao-Zuckerman, I thank you for guiding me along the way. I am fortunate to have had the kindness and friendship of such respected scholars. This experience has been one of challenges, rewards, growth, and fulfillment. I would not have completed this journey at this time in my life without the encouragement and support from my family and friends. My love and appreciation to each of you. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRA. CT...................................................•.........•......•••......••......••...•..•......•..........••...•.•. 6 CHAPTER 1: Culture Contact and Colonialism: Problems and Approaches.•........•.......................... 7 Archaeological and Historical Record .....•..........•...•...•.......••.....••..•...•...............•..•.. 7 The Problem....••..........................................................•.................•.........•............••.. 8 Approaches to Culture Contact and Colonia]ism..........................•.......................... 9 Methods .................................................................................................................. 13 CHAPTER 2: Overview of Cultural Contact in the Southwest and Establishment of a Mission in Tucson .................................................................... 15 Early Exploration of the Southwest....................................................................... 15 Cultural Contact in the Tucson Basin............•.............•..•...•.....•.....•...................... 16 The Establishment of Tucson as a Visita •...•.••••..••.•••..•..••...•••••..••.••••..•...••..•••••••..•• 17 Foundations for Tucson as a Permanent Settlement.............................................. 20 CHAPTER 3: Settlement, Construction, and Abandonment at San Agustin del Tucson ...............................................•...........•........................•.......... 24 Construction of Mission San Agustin del Tucson......•.......................................... 29 Mission Decline, Abandonment, and Ruin..........••................................................ 34 Chapter 4: Understanding Culture Contact and Colonialism at San Agustin del Tucson .............................•.................................... 39 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS - Continued Prehispanic Period...................................................................•......................••..... 39 Historical Period: Eradication, Acculturation, or Equilibrium?...•.....................•.. 42 CHAPTERS: Summary and Conclusion ............................................................................................... 46 N OTES...................•......•............•...•..•.....................•......•...•...••............•.••..•.......•......•....... 53 APPENDIX A: Table 1 - Working Model for Investigating the Archaeology of Colonialism in the Southwest.....•............................................. 55 APPENDIXB: Photos of San Agustin del Tucson in Ruin...•...........................•...•....•............... 56 REFERENCES ••••• ,•• , ••••••••••• ,,, •••••••••••••••••••••••••• , ••••••••••••••.••••••• ,•• ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, •• , .••.•••.•••••••• 61 6 Abstract In the 1690s, Father Kino described Tucson as a highly suitable place to establish a mission community. Once founded, Mission San Agustin del Tucson became a visita of the neighboring Mission San Xavier del Bae, which served as the cabecera. After Mexico gained its independence from Spain in 1821, the nearby Pima village of El Pueblito was abandoned, and the mission fell into ruin as the church property was homesteaded, given away, or sold. Physical evidence of the mission, including a convento and gardens, was further compromised after a brick manufacturing plant and, later, a landfill took their toll on the archaeological record. By the middle of the twentieth century, the last evidence of the mission era was destroyed. Mission San Agustin can be interpreted as an example of colonial failure that does not conform to traditional culture contact models of a unilinear sequence from diffusion to acculturation and, ultimately, to assimilation. San Agustin was for a short period a thriving, productive, complex mission community that overshadowed its neighboring cabecera, San Xavier del Bae. Using a historical archaeological approach, this paper describes the cultural context in which Tucson's mission was constructed, abandoned, fell into ruin, and disappeared. Major historical events and processes are suggested as possible causes for this failure. 7 CHAPTER 1: Culture Contact and Colonialism: Problems and Approaches Significant work has been published concerning early encounters between the indigenous people of the American Southwest and Europeans during the Spanish colonial period, and various approaches have been used to explain cultural changes that transpired in the process of colonial contact. One problem is that early attempts by anthropologists to understand cultural contact do not apply to all colonial contact situations (Redfield et al.1936; Spicer 1954, 1961 ). This paper presents research that challenges early ideas about culture contact and subsequent changes during the Spanish colonial period in the Tucson Basin. Recently developed models and approaches, combined with archaeological data and historical documents, provide a clearer interpretation of Spain's mission and colonization experience in Tucson. It will become apparent, however, that colonialism in Tucson does not adapt to these models of culture contact. The Mission San Agustin del Tucson complex and convento 1 are the focus of this study. (For maps of the study area, refer to Officer! 987:29, 67.) Archaeological and Historical Record Until the latter half of the twentieth century, very little attention was given to the historical ( and prehistoric) mission site in Tucson. Deterioration due to natural weathering processes, human apathy, and later development led to a severely compromised archaeological site. Constrained by limited archaeological data, it has 8 become necessary to rely on historical documents to complement the more recent archaeological research conducted in this study area. Important documents for the Spanish colonial period include military reports, mission/church records, government reports/letters, census records, and testimonies concerning legal cases. Spanish colonial documents for Tucson; however, reveal little in terms of interactions between the colonizer and the colonized. Like the archaeological record, the historical record has its own formation processes in that documents are subject to deterioration, destruction, and loss. There are numerous challenges involved in the interpretation of historical documents, such as poor condition or preservation of the record, subjective