Introduction

As a group our project focused on the San Xavier del Bac mission located just south of Tucson, Arizona. We broke the research into four separate parts, Father Kino, the Papago (O'odham) Indians, San Xavier del Bac Mission, and Southern Arizona. Our research focused on primary and secondary sources related to the San Xavier del Bac mission.

The content found in this blog is used for educational purposes.

Papago Indian Lifestyle

 In the primary source Papago Women by Ruth M. Underhill, Underhill interviews and writes about the lifestyle of a Papago women named Chona in the 1930's. Chona was born on the reservation where she experienced the Papago traditions, ceremonies, and lifestyle. Chona's family and surrounding neighbors all lived in grass houses. Chona's father was the cheif of their village and she learned many skills through her brothers, father, and husbands. Women were not recognized as shamans or healers so Chona was never officially a healer in the community. Other Papago Indians around Chona knew what she could do so they brought their children to her anyways. Chona experienced Papago religious ceremonies first hand, but did not discuss their background or stories. The picture is of a grass hut, the women outside is fixing a basket. The Papago Indian women were very handy around the home, but were not allowed to be a part of many religious ceremonies the Papago performed. 

Papago Indians: San Xavier del Bac and Father Kino

In Ruth M. Underhill's Papago Women, the contributions Father Kino made to the Tohono O'odham people. Father Kino traveled Arizona creating missions such as San Xavier del Bac just south of Tucson. He was the first important contact the Papago Indians had with the whites. Altough Father Kino's establishments benefited the Papago, it did not make the desert land in Arizona desirable to move to. Father Kino taught the Papago to spend their winters at locations with missions established, instead of out in the cold with little or no food. Father Kino traveled the Pimeria Alta several times and began baptizing Papago and giving them Spanish names. Centuries after Father Kino had died, some of the introductions he made to the Papago Indians remained intact. 

Father Kino's Legacy

Kino died at the age of sixty six while on a visit to one of his former foundations, Santa Maria Magdalena de Buquivaba in 1711. The primary function of the friar or padre was to spread the Cristian gospel, but he also became a powerful promoter of the white man's ways and civilization. He brought faith and many other things such as new agricultural products. He brought forth many new techniques to help the indians inprove their way of life. The mission brought the white mans food and draft animals to the indian population. He also brought new architectural techniques, along with education.

Kino was honered in both in the United States and in Mexico, various streets, schools, towns and monuments are named after him.  A park with statue of Kino resides in the city of Nogales, AZ. His remains are still on display today in Magdalena de Kino.

 





The remains of Father Kino in Magdalena de Kino.

Father Kino

This picture illustrates Father Kino on one of the many journy's he would take on hourse back. He was seen bringing cattle and wheat into regions where there npt any available. In 1695 Kino commented that at Tumacacori ( location in Arizona) were sheep and goats, and that there were fields of wheat and maize. Maize, or corn, was native, but wheat and livestock were introduced. He also saw that there were earth-roofed houses of adobe, which is the first indication that the natives were beginning to use adobe bricks for house construction. Kino would also see a rise in the number of cattle in the Sothern regions of Arizona. This being the leading cause to the cattle industry in southern Arizona.

Father Kino's interactions with the natives

While going through his travels of the Pimeria Alta, Father Kino had ecounters with 16 different tribes. Some of these tribes would have land that would border the Pimeris Alta, yet others would cross the border just to come see Father Kino. Kino would also make an effort to go and visit with tribes. Some of the tribes that he met are Tohono O'odham, western apache,  Hia C-ed O'odham(which he call yumans),opata and seri to name a few. The Tohono O'odham were the main tribe that he a had encoubters with since they lived near the San Xavier Del Bac mission.

TOHONO O'ODHAM FIDDLE MUSIC



Father Kino's Lifestyle

Father Kino was not one to be in favor of slavery. He was not in support of the compulsory hard labor that the Spaniards would force onto the native people in the silver mines. This would cause a problem with his co-missionaries. Many of his co-missionaries acted  by the laws incorporated by Spain on their territory.    Father Kino was most interested in bringing the Spanish Government to a realization. He was also a writer, he would write about religion, astronomy, and cartography. He would go and build missions across the senora dessert and upward into present day Arizona. (San Xavier Del Bac).

Father Kino also liked top practice other crafts such as making wooden model ships. He had great knowledge about maps and ships later led him to believe that the Mexican Indians could access California by sea. He then later would build a ship and push it across the Sonoran Desert  to the Mexican West coast.
      

Mission San Xavier Del Bac: Condition of the Mission

In the book " A Frontier Documentary: Sonora and Tucson, 1821-1848" there is a chapter that discusses what the mission consisted of. Mission San Xavier del Bac was more than just a church. The mission consisted of many different parts to it. From cemeteries and chapels, to living quarters, the mission had it all. The chapter specifically talks about the missions condition during the year 1843. The chapel doors had been torn down and many of the burnt bricks were beginning to denigrate due to the many thunderstorms that would rush though the lands. The mission had eleven housing rooms. Of the eleven rooms, four of them had began to see structural issues. The beams were begging to crack and the supporting ribs were showing signs of rot; the roofs were begging to fall in. Within the mission walls was a recreational garden area that was enclosed by a cement fence that was begging to crumble. The communal agricultural lands were no longer being cultivated, leaving only eight percent of the lands cultivated. Water became a scarce commodity during this time leaving many of the natives hungry. With the lack of water, the mission was forced to get rid of all its cattle and sheep, only a few horses kept for trading, safety, and transportation purposes. This can almost be seen yet another hardship within the mission, but I felt as though this chapter did a better job of highlighting the state of the mission during this time.

This is a letter written by one of the head priests at San Xavier. It does a great job of showing just how the conditions were in the mission during the year 1843

Mission San Xavier Del Bac: Present Day

San Xavier del Bac is still in use today mainly in the use of a church but still has a functional school. The Church is open to anyone wanting to worship. The schools as well as the church’s main population are descendants of the original tribes served, the Papago or O’odham tribe.

The School with the Mission in the background

Today what is seen is just a glimpse of what the church would have been like towards the late 1780’s with the exterior being almost identical. As a white dove is the prettiest of the doves, Mission San Xavier del Bac is said to be the prettiest of the Spanish missions scattered throughout the desert. 
 

Father Kino in California

Kino's first important missionary work in America was done in lower California. It was to lead the Atondo Expedition to the Baja Peninsula. Here he established the mission San Bruno in 1683. Unfortunately there was a severe drought in 1685 and he had decided to abandon the mission then he would return to Viceregal, the capital of Mexico City. Also Kino was forced to leave because of hostilities with the native Pericues and Guaycura along with the shortage of local and imported food was and issue that would lead to illnesses and famine within the settlement.

 San Bruno mission location

Mission San Xavier Del Bac: Apache Raids

As the times continued on into the 1800s, the hardships continued on as well. Apache raids seemed to be the biggest problem the missions people were having. In December of 1848, a major apache raid on the Tubac and Tumacacori missions led the villagers of the two missions to seek refuge at San Xavier del Bac. With the signing of the Guadalupe-Hidalgo treaty, the United States took control of everything north of the Gila tribe, including the Apaches. With article XI, it bound the new owners, the U.S., to control Indian raids into Mexican territory. In hopes that this would cease the raids, it did just the opposite. It increased the raids tremendously. 

A group of Apache Indians before a raid.

This is an excerpt from Friars, Soldiers, and Reformers that I felt did a great job of illustrating the apache attacks on the  mission

Mission San Xavier Del Bac: The 1800's

The Crest of the Dioces of Santa Fe

San Xavier del Bac was in control by the Republic of Mexico in 1821. Mexican material support for missions was non-existent, and in 1837 San Xavier’s last resident missionary in the 19th century fled the mission. Franciscan administration of all missions in the Pimeria Alta region came to an halt around the year 1843 and the secular clergy was then put in responsibility for the churches. San Xavier ultimately became part of the United States in June 1854 with approval of the Gadsden Purchase. In 1859 San Xavier became part of the Diocese of Santa Fe. The Bishop tried to find clergy for the San Xavier but was unsuccessful. In 1866 Tucson became an incipient diocese and the local vicar apostolic began sending a secular clergy who resided in Tucson to the mission for regular visits and to conduct services.

Mission San Xavier Del Bac: Hardships Within the Mission

Mission San Xavier del Bac saw quiet a bit of hardships throughout its time. From epidemic diseases to apache raids, they seemed to face it all. In late November of 1770, there was an outbreak of the measles epidemic in the Pimeria Alta region of the Sonoran desert, which in turn led to an outbreak within the San Xavier del Bac mission walls.

Along with sickness, the people of San Xavier had to constantly deal with Apache raids on their people. The Apache attacks started out by just being raids of them coming in and taking horses and cattle, but by fall of 1768, the raids became more gruesome attacks of killings and massacres. On October 2^nd of the same year, it was recorded that the apaches rode in, stole a heft amount of San Xaviers horses, cattle, killed the governor of the missions, and kidnapped two of the San Xavier soldiers. The roads to and from San Xavier were very treacherous as well, due to the Apache tribes that stayed on the roads. With the roads being dangerous, people did not want to travel, leading to lack of communication between sister missions.