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This paper uses the 1695 revolt of the O'odham (Pima) in northern New Spain as a window into ritually inflected encounters between indigenous communities and European evangelists. A careful study of the diverse religious and military reports on the O'odham rebellion reveals a more complex rendering of native participation than the dichotomous options of conversion or rejection. Soldiers' journals, missionary letters, and official reports not only list possible reasons for the uprising, but also help explain the long periods of relative cooperation that preceded and followed it. Even as several O'odham rejected Christian symbols and rituals in 1695, they also welcomed missionaries with crosses, accepted baptism, celebrated feasts, and constructed churches before and after the revolt. At the same time, the uprising exposed internal Jesuit ambivalence about the authenticity of indigenous sacramental participation. While priests like Eusebio Kino believed in a patient and relatively tolerant approach to existing O'odham practices, others like Francisco Xavier Mora insisted on a more immediate and thoroughgoing transformation to European norms. This disagreement and the ensuing gap between early promises and actual implementation help explain shifting O'odham strategies for negotiating missionary encounters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution is due to the perplexity of banning the natives of the overseas provinces become part of the judiciary during the 1st Republic, although the Organic Decree of 25th October, 1870 organizing the judiciary overseas had allowed it. On the score of this episode, this work tries to reflect on the sense of the recovery of these veto and arguments of Indian Law for the colonies precisely during a revolutionary and liberal context in the metropolis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The establishment of Spain's colonies and Christian missions was carried out not only by the Spaniards themselves but by people from other lands and nationalities. These included "Filipinos" and natives from the Philippines. The Mariana Islands in the western Pacific was one of the areas of colonization and Christianization of the Spaniards. The establishment of the colony and mission in the islands was carried out by the Jesuits. The missionaries from this order wholeheartedly joined the enterprise and were responsible for setting up the colony as well as the present towns and villages in Guam, Saipan, Rota and Tinian. They lived a life of self-denial, humility and charity which they offered for the greater glory of God. They did not fear death but actually wished for it seeing it as a way to attain divine reward. A number of the missionaries gave up their lives as martyrs and others because of poor health. They lived giving service to others and accommodated others first before themselves. The rewards they sought were not of this earth. These could only be given by God in the afterlife. Their lives and strong faith serve as examples for present-day Christians. On the other hand, the missionaries were placed at the crossroads of civilization. In their desire to convert the natives, they had to eradicate native customs deemed as contrary to Christianity. This caused antagonism among the inhabitants they swore to serve. At the same time, the missionaries were part of Spain's colonizing force which ended the freedom of the natives which was a legacy from their forefathers. Like the members of the garrison the missionaries were given the same label of guirragos or barbarians by the inhabitants. Many of the missionaries were slain or injured in the armed Chamorro movements which were actually attempts to regain their lost freedom and the preservation of their ancestral practices. As missionaries the Jesuit priests and brothers took care of the people, taught them the ways of western civilization and recorded history. Such was their role in contributing to the present society of the Mariana Islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]