102

Chihuahua’s Colonial Missions An Invaluable Patrimony

Karla Muñoz Alcocer*

When people talk about Mexico’scolonial, artistic and cultural patri-mony, states like Puebla, Que ré ta o,

Michoacán, Jalisco or, more to the north, Za -catecas, usually come to mind. You could men-tion all the states of the republic and the lastname might very well be Chihuahua since ithas always been classified as poor in historicalpatrimony. This does not take into account,

however, the fact that the colonial legacy therewas formed under less favorable circumstances:a vast stretch of desert to the north; broad cen-tral plains bordered diagonally on the south-west by the Western Sierra Madre, known asthe Tarahumara Mountains, that take time andpatience to reach; an extreme climate with tem -peratures from sub-zero to 46 degrees Centi -grade; and little water. It was far from thecapital of New Spain, far from artistic centersand skilled workmen; this meant that mastersculptors, painters and architects living in thebeautiful, creative cities of CentralMexico hesitat -ed to exchange their comforts for cold, sober

* Coordinator of the Smithsonian Center forMaterials Research and Education project “Ima gi -nería de las Californias” (Scul p ture of the Cali for -nias) and director of the Chi hua hua ColonialMissions Civic Association.

Sectur-Chihuahua

103

towns where just getting food took twice theef fort. These factors, among others,make the Chi - huahua colonial legacy in valuable and incom-parable.During colonial times, Franciscan, Jesuit, Do -

minican and diocesan priests were sent to theNorth (what is now the U.S. Southwest andnorthern Mexico) to spread the Gospel to thelocal population by building churches and creat-ing societies around them. This was a way toexpand Spanish domination, which was devel-oping as mines and lands conducive to these set-tlements were discovered. This system of con-quest —to call it that— was the mission.Although the founding ordinances were thesame throughout New Spain, differences in thesettlement and the development of trades arenoteworthy, depending on the order the mission-aries belonged to and the specific characteristicsof the ethnic group converted. For example, To -más de Guadalajara and José Tardá wrote intheir 1675 report about how difficult it was forthe Raramuri, or Tarahumara, to congregate intowns: “We tried to limit them to one site and a

church, although they are disseminated alongseven or eight leagues.”1 This description con-tinues to be valid 300 years later. The missionswere organized into what were called partidos, ordistricts, each with a cabecera, or main church,and between three and five visitas, or dependentchurches.Chihuahua’s mission system began to be

built after the discovery of two mines: the SantaBárbara Mine, found in 1567 in the south-western part of the state, from where a fewdecades later Juan de Oñate would leave tofound New Mexico; and the Chínipas Mine,whose main vein was discovered in 1589 byexplorers crossing the Sinaloa mountains asthey left Culiacán. The first missions wereestablished by the followers of Saint Francis ofAssisi in the Santa Bárbara region; they creat-ed important settlements of colonists in theSan Bartolomé Valley (or Allende Valley) andSan José del Parral. The Franciscans foundedmissions on the plains and inland all along theroyal highway that led to Santa Fe; the Companyof Jesus built others on the Western Sierra Madre,

Chihuahua’s mission system began to be built after the discovery of two mines:

the Santa Bárbara and the Chínipas.

Salvador Garza/M

isiones Coloniales de Chihuahua A.C.

Karla M

uñoz/The Smithsonian Institution

Baroque altarpiece dedicated to Saint Rosa deLima, Cusihuiriachi Church.

Immaculate conception, Five Lords Saints of CusarareMission.

104

divided into three regions: the Lower or Old Ta -ra humara, the High or New Tarahumara andChínipas, which was actually part of the Sinaloaand Sonora Province. The first Jesuit settlementin San Pablo de Tepehuanes (Balleza) dates from1607. Although innumerable Tarahumara, Te -pehuan, Pima and Guarojío rebellions destroyedthe fruits of their labor, sometimes postponingthe establishment of missions for between 10and 20 years after they arrived to a site, it can besaid that, starting with San Pablo, they set upmissions and contacts throughout the mountainfoothills, all the way to the well-known Babícoraand later into the interior. Other “black-robedones” came through the Sonora mountains to workin the Chínipas region.Over a period of 160 years, the Je suits found-

ed more than 100 missions throughout this re -gion, until they were expelled in 1767 afterbecoming a veritable threat for the SpanishCrown’s economy and organization given theireffective self-sufficient system and the fact thatthey obeyed only the Pope and not the king.Most of their missions were taken over by theFran ciscans from the College of Gua da lupe inZacatecas or the Texas missions, and others weresecularized by the archbishop of Durango.

Even with all the difficulties that this regioncaused the missionaries, 168 missions wereeventually founded in what is today Chi hua -hua, the largest number in a single state, be it inMexico or what is now the United States. Manyof these missions are now county seats; othersremained small towns and hamlets inhabitedby indigenous or mestizos, and, in some cases,both together sharing a single church. The mi s -sion continues to be the main meeting placewhere religious and social traditions are upheld,such as during Easter Week, when the matachi -nes dance or when the sirime, or governor, callsthe people together, or like on Sunday when,even without a priest, the mestizos or Tara hu -maras go in and out of the church, congregatingfinally in the atrium. This means that the mis-sions not only have historic and artistic impor-tance, but are also a living cultural patrimony.Their architecture is appropriate to the cli-

mate and the materials available in the region;for example, on the plains and in the foothills,the constructions are made of adobe; in themountains, they are made of stone with roofscovered in shingles or carved out, canoe-shapedtree trunks, now replaced by metal sheeting; andin the canyons, it is common to find walls and

Karla M

uñoz/The Smithsonian Institution

Santiago Gill

Immaculate conception, NonoavaMission.

Easter Week at the Our Lady Pilar de Norogachi Mission.

105

vaults made of fired brick because of the abun-dance of red clay. In the missions built near mines,or those that were designated district headquar-ters, the construction system is more complex,with richly decorated walls, altar pieces, sculp-tures and paintings. However, all of them haveworks that have been done by either skilled,guild artisans or workmen that can be classifiedin different categories according to their visualcharacteristics and the techniques used in theirmanufacture: from those that imitate Spanishart to the simplest work for which the artist’sonly aim was the creation of an image to worshipand not its aesthetic quality.Unfortunately, for many decades the missions

were plagued by a dearth of security measures,which fostered pilfering, the lack of awa reness ofthe value of the historic, cultural and ar tistic pat-rimony, and insufficient communication amonggovernment institutions, priests and com mu ni -ties. All of this caused inappropriate action to betaken, even if with the best intentions. For thisreason, in January 2001, Chi hua hua business-men created the Chihuahua Co lo nial MissionsCivic Association to further an inte gral projectcalled “A Mission for Chi hua hua: Its ColonialMissions” with the ongoing, active collaboration

of the state government, the National Institute ofAnthropology and History, the Ca tholic Church,local communities, educational institutions andnational and international associations such asthe Smithsonian Institution and the Mexico-North Research and Edu ca tion Network.The project’s objective is to create security,

promote research and disseminate informationabout the missions, as well as to restore and pre-serve both the buildings and other patrimony ofthese colonial churches. The main interest is togive the communities the tools and know-howthey need through practical workshops. The ideais to reclaim traditional building techniques, teachan appreciation and respect for this patrimonyand offer a new economic alternative by foster-ing rural tourism routes.Part of the integral project is made up of two

specific research and conservation projects. Thefirst is “Ima ginería de Las Californias” (Sculp -tu re of the Californias), sponsored by theSmith sonian Center for Materials Research andEdu cation; its aim is to determine the origin ofthe colonial sculptures found in the missionsof the U.S. Southwest and northern Mex icothrough chemical and technical analysis of thematerials they are made of, to establish the sim-

Sectur Chihuahua

Five Lords Saints of Cusarare Mission, Guachochi.

106

ilarities and differences with the visual classi-fication done of the sculptures in Chi huahua.This study will contribute valuable informationabout anonymous viceregal sculpture and ar -tistic techniques in the colonial period, as wellas significant data about the dev elopment ofthe mission system in this entire region. The second project is “A Mission for Chi hua -

hua: The Santa María de Cuevas Mission.” Twohours away from the city of Chihuahua, this mis-sion has a beautiful, multicolored ton gue andgroove ceiling dating from 1700; unique in nor th -ern Mexico, it has eight Marian symbols in thecenter surrounded by a wealth of mirror-likesprays of flowers, as well as a figurative mural.Thanks to a grant from the J. Paul Getty Foun -da tion, a year from now another study will becarried out to determine the painting’s state ofconservation and analyze the materials it is madeof as well as ar chaeological samples to establishrestoration criteria and processes. This project

also received a grant for preventive work fromMexico’s National Council of the Arts Fund forthe Res toration of Monuments and Art Works.The establishment of Chihuahua’s mission

system took great effort on the part of mission-aries and indigenous peoples of the region;undoubtedly, the same effort will be requiredto preserve it. For this to happen, we all needto be aware that our cultural patrimony is notonly a testimony of the past, but also a factorfor present and future development.

NOTE

1 Luis González Rodríguez, Tarahumara. La sierra y el hom-bre (Chihuahua, Chihuahua: Edi torial Camino, 1994).

FURTHER READING

González Rodríguez, Luis, Tarahumara. La sierra y el hom-bre (Chihuahua: Editorial Cami no, 1994).

Suárez, Wendy, Conservemos las Misiones de la SierraTarahumara (thesis, Instituto Supe rior de Arquitecturay Diseño de Chihua hua, A.C., 1999).

Sectur Chihuahua

Mission of the Angel Custodian Saint of Sateva Batoplas.