Indigenous Nations and the Northern Frontier of New Spain in Favores Celestiales by Eusebio Francisco Kino

Abstract

“Favores Celestiales” (1710) seeks to achieve the reduction, conversion and integration of the indigenous tribes of the northwest, vilified in other discourses that consider them an obstacle to development. Kino proposes incorporating the Indian as part of the Spanish war forces. It pursues, on the one hand, the integration of the inhabitants into Western and Christian culture, and on the other, the integration of the territory into the Spanish administration through the work of the Society of Jesus. With the intention of obtaining economic and human resources, Kino will offer in his text an idealized version of the Jesuit missions of Sonora, as well as its inhabitants in comparison with Europe and Asia. It will present the peripheral region as a possible new center for trade, mining, agriculture and spiritual development. To achieve this, he will have to confront other discourses that argue precisely the opposite, even that of other Jesuits.