102 Chihuahua’s Colonial Missions An Invaluable Patrimony Karla Muñoz Alcocer* W hen people talk about Mexico’s colonial, 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 last name might very well be Chihuahua since it has always been classified as poor in historical patrimony. This does not take into account, however, the fact that the colonial legacy there was 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 as the Tarahumara Mountains, that take time and patience to reach; an extreme climate with tem - peratures from sub-zero to 46 degrees Centi - grade; and little water. It was far from the capital of New Spain, far from artistic centers and skilled workmen; this meant that master sculptors, painters and architects living in the beautiful, creative cities of CentralMexico hesitat - ed to exchange their comforts for cold, sober * Coordinator of the Smithsonian Center for Materials 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 Colonial Missions Civic Association. Se ct ur -C hi hu ah ua 103 towns where just getting food took twice the ef 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 the North (what is now the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico) to spread the Gospel to the local population by building churches and creat- ing societies around them. This was a way to expand 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 the same throughout New Spain, differences in the settlement and the development of trades are noteworthy, depending on the order the mission- aries belonged to and the specific characteristics of the ethnic group converted. For example, To - más de Guadalajara and José Tardá wrote in their 1675 report about how difficult it was for the Raramuri, or Tarahumara, to congregate in towns: “We tried to limit them to one site and a church, although they are disseminated along seven or eight leagues.”1 This description con- tinues to be valid 300 years later. The missions were organized into what were called partidos, or districts, each with a cabecera, or main church, and between three and five visitas, or dependent churches. Chihuahua’s mission system began to be built after the discovery of two mines: the Santa Bárbara Mine, found in 1567 in the south- western part of the state, from where a few decades later Juan de Oñate would leave to found New Mexico; and the Chínipas Mine, whose main vein was discovered in 1589 by explorers crossing the Sinaloa mountains as they left Culiacán. The first missions were established by the followers of Saint Francis of Assisi in the Santa Bárbara region; they creat- ed important settlements of colonists in the San Bartolomé Valley (or Allende Valley) and San José del Parral. The Franciscans founded missions on the plains and inland all along the royal highway that led to Santa Fe; the Company of 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. Sa lv ad or G ar za /M isi on es C ol on ia le s de C hi hu ah ua A .C . Ka rla M uñ oz /T he S m ith so ni an In st itu tio n Baroque altarpiece dedicated to Saint Rosa de Lima, Cusihuiriachi Church. Immaculate conception, Five Lords Saints of Cusarare Mission. 104 divided into three regions: the Lower or Old Ta - ra humara, the High or New Tarahumara and Chínipas, which was actually part of the Sinaloa and Sonora Province. The first Jesuit settlement in San Pablo de Tepehuanes (Balleza) dates from 1607. Although innumerable Tarahumara, Te - pehuan, Pima and Guarojío rebellions destroyed the fruits of their labor, sometimes postponing the establishment of missions for between 10 and 20 years after they arrived to a site, it can be said that, starting with San Pablo, they set up missions and contacts throughout the mountain foothills, all the way to the well-known Babícora and later into the interior. Other “black-robed ones” came through the Sonora mountains to work in 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 after becoming a veritable threat for the Spanish Crown’s economy and organization given their effective self-sufficient system and the fact that they obeyed only the Pope and not the king. Most of their missions were taken over by the Fran ciscans from the College of Gua da lupe in Zacatecas or the Texas missions, and others were secularized by the archbishop of Durango. Even with all the difficulties that this region caused the missionaries, 168 missions were eventually founded in what is today Chi hua - hua, the largest number in a single state, be it in Mexico or what is now the United States. Many of these missions are now county seats; others remained small towns and hamlets inhabited by indigenous or mestizos, and, in some cases, both together sharing a single church. The mi s - sion continues to be the main meeting place where religious and social traditions are upheld, such as during Easter Week, when the matachi - nes dance or when the sirime, or governor, calls the people together, or like on Sunday when, even without a priest, the mestizos or Tara hu - maras go in and out of the church, congregating finally 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 the mountains, they are made of stone with roofs covered in shingles or carved out, canoe-shaped tree trunks, now replaced by metal sheeting; and in the canyons, it is common to find walls and Ka rla M uñ oz /T he S m ith so ni an In st itu tio n Sa nt ia go G ill Immaculate conception, Nonoava Mission. 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 have works that have been done by either skilled, guild artisans or workmen that can be classified in different categories according to their visual characteristics and the techniques used in their manufacture: from those that imitate Spanish art to the simplest work for which the artist’s only aim was the creation of an image to worship and 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 of the value of the historic, cultural and ar tistic pat- rimony, and insufficient communication among government institutions, priests and com mu ni - ties. All of this caused inappropriate action to be taken, even if with the best intentions. For this reason, in January 2001, Chi hua hua business- men created the Chihuahua Co lo nial Missions Civic Association to further an inte gral project called “A Mission for Chi hua hua: Its Colonial Missions” with the ongoing, active collaboration of the state government, the National Institute of Anthropology and History, the Ca tholic Church, local communities, educational institutions and national and international associations such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Mexico- North Research and Edu ca tion Network. The project’s objective is to create security, promote research and disseminate information about the missions, as well as to restore and pre- serve both the buildings and other patrimony of these colonial churches. The main interest is to give the communities the tools and know-how they need through practical workshops. The idea is to reclaim traditional building techniques, teach an appreciation and respect for this patrimony and 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. The first is “Ima ginería de Las Californias” (Sculp - tu re of the Californias), sponsored by the Smith sonian Center for Materials Research and Edu cation; its aim is to determine the origin of the colonial sculptures found in the missions of the U.S. Southwest and northern Mex ico through chemical and technical analysis of the materials they are made of, to establish the sim- Se ct ur C hi hu ah ua 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 information about anonymous viceregal sculpture and ar - tistic techniques in the colonial period, as well as significant data about the dev elopment of the mission system in this entire region. The second project is “A Mission for Chi hua - hua: The Santa María de Cuevas Mission.” Two hours away from the city of Chihuahua, this mis- sion has a beautiful, multicolored ton gue and groove ceiling dating from 1700; unique in nor th - ern Mexico, it has eight Marian symbols in the center surrounded by a wealth of mirror-like sprays 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 be carried out to determine the painting’s state of conservation and analyze the materials it is made of as well as ar chaeological samples to establish restoration criteria and processes. This project also received a grant for preventive work from Mexico’s National Council of the Arts Fund for the 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 required to preserve it. For this to happen, we all need to be aware that our cultural patrimony is not only a testimony of the past, but also a factor for 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 Sierra Tarahumara (thesis, Instituto Supe rior de Arquitectura y Diseño de Chihua hua, A.C., 1999). Se ct ur C hi hu ah ua Mission of the Angel Custodian Saint of Sateva Batoplas.