The Jesuit Missions of Moxos are located in the Llanos de Moxos of Beni department in eastern Bolivia. Distinguished by a unique fusion of European and Amerindian cultural influences, the missions were founded as reductions or reducciones de indios by Jesuits in the 17th and 18th centuries to convert local tribes to Christianity.

History

Jesuit priests arriving from Santa Cruz de la Sierra began evangelizing native peoples of the region in the 1670s. They set up a series of missions near the Mamoré River for this purpose beginning with Loreto. The principal mission was established at Trinidad in 1686.[1]

List of missions

Meireles (1989) lists the following Jesuit missions of Moxos along with their respective ethnic groups (tribes).[2]: 78–79  Founding dates and a few more additional missions are from Block (1994).[3]: 39 

MissionFounding dateLocationGroup
Loreto1682Ibare River, left bankMojo
Trinidad1687upper Mamoré River, right bankMojo
San Ignacio1689Tijamuchi River, right bankMojo, Rokorono
San Javier1691Mamoré RiverMojo
San Francisco de Borja1693Rápulo River sourceChimane,[4] Rokorono, Mojo, Movima
San Pedro1697Machupo River sourceCanichana
San Luis de Gonzaga1698 (abandoned 1758)Rápulo RiverRokorono, Mojo, Movima
Santos Reyes1710upper Beni RiverMovima, Maropa
Exaltación1709lower Mamoré RiverCayubaba
Concepción de Baures1708upper Baures RiverBaure, Chapacura, Kitemoka, Napeka
San Joaquín1709Baures RiverBaure
Santa Ana1719Yacuma RiverMovima
San Pablo1703 (abandoned 1710)upper Yacuma RiverMovima
San Simón y Judás1744San Martín River sourceChapakura, Baure
San Nicolás1740San Martín RiverBaure
Desposorios de Mojos1723Yapacaní River (Rio Grande tributary), near right bank ?
Carmen de Mojos ?middle Rio Blanco, left bankChapakura, Baure
San José1691 (abandoned 1752)Apere River, left bank ?
San Martín1717San Simón River/San Martín River confluenceBauré
Santa Magdalena1720Machupo RiverItonama
San Miguel (1)1696Baures RiverMoré, Baure
Santa Rosa (1)1705 (abandoned 1740)upper Mamoré River
Santa Rosa (2)1743 (abandoned 1751)Guaporé RiverMoré
San Simón1746Guaporé RiverMoré, Aricoroni
San Miguel (2)1725 (abandoned 1762)Guapore RiverMoré, Aricoroni
San Juan Bautista1710 (abandoned 1718)eastern savanna
Patrocinio1730 (abandoned 1741)upper Mamoré River

Languages

The following indigenous languages, which make up much of the Mamoré-Guaporé linguistic area, were historically spoken in the missions.[2][4]: 11  Moxo was the primary lingua franca (Spanish: lengua general) used in the missions.[4]: 13 

See also

References

  1. ↑ Gott, Richard (1993). Land without evil: utopian journeys across the South American watershed. London; New York: Verso. p. 225. ISBN 978-0-86091-398-6.
  2. 1 2 Meireles, Denise Maldi. 1989. Guardiães da fronteira: Rio Guaporé, século XVIII. Petrópolis: Vozes. ISBN 85-326-0017-4.
  3. ↑ Block, David (1994). Mission culture on the upper Amazon: native tradition, Jesuit enterprise, and secular policy in Moxos, 1660-1880. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1232-1..
  4. 1 2 3 Crevels, Mily. 2002. Speakers shift and languages die: An account of language death in Amazonian Bolivia. In Mily Crevels, Simon van de Kerke, Sérgio Meira & Hein van der Voort (eds.), Current Studies on South American Languages [Indigenous Languages of Latin America, 3], p. 9-30. Leiden: Research School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies (CNWS).

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