Until 1492, Christianity was totally unknown to the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Although the Native Americans already had long-established religious cultures of their own, the arrival of the Christian Europeans made an extremely significant impact on their lives: over the following five centuries, millions of American Indians would come to identify themselves as Christians. The first form of Christianity that American Indians encountered was Roman Catholicism, and, in terms of numbers of self-identified American Indian Catholics, Catholicism has remained the dominant Christian religion among Indian peoples—for better or worse.
On the Padres' Trail begins with the arrival of Europeans in the New World and the invasion of the Caribbean, from which author Christopher Vecsey traces the expansion of Catholicism into New Spain. He devotes special attention to the history of the Catholic faith and institutions among the Pueblo peoples of New Mexico, particularly in the years since the establishment of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. Then he turns his attention to the history and effects, both good and bad, of the Catholic missions among the Indians of California. In the final section of the book, he details the history of the judgments made about Catholic missionizing in California (and, by extension, all of New Spain) and closes with the sometimes critical perspectives of contemporary Native American Catholics regarding the padres who first brought Catholicism to their ancestors.
Professor Vecsey's American Indian Catholics series, the first full-length treatment of the subject, is a comprehensive study which encompasses five hundred years and much of North America. In over a decade of study, the author has conducted primary research at repositories held by Catholic dioceses, in the records of the Bureau of Catholic Indian Missions (housed at Marquette University) and in Catholic Indian communities throughout the American Southwest. He has attended conferences of Catholic Indians, participated in Catholic Indian liturgies, and interviewed many Indian Catholics.
On the Padres' Trail, the first volume in Professor Vecsey's three-volume American Indian Catholics series, is an invaluable addition to current scholarship on the history of the Catholic Church and to the field of Native American studies.
About the Author :
Christopher Vecsey is Professor of Religion and Native American Studies at Colgate University. His work includes Imagine Ourselves Richly: Mythic Narratives of North American Indians (1988).
Review :
"Christopher Vecsey's book transcends time and cultures by going beyond the historical continuum and expanding its themes into the modern period. Not satisfied with simply narrating the history of evangelization of Native Americans by Spanish missionaries, Vecsey sought the threads that connect the present with the past." —Colonial Latin American Historical Review
"These rich chapters enliven Catholic studies by shifting attention away from the well-known European ethnicities in America to consider vital Indian Catholicisms and contribute to Native American studies by illustrating the importance of cultural exchange and refusing to limit Native American religious history to the past." —Journal of Religion
"On the Padres' Trail provides an admirable synthesis of existing works on the topic. It is extremely readable and nicely highlighted with the voices of priests and Native Americans from archival sources and oral interviews conducted by the author. It is certainly recommended reading for anyone interested in American Indian and religious history of the Southwest." —New Mexico Historical Review
"On the Padres' Trail is a brilliant, sweeping, and clear account of Catholic-Indian relations in New Spain and California. Vecsey's stated objective, 'to understand how American Indian Catholics have adopted Catholic belief, faith, piety, and behavior, and how they have adapted those features to their Indian practices,' is richly described and thoroughly documented throughout the text. This work provides a masterful and cutting-edge response to the question, 'What did Catholicism do for the Indians?' of the Southwest. On the Padres' Trail is an important addition to the historiography of the Spanish borderlands, the history of American Catholicism, and American Indian history." —Journal of West
"The author of this study, a professor of religion, specializes in Native American studies and Roman Catholic history. This book, the first installment of the author's projected multivolume series examining the history of Native American Roman Catholicism throughout the United States, explores the beliefs of the Southwestern mission Indians and their descendants. Although organized chronologically, its disciplinary approach is sociological and anthropological rather than historical, focusing on religious practices and theological beliefs. This viewpoint, however, does not detract from the book's academic quality, scholarship, and potential usefulness to historians. It is well written, extensively researched, and cogently organized. As well, the book provides easily understood explanations of complex theological and religious doctrines." —Southwestern Historical Quarterly
