Shamans and jesuits in the land of the jaguar god: ethnic exchanges and resistances in the moxos missions (Bolivia, 17th-18th centuries)

Abstract

The article examines the relationships between Jesuits and indigenous peoples in the reduced missions of eastern Bolivia, in the Amazonian region known as Llanos de Moxos, between 17th and 18th centuries. The aim is to highlight a framework of resistances, where the nations of Moxos continued to play leading roles within Jesuit missions, employing various strategies to assert their distinctive signs during the colonial process. The negotiation of the "Jesuit Pax" is explored, encompassing the underlying motivations that led indigenous nations to accept the reduction system; the use of diseases brought by Europeans and the healing provided by priests as a discourse of persuasion and missionary exaltation; the presence of chicha and rituals involving alcohol; and the reinterpretation of Christianity by baptized indigenous people. The study concludes that the missions of Moxos were never fully Christian, and their inhabitants were not submissive to the dictates of the invaders.