Particularly examining Indigenous confraternities sponsored by Franciscan friars in New Spain, this work makes the contention that Indigenous peoples eagerly supported the early proliferation and enduring persistence of religious sodalities because they provided valuable aid and services. The work highlights European scholarship on confraternities, mainly covering Hapsburg realms, that centers on what these institutions purported to do for communities. Laura Dierksmeier sees the alliances between Franciscan friars and Indigenous communities as built on mutual aid and support mediated through the institution of the confraternity. The work's emphasis on the appeal of confraternities' designed functionality provides a useful contribution. The author seeks to explain that Indigenous peoples found value in confraternities because of their capacity to offer assistance to fellow members and the larger community through mutual aid—specifically, burial services for confraternity members and the poor, charity, low-cost loans, hospital administration, and assistance to the incarcerated.
The core of the book...