David Yetman integrates the themes of Opatan colonial history into the histories of the more fully studied indigenous groups in Sonora. He highlights the issues that defined the colonial experience in the Northwest by organizing the book around seven episodes of conflict among missionaries, settlers, and indigenous peoples. It is no surprise that the central themes consist of conflicts over native land and labor, religious and cultural conversion, modes of economic production, and the levers of political power.
The introduction provides an overview of the competing agendas and internal conflicts of the three analytical social groupings. In chapter 1, the indigenous people of Tuape successfully sue in 1658 to recover their land and water, which were seized in 1637 by Captain Pedro de Perea, the first property owner in Sonora. In chapter 2, Jesuit Father Gerónimo de la Canal calls on the alcalde mayor, Captain Simón Lazo de la...
