This small book would have been better entitled: The Yaqui Rebellion of 1740: Causes and Results. To wit—of 152 pages, 103 are text, with 28 devoted to the Yaqui revolt. Thus, more than one-fourth of the text covers an event that took only 3 years of the 287 in the title. This suggests a certain imbalance in presentation and subject matter and precludes what might have been a welcome introduction and historical summary of Edward Spicer’s Cycles of Conquest and The Yaquis: A Cultural History.
In addition to the disparity between title and content, this work suffers in three other important respects—syntax, factual errors, and mechanical composition. One is left to speculate about the reason for misuse of words: Coronado’s “voyage” (p. 17); Indians in “war-gears” (p. 19); and Jesuit “schemework” (p. 24) are a few examples. Coupled with a forced style, this leads to imprecision in expression.
Factual errors stand out and must, of necessity, alert the reader. A summary of pre-Jesuit ethnography declares that the Acaxee and Xiximee Indians of northwestern New Spain “had become extinct long ago” (p. 9). This is incorrect. On page eight one learns that Sonora and Sinaloa were considered one political unit until the nineteenth century. This statement belies complex colonial history. Yet of more concern is the assertion that Jesuits were not included in the system of royal patronage (Patronato Real), and that Opata Indians constitute a surviving ranchería people (pp. 23, 9).
Mechanical errors are too numerous for a short book. When one finds Mexican Independence secured in 1826 and several lines out of sequence (p. 47), a comment is required.
Other miscues notwithstanding, this book had promise as a concise historical treatment of one of the most fascinating events in the history of northern New Spain—the meeting and subsequent relationships among the Yaqui Indians, Jesuit missionaries, and secular colonial society. The author concludes that mines and missions were incompatible on the frontier, as each demanded the Indians’ attention and labor. Yaquis survived this battle of colonial interests because of their inherent flexibility and the unity acquired through years of Jesuit tutelage and protection. Jesuit unwillingness to change and to accommodate Indian and secular demands helped bring on the 1740 rebellion and seriously weakened Jesuit power in the years leading to expulsion in 1767.
Despite intelligent conclusions and a convenient detailing of the 1740 revolt, one is left to conclude that the combined effect of awkward style, factual errors, and mechanical oversights indicates that author and publisher must have experienced a sense of urgency in putting this in print.
