Discover Paraguay : At the time of the Jesuit missions of the Guaranis

The origin of the missions

In the mid-16th century, Paraguay ceased to be a base for exploration of the New World and became a land of agricultural production. The Guaraníes and other indigenous people were then subjected to the colonial system ofencomienda. The Spanishencomendero was responsible for 'civilizing' and evangelizing the Indians. In return, it received from them chores (the mita) and was subject to taxation. If this semi-servile system worked without difficulty on the Andean societies of the former Inca Empire, which already applied it, to a certain extent, before the arrival of the Spaniards, it was more complicated to set up in Paraguay. Many Guaraníes refused this forced labour, to which they were subjected overnight. To avoid chaos, the King of Spain called on religious congregations. The evangelization of the "pagans" went hand in hand with the civilization of the "savages. The Indians had to be converted in order to bring them back to civilian life and submit them to colonial rule. In the mid 1580s, the Franciscans founded the first missions, or "reductions". This term would find its origin in the Latin reductio , which means "to bring back" to civil life and to the Church (" Ad vitam civilem et ad Ecclesiam reducti "), but also in the word "reduced", an isolated and preserved universe. In the Franciscan missions, the Guaraníes remained subject toencomienda, but under the guidance of the monks. For their part, the Jesuits used the Franciscan experience to perfect the reductions, outside the colonial administrative system.

The Jesuit approach

The Society of Jesus is a male Catholic congregation, founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola, with his companions Pierre Favre and François-Xavier. The organization was based on strong discipline and high standards, both intellectual and physical. Soon after the creation of the Jesuit Order, missionaries from all over Europe set out to bring the Catholic faith to the world, especially to America. Heavy expeditions set out across the Atlantic Ocean and then up rivers through the middle of the jungle. Arriving in Asunción, these scholarly adventurers learned the Guaraní language and culture. The Jesuits soon mastered the Guaraní messianic beliefs, which they used to draw closer to the Indians. Tupá, the "supreme god," creator of light and the universe, was identified with the Christian God. And to turn the Guaraníes away from the founding myth, the Jesuits skillfully replaced the 'Earth without evil', which only a chosen few could reach, with the heavenly paradise to which every believer had a right. The Guarani easily accepted the Jesuit fathers, who were seen as karai (prophets), but also as protectors, in the face of the brutality of the encomenderos and slave hunters.

The Jesuit Republic of Guarani

In 1603, the King of Spain, Philip III, authorized the Jesuits to establish missions, independent of colonial rules, in the border region with Brazil. Beyond their religious function, the missions were a means of populating a buffer zone to deal with the Portuguese vehemence in the region. It was also a way of countering the local power of the encomenderos. In the Jesuit reductions, unlike the Franciscan missions, the Indians were exempted from the mita. The Jesuits did not pay taxes, but a tribute to the king, proportional to the number of "male" Indians. While the Franciscan missions were relatively open to the outside world, the Jesuit reductions were far removed from colonial life, from the vices of the Spanish, and even from Castilian. The writing of Guarani was taught, as were medicine, architecture and the arts. The Jesuit reductions, completely autonomous, were made to last, with a social organization of the most original for the time.

The organization of the missions

Each reduction was the responsibility of two fathers. About 50 indigenous caciques had to manage between 2,000 and 8,000 Guaraníes. There was a governor(corregidor), a council(cabildo) and various authorities: police, justice, finance, etc. The indigenous caciques had to manage between 2,000 and 8,000 Guaraníes. The particularly progressive Penal Code excluded the death penalty and torture (which was not the case anywhere else). The missions were located at a reasonable distance from Spanish cities. The Jesuits, in consultation with the caciques, chose a suitable place, close to a river. The missions were laid out according to a rational plan, with a large rectangular square (130 x 100 metres), where the statue of the patron saint was located. On one of the sides were built the church, the cloister, the cemetery, the asylum-orphanage, the residence of the Jesuit fathers and the workshops (foundry, pottery, mill, kilns...). Behind it was the orchard(huerta). The other sides of the square were occupied by the indigenous houses (casas de indios). Originally, the Guaraníes lived in huge houses(oga guazú) that could accommodate 200 people. This overcrowding was a problem for the fathers, so the casas de indios were made up of several rooms, separated by thick walls. They were surrounded by a wide covered corridor. Around the missions, there were farms for breeding and the production of cotton, corn, sugar cane or yerba mate. The work in these estancias was collective, but each family had its own piece of land for its own subsistence. The fruit of the collective labour was shared, or sold outside the mission, to pay tribute to the king. Part of it was destined for orphans, sick and invalids. The Indians worked about six hours a day (half as much as elsewhere). Free time was devoted to religious and artistic activities taught according to European canons.

The sacred Jesuitical-Guarani arts

The missions represented extraordinary intellectual and artistic centres. For example, the first printing house on the Río de la Plata came out of a Jesuit reduction. It circulated from mission to mission, printing religious books, such as those of Nicolás Yapuguay, a Guaraní writer and musician. The architecture also commanded respect. Monumental buildings, with solid beams, stone walls and columns made of sandstone blocks, replaced over time the first churches made of branches and mud. The ornamentation of the churches was a harmonious blend of motifs from the Guaraní imagination (flowers, plants) and Christian symbols. A visit to the ruins of the missions of Trinidad and Jesús allows one to appreciate the architectural talent of the time. As for the polychrome wooden sculptures that can be admired in the museums of San Ignacio Guazú, Santa Maria de Fé, Santa Rosa de Lima and Santiago, they were the work of Guaraní artists, who reproduced with their own sensitivity (the statues often have more indigenous shapes and features) icons brought from Europe. This style is nowadays called "Guaraní baroque". As for the music, Europeans were captivated by the songs and the vocal quality of the Indians! The Guaraníes also composed and played the flute, lute, violin, cello, organ, and harp marvelously, with instruments that they made themselves with great dedication.

Bandeirantes and mamelukes

This abundant and well-trained Indian labour force did not fail to attract the covetousness of the Portuguese slave hunters. In the 1630s, the bandeirantes, with the help of their native mercenaries, the "Mamelukes", ransacked several missions and captured thousands of Indians. The missions then moved westward to the present day departments of Misiones and Itapúa. In order to protect themselves from further attacks, the Jesuits obtained the right to arm the Guarani from the Crown. Equipped with bows and arrows, and later with guns and cannons, the Guaraní army repeatedly routed the bandeirantes.

The Guarani War

This "Christian Communist Republic" functioned for more than a century and a half. The Jesuits brought together 150,000 Guaraníes in about thirty reductions, the famous " Treinta Pueblos ", spread over the present territories of Paraguay, Uruguay, northern Argentina, and southwestern Brazil. But in 1750, the Treaty of Madrid, concluded between Spain and Portugal, marked the beginning of the end of the Jesuit missions. This agreement modified the boundaries of the Treaty of Tordesillas (1494), which divided the New World between the two colonial powers. Portugal obtains new territories towards the west and the border is moved to the Río Uruguay. On these selvatic lands there were seven Jesuit reductions. Spain agrees without regret to expel the occupiers. These missions, real states within the state, had indeed become an embarrassment both to the colonial administration and to European religious authorities. The Church reproached the Jesuit fathers for having created a society apart, with a shocking cultural and religious syncretism. The "will of God" was that the Guarani should leave these missions. Many Guaraníes refused to abandon these lands, which entire generations had made prosperous. They took up arms, along with some rebellious Jesuits. The balance of power was unbalanced against the Portuguese and Spanish armies, but the resistance lasted three long years (1753-1756). Stories tell that one of the most famous Guaraní caciques, Sepé Tiarayú, declared " Kouvy ore mba'e " ("this land is ours"), when he was pierced by both a Portuguese spear and a Spanish rifle bullet... The film Mission, by Roland Joffé, with Robert de Niro and Jeremy Irons, Palme d'or at Cannes in 1986, shows in a romantic way this tragic episode of the "Guaraní War".

The expulsion of the Jesuits and the abandonment of the missions

Political-religious relations with the Society of Jesus only worsened later, finally leading to the expulsion of the Jesuits from Portugal (1759), France (1764), Spain (1767) and its colonies (1768). The Society, with its 23,000 members, 700 colleges and 300 missions throughout the world, was finally dissolved in 1773 by order of the Pope (it was re-established in 1814). The missions located on Portuguese lands were destroyed, those on the Spanish side were managed for a time by the colonial administration. Faced with the greed of the administrators, the Indians fled. The missions were totally plundered and then abandoned to vegetation for nearly two centuries.