Women of the Pimería Alta-Cultural Preservation

Credit to the Library of Congress

Women as Forces of Cultural Preservation

Before Spanish and European contact, indigenous women had more prominent roles in both domestic and public arenas. In missions, they tended to be restricted to the home and to European ideas of “female” activities. Traditional women’s activities included making pottery, weaving baskets, planting and gathering crops, and making tortillas. Duties considered unacceptable for upper-caste women, such as breastfeeding, were acceptable for indigenous women.

Although their roles were primarily limited to the domestic, indigenous women were able to preserve their culture, ultimately becoming the main protectors of tradition. Women carried knowledge from generation to generation and remained a powerful force of cultural preservation. Archaeological information from mission sites like Tumacácori, Guevavi, and Calabazas show a much higher concentration of indigenous ceramic wares compared with Spanish and other European imported ceramics. This shows that women’s traditional methods of pottery-making and food preparation prevailed within mission communities. Women were able to continue traditional cultural practices in domestic, private spaces because they were out of the public eye.

In contrast, traditionally male activities such as weaponry, construction techniques, and military activities were more socially visible and therefore more subject to scrutiny. For this reason, they took on a greater degree of Spanish influence. Men’s roles changed more dramatically as they were incorporated into colonial life, while women’s activities showed more cultural continuity.

Women were not passive victims of colonization or the mission system. They resisted pressures to conform to European and Spanish cultural norms and worked to preserve their traditions, while choosing to incorporate those new things that they found beneficial.