DESCRIPTION:  THROUGH ROLE-PLAYING DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE LIFE OF A MISSIONARY, SUCH AS MUSIC,  CLOTHING AND PENMANSHIP, STUDENTS WILL GAIN UNDERSTANDING OF THE BELIEFS AND LIFESTYLE OF THE EARLY JESUIT MISSIONARIES

  Subjects:
  Social Studies, Music, Art, Language Arts, Science.

  Materials:
  Copies of Master  Pages II - 7 and II - 8; tape of chant music (see Encounters Box - optional) ; two  long sleeve shirts (one light colored cotton and one dark wool), two thermometers; feathers or quill pens and ink; journals or paper.

  Time:
  Two or more sessions.

  Preparation:
  Set up for each of the mini-activities.  Preparation time will vary for each mini-activity.

  Vocabulary:
  tapizque, cassock

             Blue
1.  Kino Guide II,
Tumacacori
Video:  Tumacacori 
Story
2.  Tape:  Mission Music

LIFE AS A MISSIONARY

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered the new world and claimed it for the glory of the Spanish Crown.  Within fifty years Spain’s domain had spread to include South America, Central America, present day Mexico and into North America.   A wave of conquistadors overpowered the native peoples and their lands.  As the conquest spread, however, the SpanishCrown realized that they would not have the citizenry to settle the new colonies.  A new goal developed.  Now the aim was to make converts and tax paying citizens of the indigenous peoples they conquered. 
The Spanish mission system arose in part from the need to control the colonies.  Realizing that the colonies would require a literate population base that the mother country could not supply, they initiated a system of missions with the goal of converting the indigenous people to Christianity.  Jesuit priests were sent into the expanding empire.  They devoted years of their lives in exchange for a meager subsistence lifestyle.  Their jobs might have included being responsible for up to two hundred families scattered in three or four widely separated villages, while acting as master builder, site manager, agronomist, doctor, economist and social worker.  The priests’ priority, however, was to convert souls to Christianity.  But how was this accomplished?  Were they evangelical, telling natives that they would not be allowed into heaven if they did not accept Christianity?  Or did they teach more by example,  devoting their lives to helping others, with love 
and kindness their primary goal?  1
The earliest Jesuit missionaries came to the New World with determination and faith eighty-eight years after its discovery.  They came in black robes with a zeal that earned them the title “Soldiers of God,” devoting their lives to bringing the “good” news of Christianity to native populations throughout the world.  Ignatius Loyola founded the Society of Jesus, or Jesuit order, in 1540 to bring stability to the church during the Reformation.  A group of highly educated intellectuals, the order at first concentrated on missionary activity to the Holy Land.  Within two decades the Society began to spread, including education as part of its mission.  Father Kino, for example, had the equivalent of fifteen years of university level studies.  Today there are more than twenty-eight Jesuit universities and forty high schools in the U.S.A.
A guiding belief for the missionaries and their contemporaries during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was that discipline (often as corporal punishment) was essential to maintaining order and community cooperation.  A discussion about the U.S. Marine Corps might provide a sound illustration of these beliefs.  In the marines, discipline is essential.  If someone commits an infraction, he or she might be required to do pushups, run laps or do a variety of other physical activities that may be thought of as punishments.  For the most part, the officers do not issue the discipline out of cruelty but from the belief that it is for the good of all.  The early missionaries and settlers practiced this same belief.  Soldier, parent, citizen and priest practiced a strict code of discipline.  

What really happened?  Stories abound regarding the mistreatment of Indians, forced labor and cruel priests.  However, while such things may have occurred, this was normally not true. It is important, therefore, to discuss the question of whether or not the missionaries were really cruel, or just strict.   The Jesuit priests issued criminal sentences based on written laws and guidelines, but  an appointed military or civilian official performed corporal punishment, not the Fathers.  The missionaries’ role was to be more of a protector or redeemer.  They were usually there to help at the end of a punishment, and had the power to stop the discipline if they felt it went too far.  It is important to emphasize that the historical perspective of the times defined discipline.  Three-hundred years ago a lashing or severe punishment was a common occurrence in home and community life!
The missionaries’ lifestyle was one of strict devotion to their religion.  Observation of daily devotions and special events were important, and included celebration and music whenever appropriate.  Days of hard work and frustration were offset with the joy of prayer, meditation, song and celebrations.  Claims that the missionaries carried out forced labor are inaccurate. Spain had abolished slavery in 1532 before the Jesuit order was founded. There was a policy, however, whereby twenty-seven percent of the mission Indians (tapizques) could be “borrowed” for up to two months each to work in the mines.  The Jesuits kept the mine owners in line and as a result, were often accused of being Indian lovers.  
Being highly-educated men with strong opinions and loyalties, the Jesuits sometimes found themselves in conflict with politicians and military and church authorities.  They became a favorite political target, becoming ever more unpopular with the aristocracy, the wealthy and the military throughout Europe and the New World.  In the end, the Jesuits were expelled from Europe, the Americas and Asia in 1767.  Only about fifty percent of the Jesuits working in the Pimeria Alta survived the forced marches and hardships of expulsion.  The survivors then spent six to ten years under house arrest in Spain.  Five years later, the Pope supressed the Jesuit order, at which time they took refuge in Russia under the rule of Catherine the Great.  The Jesuit order remained supressed for sixty years.
The mission era is a period of history that is often questioned and controversial.  It seems that the Spanish are blamed for their wrong doings but rarely get credit for their accomplishments. Were you taught that the Pilgrims were the founders of this country?  If you were to ask your students, would they reply differently?  The Spanish were in present day America a hundred years before the Pilgrims arrived.  The truth is that our first European settlers and Spanish missionaries laid the foundation for the present nation of Mexico and our rich, present day Southwest culture. Take some time to study the Spanish mission history.  It is an essential part of our heritage that we should not ignore.

ACTIVITY

- Review the story of Columbus with your class.  Where did he come from?  Why did he come to America?  How long did it take?  What problems did he and his men encounter?  How did they travel once they arrived in the new world?  Whom did they meet?  What do you think life was like for Columbus and his crew?  Was life hard or easy?
- Using the story of Columbus as a transition, briefly introduce the missionaries.  Who were they? (The first Jesuit missionaries in Arizona were from Italy, Austria, Germany, Spain and other parts of Europe).  Why did they come?  What were their goals?  (The missionary’s main motivation was to convert the Indians to Christianity while helping the poor.  However, the Spanish Crown financed them, hoping to eventually change the Indians into tax paying Spanish citizens. The priests were zealous in their desire to create what they thought would be a better world for the Indians).  Do you think life for the missionaries was similar to that of Columbus and his men?  How?
- Present each of the four following mini-activities to the class, spending approximately fifteen minutes on each.

Mini - Activity:  Music
Music was an integral part in the life of a missionary.  A common song might have been the Gregorian chant (see Master Page II - 7 and its associated tape located in the Encounters Box).  The chant transports singers back in time while teaching breath control and singing techniques.  2
1)	Start by having the students listen to the tape with eyes closed and try to imagine what a church service might have been like.  
2)	Pass out copies of the chant music and practice it with students.  Use the old type of notation shown, called "nuemes," to teach it.  
The chant or “nueme” notation evolved around 200 A.D. when chant notes were written on a blank piece of paper as a memory aid.  Sometime around 1050 A.D. lines were added based on the solfuge (do re mi fa so la ti do) scale. The rhythm is “freestyle,” with each note having equal value.  The square versus diamond-shaped notes are merely the result of the shapes produced as notes were written by a rapidly moving square quill pen.  There are no chords.  Notes connected by a line or written above or below each other are sung in order, individually.  
3)	Show the students a picture of Tumacacori or one of the other missions.  (See Unit III, Master Pages III - 10 through III - 21, or use a photograph.)  Talk about what it might have been like to attend a service in the 18th and 19th centuries.  
The service was all sung in Latin, lasted an hour or longer, and there were no seats.  By todays standard, standing and kneeling for long are considered harsh but for the O’odham people at that time it may not have been bad; they were used to all night vigils and rituals.  Although many may have attended church daily, they were only obliged to attend once a week and on feast days.  
4)	Have students practice the chant.  (Consider having them kneel on the floor.)  

Mini - Activity:  Clothing
In this activity students will directly experience the effects the missionaries’ choice of clothing had on their comfort and how this compared with the O’odhams' choice of clothing; how they adapted, (or failed to adapt), to the desert environment.   
1)	Bring in, or ask students to bring, at least two long sleeve shirts;  one white or light colored cotton and the other a black or dark colored wool.  
2)	 Before class, make two small lean-tos or shade structures; one with the wool and another with the cotton.  Make sure that the material is at least six inches above a dirt or grass surface and leave it up for at least ten minutes to adjust to the outside temperature.  
3)	Discuss with the students how one's choice of clothing might affect their comfort level in different environments.  What do they wear when it’s hot?  When it’s cold?  Do colors, types or thicknesses of materials have an effect?  
4)	 Tell them that they will conduct an experiment.   Explain the experiment (step 5) and ask them to hypothesize the outcome.  
5)	 Place a thermometer underneath each lean-to and leave it for at least ten minutes.  Record measurements simultaneously.  Discuss results.  

Discuss the traditional dress of both the missionaries and the O’odham people.  Why did each group dress the way they did? 
The O’odham wore cotton shirts, pants or dresses, and, on occasion, used breech-clouts.  The missionary’s traditional clothing was a heavy, black wool cassock.  However, they most likely wore pants and shirts when traveling.  
Ask for volunteers  and have students wear either the wool or cotton shirt and stand in the sun for at least 5 to 10 minutes.  If possible, allow each student to experience this throughout the day.
Mini - Activity:  Discipline
The missionaries and their contemporaries during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries believed that discipline (often as corporal punishment) was essential to maintaining order and community cooperation.  This activity addresses the question of whether the missionaries were really cruel, or just strict.  
1)	Hold a discussion about current discipline as practiced in the schools.  What is your schools policy?  Do the students believe its fair?   
2)	Describe school and parental discipline practices from past generations.  Were they fair?  Would the students like to have that kind of discipline today? 
3)	Introduce the idea of discipline in the missions.  
4)	Create a mini-experience that will give students a feel for what discipline was like in the missions.  (Note:  these activities are mild, brief samples!)  Have students hold a book in each hand with arms fully extended for one or more minutes, stand on one foot for three minutes or longer, maintain absolute silence for a specified period of time, or create your own.  
5)	 Re-discuss the idea of discipline and the lifestyle of the early missionaries and settlers. 

Mini - Activity:  Penmanship
The early Jesuit missionaries were well-educated men.  For example, Father Kino had the equivalent of degrees in math, cartography and astronomy, in addition to thirteen years of religious training.  Many Jesuits were our first historians and scientists.   They were also versed in writing.  One Spanish tradition is to make a rubric, an elaborate signature and associated design that is still practiced in many parts of the Hispanic world.
1)	Ask students to write their signatures as neatly as possible.  Discuss how a signature might tell a story about a person.  (Signatures are used as a way to detect criminals, etc.)  
2)	Explain that the missionaries and educated citizenry in the 18th century took pride in developing their signatures.  It was a mark of dignity, status and intelligence. (In many parts of Latin America much emphasis is given to unique, neatly written and sometimes elaborate signatures.)   
3)	Show examples of rubrics on Master Page II - 8.  
4)	Using cactus thorns, feathers or a quill pen, have each student create their own elaborate signature or rubric.

RESOURCES AND REFERENCES

 Kino Guide II, Charles Polzer, Southwestern Mission Research Center, Tucson, AZ   1982; A Kino Keepsake, Friends of the University of Arizona Library, Tucson, 1991; “CHANT,” Gregorian Chant tape by the monks of Santa Domingo, Angel Records, 1993; Sonora, Ignaz Pfeffercorn (translated by Theodore Treutline), University of AZ Press, Tucson, 1989; Rules and Precepts of the Jesuit Missions of Northwestern New Spain, Charles Polzer, Univ. of AZ Press, 1976; Friar Bringas Reports to the King, Daniel Matson and Bernard Fontana, Univ. of AZ Press, 1977.

Enhancements

•	Use old documents from A Kino Keepsake to further discuss the day in the life of a missionary.
•	Have each student bring a long sleeve shirt to personally test what it is like wearing both cotton and wool.
•	Have each student take on the identity of an actual missionary as they write both their signatures and daily diaries (see Unit II activity, “A Day in the Life of a Missionary,” page II - 12).