Indian Alliances and the Spanish in the Southwest, 750–1750 (review)

This account examines the historical changes to a millennium’s worth of alliances among Native American groups, both sedentary Pueblos and various foraging groups. Carter uses archaeology, anthropology, ecology, and epidemiology to build his account. His goal is to highlight the continuing importance of foraging peoples in this history.

The first chapter reviews the history of migration of Athapaskan peoples and others into the Southwest. This cogent summary of a vast and changing literature depicts a dynamic region. Next Carter examines the role of changing climatic conditions in the movement of prehistorical peoples and goods. The archaeology and climatology are juxtaposed with origin stories and accounts of the various clan systems. The more nuanced account to follow deals with the four centuries preceding the arrival of Spaniards, focusing on the interactions between the peoples in the Southwest and those on the Plains. Again, Carter describes the role of climatic changes in a highly differentiated geography.

Chapter 4 discusses the Spanish conquest, beginning with an overarching view of changes in Europe, including the Black Death, and the legacy from the conquest of central Mexico. The account examines the effects of various ideologies, though not as the post-hoc rationalizations that they often were. After discussing both resistance and syncretism among various peoples, Carter turns to the early explorations of the sixteenth century, emphasizing how disruptive they were to local cultures, interactions among peoples, and general health. Among his subjects are the evidence of war among Pueblos before the Spaniards arrived, the tensions between exploration and missionizing, the Spaniards’ disappointment at the lack of wealth, and their interpretation of Pueblo ceremonies as “deviltry.”

The next and longest chapter draws on the preceding broad background to recount Spanish settlement through the first seven decades of the seventeenth century, focusing on the effects of disease, the religious sense of diabolism, and increasing church–state conflict about the administration of the colonies. The combination of climate shifts, economic exploitation, and intense missionary work gave rise to several unsuccessful revolts and significantly disrupted the balance of power in many Native alliances.

The final substantive chapter focuses on the Pueblo revolt in 1680 and the prolonged, and violent, reconquest in the 1690s as it affected the Apachean and Navajo peoples. Carter reviews and rejects the many studies that find a primary cause of the revolt; instead, he concentrates on its multiple causes, including a drought in the 1670s.

The book is a solid introduction to the history of Indian alliances. Occasionally, Carter describes “working hypotheses” of archaeologists as solid facts and imputes beliefs to people in history. These lapses mask the many changes in archaeological evidence and the ebb and flow of interpretations. That said, Carter presents a comprehensive account of foraging peoples in the history of the region that is accessible enough for non-specialists and provocative enough for specialists.