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BOOK REVIEWS319 specifically with the period of the Mexican Republic (1821- 1848). The range of topics encompasses aspects of the missionary enterprise, the New Mexican apostolic work of the Franciscans and subsequently the Jesuits, the establishment and development of the diocesan church, the pioneering role of Catholic women in the region, the Penitentes, and the evolution of devotions like those to St. Michael, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, and "La Conquistadora." Thomas Steele, S.J., merits acclaim as the primary editor who helped turn the various papers into a polished collection of essays. Several essays offer new evidence and particularly insightful analysis on various elements of New Mexican Catholic history. For examplejoseph P Sánchez examines El Farol Indiano,Augustinian Father Manuel Perez's fascinating 1713 manual in which "Catholic doctrine and Indian culture come together in an attempt by missionaries to reconcile the two" (p. 53). Robert Wright's thorough study of priests in New Mexico from 1780 to 1851 demonstrates that extant primary documentation is not consistent with the standard thesis of a largely clergyless Catholicism plagued by "decline, neglect, and scandal" (p. 220) during this period. Juan Romero offers a nuanced analysis of the renowned priest Antonio José Martínez, especially Martinez's response to the 1847 Taos Rebellion. Romero illuminates some of the complexities in the life of Martinez, an historical figure too often narrowly depicted solely as a Catholic apostate or as a hapless victim of U.S. imperialism and die ecclesial rule of French prelate Jean Baptiste Lamy Given the rich and extensive history of Caüiolicism in New Mexico, it is not surprising that the volume does not include material on all elements of that history . For example, there is little treatment of events during the last half of the twentieth century, such as the emergence and development of the Las Cruces diocese. Nonetheless, this is a valuable book for historians and other readers interested in New Mexico and U.S. Catholicism. Seeds of Struggle/Harvest of Faith enhances the growing body of literature that makes it clear the American Catholic story is not a univocal narrative of westward growth and expansion, but a multivocal account that encompasses the historical legacy of enduring faith communities in what is now the Southwest. Timothy M. Matovina Loyola Marymount University On the Padres' Trail. By Christopher Vecsey. [American Indian Catholics, Volume L] (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press. 1996. Pp. xvi, 440. $50.00.) Vecsey's ambitious undertaking in this first volume of a three-volume series on American Indian religion constitutes an interpretation of culture change. To achieve this, the author classifies Native Americans in the "Southwest" as sug- 320book reviews gested in part by the late Edward Spicer. Hence, the book presents sections on early contact in North America; on northwest New Spain (Mexico); on the Puebloan highlands; and on California. Such a scheme thus emphasizes Spanish presence as the primary vehicle of evangelization and transformation. The author depends heavily on secondary sources for historical detail and on recent interviews with contemporary evangelists and social workers. His concern is less to demonstrate the historical nature of contact between Native Americans and Western culture than to assess the effect of missionary indoctrination on twentieth-century tribal survivors. In this regard Vecsey laments the paucity of information from the Indians' perspective, thus coining quickly, and almost totally, to rely on contemporary statements by modern tribal leaders and Catholic clergy about that history Such a methodology fits snugly into the current tide of revisionist, anti-Western literature dealing with mission history. All sectors of the Southwest and northern Mexico suffered long periods of Church neglect due to expulsions, secularizations, and a dearth of clerical vocations . Vecsey carefully accounts for these impacts on Indian beliefs and practices . As evidence mounts to confirm certain reversions to pre-Christian rituals and practices, it is also clear that many tribal groups maintained a close adherence to those ritual traits of Catholicism that blended best with traditional aspects of Indian culture. The result is an amalgam of cultural traits that challenge the tenets of orthodoxy. While this work undeniably deals with the effective nature of the processes of conversion to...

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