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Father Kino’s “Neat Little House and Church” at Guevavi DENI J. SEYMOUR BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION Some fifteen years ago Seymour (1997; also see Seymour 1991a, 1991b, 1993a) reported on a Sobaípuri-O’odham habitation site situated near the standing but gradually melting adobe walls of the large San Miguel de Guevavi mission complex that was built in 1751 (Figure 1). It was suggested that this unassuming archaeological locus (AZ EE:9:132, ASM) might be one of the native settlements mentioned by the visiting Spaniards, perhaps even the first one noted by Father Eusebio Kino in 1691. He and Father Visitor Juan María Salvatierra stopped over at the location after native leaders from San Cayetano del Tumacácori and Wa:k (San Xavier del Bac) traveled south to Sáric in Soba territory on the upper Río Altar (now in northern Sonora) to ask for visitation (Burrus 1971:43). Seymour (1997) noted that the native settlement was outside and at some distance from the adobe convento that dominates the high point along the river margin. The site had several native structures, pottery, and other telltale evidence of a native Sobaípuri-O’odham or nonspecific O’odham occupation. The article also called attention to a unique-looking feature that was suggestive of a Spanish-period structure built by or under the direction of Europeans (Seymour 1997:253). It was suggested that the feature might be either the structure built for the missionary or the initial church, as Kino described it, the “neat little church” (Bolton 1948:I:303, 307; Kessell 1970:30, 31). Historians have wondered what happened to this “neat little church,” as it simply failed to be mentioned shortly after being built and whitewashed . This disinterest was surprising because Kino seemed so pleased at its completion. With reference to a priestly visit to Guevavi in 1732, Kessell (1970:48) noted: “Whether the ruins of San Martín’s little church DENI J. SEYMOUR, Ph.D., is a Southwest Center research associate. She has studied Sobaípuri archaeology for over two decades. Journal of the Southwest 51, 2 (Summer 2009):285–316 Figure 1. Locations of historically referenced settlements along the upper (southern) Santa Cruz River. Father Kino’s “Neat Little House and Church” ✜ 287 stood nearby, a reminder of earlier beginnings, has not been determined.” This “neat little church” disappeared from the historic record and, as Kessell (1970:31, fn. 24) noted, “The site of San Martín’s ‘very neat little church’ has not yet been identified.” Seymour (2007a) has been conducting excavations at a number of Sobaípuri-O’odham sites along the upper Santa Pedro and Santa Cruz rivers, including at Guevavi. One of the first undertakings was the excavation of this unique feature to ascertain its nature, provide a date for its destruction, and determine why it fell out of use. This article analyzes this one element of this native locus at Guevavi—the “neat little church.” It also demonstrates the ways in which archaeology can be used to address specific questions left unanswered by the documentary record, and how the written and archaeological records can be effectively used together to arrive at an enriched understanding of the past. As Harlan (2007:510) notes, it is fruitful to use “archaeological evidence as a fully equal alternative source of knowledge that can provide a window on aspects of events that are simply not available in the documentary record.” Data obtained from excavation of this “neat little house and church” seem to provide a glimpse into the nature of the archaeological signature of rebellion. While the documentary record describes uprisings against colonial powers and resistance events at other settlements, and the burning of other churches, the silence surrounding this early church destruction may attest to the pervasiveness of the colonial narrative and complicity among religious and military participants in the selective transfer of information beyond the local arena through journal entries, letters, and official correspondence. Documentary Evidence of This Site and This Feature Kino made note of a “new and very neat little church” that Father San Martín had built in 1701. Shortly thereafter, on November 4, 1701, Kino ordered it...

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