Abstract
Michael Shawn Austin’s Colonial Kinship: Guarani, Spaniards, and Africans in Paraguay is a well-researched, well written, and detailed account of the development of kinship in Paraguay from the 1530 s to the turn of the eighteenth century. It shows that the natives of the region, the Guaraní, although they were victims of colonization, were also active agents in transforming the Spanish colonial institutions in that region. Austin illustrates quite well that “colonized” and “colonizers” were not static groups and that every form of coerced service has to be understood in its local context.
As Austin demonstrates, central to the development of kinship was the exchange of women and the establishment of polygamy. This was a reflection of Guarani society in which “sexual relations were rather fluid.” Austin writes of how Guaraní attitudes towards sexuality “provided women with greater freedom and a way to escape from an unwanted partner.” (34) Clearly, this situation changed with colonization, and women became subjected to an unprecedented level of violence and coercion. Yet they also influenced the conquistadors by including them into their kinship. This kinship system (or cuñadasgo) combined Guarani and Spanish patterns and sustained the relationship between the two groups. As Austin explains: “Colonials willingly transposed the Guaraní social meanings of polygamy … onto a colonial institution for tribute extraction, the encomienda.” (2)
The book is divided into an “Introduction,” three parts with eight chapters, and a “Conclusion.” The first part, “Beginnings,” looks at the encounter and the creation of colonial institutions. Chapter 1, “Cuñadasgo and Conquistador Polygamists, 1530s–1550 s,” explains the origins of cuñadasgo and the practice of polygamy. Chapter 2, “Institutionalizing Kinship. The Encomienda and Franciscan Reducciones, 1550s–1640 s,” covers the institutionalization of colonization, with special focus on the encomienda system and the Reducciones. The focus of chapter 3, “Embodied Borders. Conflict and Convergence in Guairá, 1570s–1630 s,” examines the Spanish presence in the border region with Portuguese America and the conflicts with the bandeirantes.
In Part 2, “Challenges,” Austin analyzes the challenges faced by the colonists and the Guarani resistance to colonization. Chapter 4, “Resplendent Prophets and Vengeful Warriors. Guaraní Rejection of Colonial Rule,” delves into two Guaraní rebellions, in 1625 and in 1660. Chapter 5, “Indios Fronterizos and the Spanish-Guaraní Militias,” shows how Spanish insecurity in border zones led to the creation of Guaraní militias for protection from Portuguese America and from other native groups, creating an interdependency between the Guaraní and Spanish populations. (155)
Part 3, “Communities,” focuses on the tensions that shaped colonial society. Chapter 6, “Beyond the Missions. Guaraní Reducciones in Asunción’s Orbit,” explores the social, economic, and political aspects of life in the reducciones. Chapter 7, “The Other Reducción. Asunción’s Indios,” looks into the city of Asunción and how it was shaped by natives. Finally, chapter 8, “Beyond Mestizos. Afro-Guaraní Relations,” discusses the relationship between Afro-descendants and Guarani who “labored together, soldiered together, fought with and robbed each other, married each other, and snubbed each other.” (253).
Austin’s major achievement is the detailed research in primary sources, such as litigations, wills, censuses, sales, registers, and petitions. He conducted research not only in Paraguay and Spain, but also in the neighbouring countries of Argentina and Bolivia as well as in the United States. Of all the sources used, Austin views litigation files as essential to give voice to the Guaraní. The investigation of 350 files—never examined before—allows this book to reveal the Guarani people “actively negotiating, contesting, and cooperating with Spaniards,” instead of emphasizing only Spanish violence. (8) Even more importantly is the fact that the primary research conducted by Austin gave voice to women who were never highlighted in the commonly used Spanish religious sources. Giving back women a voice was essential since women were the link between Guaraní and colonizers—they were the workers and the mothers of the mestizo children who would carry on the colonization process. Thus, women had a vital influence in the history of colonial Paraguay, but have been overlooked due because ecclesiastical sources emphasized male roles and their authority.
One aspect that became clear to the author was that most “Spaniards learned Guaraní while very few Guaraní learned Spanish” (9) and that it was through this native language that kinship (or cuñadasgo) was formed. Although Spanish was the official language and a status symbol, Guaraní was the lingua franca used by Spaniards, Guarani, and mestizos, mostly due to the influence of women over their mixed-race children.
Another interesting contribution of the book is to show that African slavery was a dominant aspect of Paraguay’s society, although there has been a movement, led by nationalist historians, to erase the African presence in the country. According to Austin, this was a consequence of the Paraguayan War and the racism towards Afro-Brazilians. The war was fought between the Triple Alliance (Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay) and Paraguay from 1864 to 1870. In practice, the war—especially towards the end—was fought mostly between Brazil and Paraguay. It had a major impact in South America, and it almost destroyed Paraguay. War propaganda gave rise to a strong anti-Brazilian sentiment and due to the large numbers of Afro-Brazilian soldiers fighting, it also gave rise to racism. The idea of mestizo Paraguayans being attacked by outsiders was perpetuated by nationalist historians and led to an attempt to de-Africanize Paraguay.
Austin shows that not only were African slaves present in Paraguay, they also formed kinship relations with Guaraní—although the forced labor imposed on each group was quite distinct: “Slaves experienced fewer rights and restricted access to freedoms than their indio tributary counterparts.” (254) Therefore, Austin reinforces the idea that not all forms of forced labor can be generalized, and that Guaraní cannot be simply labelled as slaves.
Colonial Kinship is an important contribution to a better understanding of colonial South America, and it challenges the emphasis on Spanish violence. As Austin demonstrates clearly, violence and coercion existed, but interracial relations were far more complex than the simplification of “colonizers versus colonized” might imply. Indeed, the book nuances the interpretation of the Spanish as the most violent of all European colonizers in the Americas, a view that has been prevalent in English-language historiography and that continues to have some influence.
The reader should be aware that, despite being clearly written and well organized, the monograph was written for the experts. Austin could have provided some general information about the history Paraguay in order to contextualize its conclusions for non-specialists and undergraduate students. For instance, he could have discussed more the fact that the region of Asuncion was not very profitable to the Spanish Crown and remained quite isolated even in the post-independence period. More emphasis on the poverty of the region could have better explained the kinship system developed there.
Regardless, Austin’s book is a must for any scholar and student interested in the Spanish colonization of South America and in the history of Paraguay, not only due to its impressive research, but also because it provides examples of the complexities of history through personal stories. As Austin concludes: “Kinship paradigms from distinct cultures, close social contact, violent encounters on the frontiers and borderlands, minimal European immigration, and the vitality of Indian communities in reducciones were the key components of colonial cultural transformation.” (276)