Spanish/Mexican and Native American women chose particular paths with respect to power. Some, like Toypurina, rebelled. Others adapted. A few bought into an already established power structure and took positions of authority within that structure. Although women who married and bore children won the admiration and praise of their entire community, others who deliberately stayed single were equally revered. Whether married or single, women who belonged to or became part of the Spanish Empire embodied a spiritual power delegated to them by longstanding beliefs within the Roman Catholic Church. One of the earliest of these originated with the Franciscan scholar Fr. John Duns Scotus.(19)
Franciscan Junipero Serra, a Mallorcan-trained priest (Figure 8), followed the teachings of Fr. Duns who championed the Virgin Mary and characterized women as rational beings capable of leadership. With the Virgin Mother as their role model, Spanish-Mexican women considered themselves the spirtual heads of their families, whose mission must be to transmit Catholicism and cultural values to their husbands and children. Junipero Serra relied on soldiers' wives, as good Catholic women, to train female neophytes and teach them domestic arts. (20)
The power of Mary as a saint had a major impact on potential female Indian converts. According to Catholic beliefs, women carried the spirit of Mary, Mother of God. An important aspect of female power became the ability to dignify Indian women and thereby attract female converts. Soldiers' wives did this work. They would be role models for the native girls, teach them to sew and recite the doctrine. Memoranda of Serra's orders from Spain and requests in his correspondence to the viceroy list paintings and statues of the Mother Virgin like the one at right (Figure 9) to be shipped for dispersal throughout the missions. These works of art impressed Indian women tremendously and attracted them to mission worship. (21)
The patron saint of the soldiers in San Diego was the Immaculate Conception. In Monterey and Santa Barbara, it was the Virgin of Guadalupe, pictured at left. (Figure 10) Mestiza women and men could relate to Our Lady of Guadalupe, a pregnant virgin who appeared to an Indian commoner, Juan Diego. Important to the story of her appearance is the fact that she commands Juan Diego to establish a church, thereby bringing together Catholicism and the Indian culture. Juan Diego's obedience to Guadalupe's spiritual guidance underscores the significance of feminine leadership. (22)
Another area of women's social influence arose within the Spanish Colonial system of castas which identified the genetic heritage of an individual. (Figure 11, right) Because of their sangre limpieza or pure blood, elite women had the power to lobby priests, governors and viceroys for shipments of goods from Spain. Women advocated and often achieved improved living conditions and encouraged social amenities like parties and dances. Church and government officials in Spain, New Spain and Alta California hoped that well-born bachelors stationed in the north would marry well-bred women. For example, San Diego Mission records document the weddings of Rosalia Verdugo and Don Joseph Maria Gongora; Maria Eustaquia Gutierrez and Joseph Maria Pico; (these two were the parents of Pio Pico, last governor of California before the United States takeover); and Antonia Valenzuela to Juan Joseph Alvarado. These ceremonies took place at the San Diego presidio chapel. (23) Each of these elite women maintained significant control over their circumstances in Alta California. One of the most well-documented cases of personal ability to leverage for change by virtue of her family line and education is that of Dona Eulalia Callis, wife of Governor Pedro Fages.
When Doņa Eulalia traveled up the Baja Peninsula on her way to Monterey, she was shocked by the sight of naked Indians. Filled with pity, she distributed some of her clothing and personal jewelry carried with the entourage. Later on, while living at the governor's house in Monterey, she protested to Spanish officials over her husband's suspected infidelity with an Indian girl. Years went by as her petitions made their way through the Spanish legal system. Finally her complaints were acknowledged by the viceroy, although by this time she had recanted her accusations. (24)
Twenty-two year-old orphan, Maria de Jesus Torres, recruited to Alta California with Apolinaria Lorenzana and eight other girls by quartermaster Carcaba in 1797, insisted upon and received clothing from the viceroy. In her letter written November 29, she expressed fear of being left naked. (25) Women demanded to be well-dressed, a fact which would later affect the northern frontier's trade relations, as seen in the case of Concepcion Arguello.
There never were enough pure-blooded women to meet the needs of the new colony, and the ethnic mix became richer within the Spaniards' elaborate caste system. Lower class women moved up the social ladder. They exploited the fact that their gender was "in demand"and elevated their status by dressing like one of the elite. Women also became important by taking leadership roles in the Catholic Church.
Within the religious community, festivities were dedicated to Mary, Mother of God. Just as the camarera (maid-in-waiting) in 17th century Peru, with her daily access to the camarin (ornate, hidden enclosure behind the altar) of the madonna, shared in and distributed the power of the church, so too did beatas (devout women) like Concepcion Arguello in Santa Barbara and Apolinaria Lorenzana in San Diego. Though the two women came from entirely different backgrounds, they shared an oath to defend the faith and serve the church. Each in her own way stood high within the community and received special attention from military, political and religious leaders. Choosing to remain unmarried, both Concepcion and Apolinaria attained positions of power and high status. (26)
Eulalia Perez, wife of a soldier garrisoned in Loreto, accompanied her husband north to San Diego. (Figure 12) Later widowed, she, like Apolinaria, maintained a position of status within the mission-presidio connection by working through the religious power structure. She went to work for Padre Zalvidea in San Gabriel. Her cooking found favor with the fathers and gained her a job. As Eulalia received access to the storeroom keys and began making clothing, her power increased. Under close supervision, her daughters sewed together pieces of carefully cut-out and patterned cloth. (27)
Through Eulalia's testimony we capture a glimpse of the mission's economic enterprises--soap-making, wine pressing, olive oil production, and the delivery of cow hides, saddle leather, deer and sheepskins, agave thread, as well as silk for making saddles and shoes. The mission held rations for troops and white servants as well, and Eulalia was in charge of distributing these supplies every eight days. Clothing signified social rank and Indians were rewarded for good work by being given Californio style garments. (28)
One article of clothing in particular symbolized power and independence for women--the rebozo or shawl, whose origins went back to women called tapadas in Peru. Diametrically opposed to the beata, a tapada slipped out the front door, rebozo draped over her shoulders until she rounded the street corner. (Figure 13 above) Then she covered her face with the shawl to hide her identity and proceeded to flirt, taunt, and commit whatever indiscretions she pleased without danger of losing her reputation. (29) The figurative meaning of rebozo is "dissimulation," another form of female power. (30) George Vancouver, British sea captain who kept a journal about his voyage around the world, mused that mission fathers bartered hides and tallow in exhange for the cheapest rebozos for Indian women. At some level, the padres may have sensed the attraction these garments held. Women's shawls would be essential both in church and out, after young brides withdrew "from the tuition of the (Catholic) fathers to the hut of their husband." (31)
Concepcion Arguello almost retired from the tuition of her father to the palace of a Russian count. Don Dario Arguello's daughter triggered an alliance which could have changed the course of Russian-Spanish relations in California. Count Nicolai Petrovich Rezanov, the Czar's Chamberlain, proposed marriage to the sixteen year old and was accepted after inital protests from Don Arguello and the local friars had been quelled. As go-between for Rezanov, Concepcion facilitated the purchase of grain for Russian settlers at the settlement of Sitka. Her engagement opened a way around trade prohibitions imposed by the Spanish Empire against foreign vessels. (32)
Concepcion was a key player in two ways. First, even if she and the Count were not in love, her marriage to him would facilitate trade and help bring items like cloth and metal-wares to the territory. Men traded cowhides and grain for fine silk and linen, because a well-dressed wife signfied the husband's wealth and success. Second, Concepcion provided a way to maintain peaceful relations with a potentially hostile nation. She would marry nobility in the bargain, ensuring her offspring a place in the ruling class.
G.H. Von Langsdorff, the Russian Emperor's counselor, kept a journal of his voyages and travels. In it he wrote about forming a Russian colony in California, "...a country which is blessed with so mild a climate...where there is such plenty of wood and water, with so many other means for the support of life." Advantageous commerce for Russia (and the Californios) would bring with it union between the Arguello family and a high ranking foreign official, an asset for Spaniards who valued limpieza de sangre (pure blood). (33) Under Spanish law, women safeguarded limpieza de sangre and in turn secured property with family honor. We have already discussed Serra's requests for women of good linege to come north and make Spanish California a success. Social codes of law upheld by royal governors, military officers, priests and civil authorities defended women's rights, protected them from abuse and punished men for breaches of decency. (34)
Within the framework of family honor and patriarchal authority, women exerted influence. Concepcion Arguello prevailed upon her father and the Catholic friars to consent to a betrothal between herself and Count Resanov. Fully aware of the advantages to herself of such a union, she increased the leverage in her favor by mentioning assets to her family's fortunes. While Californio men jealously guarded their daughter's honor (and the family's honor), they also acknowledged the role women played in bringing prestige to the family name through marriage. (35) Josefa Carrillo,who lived in one of the first adobes of Pueblo San Diego, increased her family's fortune through marriage to an Irish sea captain, Henry Fitch. Her decision to elope with Henry (or Enrique, as he came to be known by the townspeople) showed personal strength. She made her move at the risk of being disowned by her father who vowed to kill her if she ever set foot in his house again. Likewise, Concepcion Arguello's actions illustrate her ability to initiate economic relations between potential enemies. She maintained her self-determination even though Count Resanov never returned. She renounced all suitors, in spite of being mocked by some of them. (36)