Since its beginning, the Spanish mission system has impacted the lives of several previous generations and, to a certain extent, is still affecting people. A way to better understand the Spanish mission is by researching Jean Francois Galaup de La Perouse’s chronicles. However, while relying on La Perouse as a primary source, one has to consider that his perceptions of certain matters may be ambiguous.
The challenges modern-day critics and defenders of the Missions face can be traced back to Father Junípero Serra. Serra was a Spaniard who founded nine Catholic missions in California and, along with other priests, is considered a colonial oppressor who “committed genocide against Indigenous people” (Helmbrecht 471). Although Spain had its own vision of Serra’s journey, his initial goal was to save souls (Helmbrecht 476). However, Helmbrecht explains that the introduction to La Perouse’s journal entries states that the Native people of the Carmel Mission were resistant to European ways and their lives were extremely harsh (477). La Perouse describes noises of the whip and people “in irons” being punished for sins that were usually left for Divine justice but at the same time calls missionaries “austere, charitable, and religious” (qtd. in Helmbrecht 477). It is important to mention Helmbrecht’s notice that modern-day Mission advocates urge critics not to apply the current century’s sensibilities to the events of the XVIII century (477). The ways people perceive some historical events these days may differ from the ways of people who lived in the time of said events.
Modern-day critics and defenders of the Missions who rely on La Perouse in their studies face challenges based on the conflict between his calling the priests charitable and his description of suffering Native people. To accept his negative or positive judgments as accurate, more research is required on the perceptions of other witnesses of the events. Although, as mentioned above, the priests’ initial goal was to save souls, it is important to determine whether people wanted their souls saved the way they were forced to.
Work Cited
Helmbrecht, Brenda. “Revisiting Missions: Decolonizing Public Memories in California.” Rhetoric Society Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 5, 2019, pp. 470-494.