Modern-Day Missions as an Extension of Colonialism
Sarah Reichart

By the end of the 15^th century, Columbus had landed in the Americas and changed the world forever. Throughout the following centuries, Europeans colonized the Americas and its peoples, shaping Latin America into the current culture and society seen in today’s world. One major aspect of the colonial era was the evangelization of the indigenous peoples into the Catholic faith. Catholic priests and nuns would participate in what were known as missions. Missions not only aimed at converting the indigenous people to Catholicism, but also attempted to transition the primitive lifestyle of most indigenous communities to a more western way of living. While the reasons for the missions during colonialism ranged from genuine concern for the indigenous peoples to a tool used to pacify the uprisings and rebellious side of the population, present-day missions’ only goal is the betterment of indigenous communities.

Missions in the 21^st century aim to spread the word of God through volunteer work in some of the most impoverished areas of Latin America, often comprised of indigenous groups. Modern-day missions share the same general teachings and methods of colonial era missions; both aim to convert the indigenous communities of Latin America to Catholicism as well as provide an incentive for converting. Such incentives generally included better security through new infrastructure, such as schools and churches. In addition, through the perspective of the Church, both colonial missions and modern missions hope to “save” the souls of the indigenous. It seems that both types of missions have the best interest at heart, but the overall general concept of the mission is flawed.

As stated above, colonial era missions and modern-day missions share many similarities that show how colonialism is present in the application of the missions today. While missions may seem helpful and selfless, they are, in fact, mainly beneficial for the missionaries rather than the indigenous peoples they aim to serve. There are many other, more beneficial, ways to conduct volunteer work and help indigenous communities than missions, as missions are not only costly due to the expensive travel involved but additionally, aim to westernize the indigenous identity and culture. Through an analysis and comparison of missions during the colonial era and missions in the modern world, this essay will demonstrate how modern-day missions are an extension of colonialism and serve as fuel for a savior complex.

The reasons, or underlying motivations, for colonial missions vary depending on perspective and historical topic. The social perspective provides very different reasons for missions than the economic and political perspectives; however, the goals seemed to be the same: create a utopian-like society of harmonious co-existence between the indigenous and the western colonizers (Sánchez). For example, the social perspective of colonial missions seems to have the purest reasons for pursuing missions – to convert the native peoples to Catholicism in order to save their souls. Priests and nuns of the colonial era believed that their mission from God was to spread the word of God to the indigenous peoples and successfully convert them to Catholicism. These missions often times included the construction of western churches and compounds for the indigenous people; however, these structures were built on top of pre-existing Mesoamerican architecture with the intent further stomp out the indigenous culture and religion (Sánchez). The compounds not only served as a religious and vocational complex but also as a defensive fort. Although the mission centers were not meant for combat of any kind, they were constructed with high walls, heavy doors, and gates. In addition, it was common for combat forts to be built near or around mission centers. The combination of the defensive nature of the mission complexes and the nearby combat forts allowed for a large amount of safety for the indigenous and priests living inside the compounds. In fact, some indigenous people willingly joined the compounds, as they offered safety from the cruelty of the conquistadors. Within the compounds, indigenous peoples were taught an array of skills such as ironwork, carpentry, shoemaking, and many more trades that would prove useful in the western world (León Azcárate).

The economic aspect of colonial missions is far darker and manipulative in the sense that it disregards the “saving” mentality of the priests and clergy members. The economic aspect of colonial missions was not for the well-being of the indigenous peoples but rather for the manipulation of them. For example, one of the main reasons for the missions from an economic perspective was to distract the native population in order to more quickly colonize their land. If the indigenous people were busy with the conversion to Catholicism, it would be much easier for the conquistadors to take advantage of the natural resources in the area – gold, silver, iron, copper, tar, wood and other precious resources – without push back from the indigenous population (Sánchez). In addition, the reason for the construction of the mission complexes was not solely for the safety of the people within, but rather to be used as an outlet for the trade and production of crops.

The political perspective of the evangelization of the indigenous peoples is similar to that of the economic perspective in that it uses the missions to hide an ulterior motive. Politically, the main reason for the colonial missions was to establish common ground with the indigenous peoples in order to lessen the likelihood of rebellion against the Spanish crown (Sánchez). If the colonizers could successfully convert the indigenous peoples to Catholicism, then the Catholic crown could establish some kind of rapport with the “New World”. In this context, the mission complexes were built in order to shift the indigenous away from their way of living and to a more western form of life. This was another way to establish commonality between the two very different cultures in order to deter any uprising or rebellion.

Indigenous reaction to the colonial evangelization was complex and varied greatly among indigenous communities. On one end, there was a fair amount of push back from native peoples; resistance was not well received by the church. In fact, some instances of indigenous resistance resulted in death, which was extremely counter-productive for missionaries. Don Carlos Ometochitli-Chichimecatuhtli was the leader of the cacique of Tetzcoco who allegedly made statements discouraging Catholicism which resulted with him being burned at the stake despite a lack of evidence (Aguilar-Moreno). Often times, indigenous resistance presented itself through the worship of both indigenous idols and the Catholic God. The Church attempted to end the mixing of the two religions with little to no success. In fact, the more the Church tried to end the religious duality in the indigenous peoples, the stronger it became. Despite the harsh punishment received from disobeying the Church, there was some positive feedback from the indigenous communities. The safety and learned skills that came with the mission compounds were enough for some indigenous peoples to convert to Catholicism without resistance.

It should be noted that there are other branches of religion besides Catholicism that partake in modern-day missions in Latin America; however, it was the Catholic Church who began the missions during colonization, and they have continued that practice into the 21^st century. While modern-day Catholic missions share similar evangelical methods as colonial missions, the main difference in modern-day missions is that there seems to be no ulterior motive behind the idea of saving the indigenous population. The “physical and spiritual needs of the poor” are the main concern addressed by missionaries today (Focus). The physical need of the poor is in reference to the often-impoverished areas in which the indigenous peoples of today live. Similar to the colonial era, modern-day missions help develop infrastructure like churches, schools, and wells for the people the missionaries try to convert. There are two types of missions practiced today: long-term and short-term. The most common type is short term, which focuses on a singular aspect or project within the community, such as building a church or school. Long-term missions are more in-depth and include becoming a part of the indigenous community, such as becoming a teacher or a long-term construction worker. Unlike missions during colonization, modern-day missionaries include everyone from priests to college students. In fact, college students are targeted for missions, and marketing to universities is a large part of the process of short-term modern-day missions (Focus). The mission experience is marketed the same way as study abroad programs, promoted as a unique and crucial experience every college student should have.

The centrality of missions in both eras is the spread of western religion within the indigenous communities, which is extremely outdated and a clear indication of how colonialism is present in modern-day missions. The very idea behind missions – evangelization – serves colonial ideals that should be put to rest in the modern society. If people of different cultures can mutually share and respect each other’s views and diversity, then no type of religious conversion has a place in today’s world. Spending thousands of dollars to travel to another country with the purpose of spreading religion through volunteer work seems to contradict good stewardship if the true goal is to help the impoverished as much as possible. If missionaries truly want the best for the indigenous communities of Latin America, they will forgo the journey to the country and instead donate the money they would have spent on mission costs directly to the indigenous communities. If missionaries truly want a hands-on experience with helping people, there are always local opportunities with little to no travel expense, that way more money can be given to indigenous communities.

Missions not only have heavy undertones of colonialism but also fuel a type of savior complex. The majority of testimonies from missionaries include narratives about how helping the people living in impoverished areas changed their life. Many official mission sites include photos of missionaries with the young children of the communities. While the missionaries may believe that they are helping and volunteering for the correct reasons, mission trips serve as more of a self-validating experience for the missionary rather than a helpful experience to the indigenous community. Sadly, people often use mission trips as either an experience to add to a resume or a way to boast about their morality. A driving point of missions is the experience of helping poor people living in the developing world. To truly help those in the developing world, missionaries would donate the extra money to the indigenous communities rather than spend it making a trip to them personally.

The comparison of past and present mission trips in Latin America demonstrates how modern-day evangelization is a type of religious colonialization. Both colonial missions and modern-day missions aim to assimilate indigenous and western culture through religious conversion. Social, economic, and political perspectives offer unique and important insights into the colonial era missions. While all three perspectives offer a different view, it is important to note than one is not more correct than another. Each perspective is told through the eyes of the people involved making it true for that particular group. For the Spaniards, there were multiple reasons for indigenous conversion to Catholicism, but all had the same goal of harmonious co-existence. To the indigenous peoples, the evangelization was seen in largely a negative way, and seems to have held that belief into today’s society. Although missions seem helpful in theory, the very people they are made to help do not appreciate the attempted conversion. In the end, it is important to respect and appreciate each culture, and to do that effectively, modern-day missions should not exist.