The Politics of Inclusion/Exclusion in the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands during the Mexican Period

Abstract

This chapter is an examination of Indigenous responses to changes in the administration of Indian affairs in the Arizona-Sonora Borderlands during the Mexican period. This period was characterized by steady erosion of the mission system, the rupturing of the colonial pact, and the eventual Jesuit Expulsion. While Hopis had minimal contacts with independent Mexico, Yaquis once again revolted in defence of political autonomy, this time under the complicated leadership of Juan Banderas. O’odhams endured chaotic decades of drought, frontier warfare, and administrative changes that resulted in significant mission depopulation and the decline of the town electoral model, although not its complete disappearance. This chapter demonstrates that these three Indigenous nations confronted the electoral-political upheavals of the Mexican period in distinct ways that ensured their survival as sovereign peoples.