Father Kino and the Missions of Pimeria Alta

Beginning in 1687, the Pimería Alta mission system was established by the Jesuits to indoctrinate the Indigenous people of the region – the O’odham – whose traditional territory straddles the Mexican state of Sonora and the American state of Arizona. Following the expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767, administration of the missions was assumed by the Franciscans, who built the structures that stand today either as ruins or still in use by their local communities: San Ignacio, Magdalena, Caborca, Pitiquito, Oquitoa, Átil, Tubutama, Cocóspera, Tumacácori, and San Xavier del Bac.

Dale Brenneman, Ph.D. Anthropology, is the Associate Curator of Documentary History and Head of Research at the Arizona State Museum. She also serves as a board member for the Southwestern Mission Research Center.

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