Moxeño Luthiers

 
Photo by Sanggi

I have written before about the Baroque tradition of music that was part of the Missions in the Llanos de Mojos during the time of the Jesuits. From the news today comes a nice human interest piece on two luthiers or violin makers who were born near San Ignacio de Moxos, and went on to be formally trained in Santa Cruz province. It's interesting to see how the international press covers stories about eastern Bolivia. I don't know much about the Independent European Daily Express, but maybe someone out there knows more than I do. This story makes the point to connect the missions of Mojos with the more famous Chiquitos missions of Santa Cruz, a point that is not always made.

Words from 1695

…y habiendo entrado en un pueblo muy grande, puesto en forma, con plaza y calles, halló á toda la gente de él junto á la puerta de un templo dedicado al demonio, á quien actualmente estaban ofreciendo sacrificios, puestos sus dioses todos en la puerta del templo, vestidos muy curiosamente de plumas, con unas mantas vistosas, todas labradas….y delante de ellos muchos cuartos de carne de ciervos, venados, conejos y avestruces puestos en sus palanganas, con una hoguera de fuego el medio, que continuamente arden de dia y de noche, y todo el pueblo alrededor del sacrificio. (Eguiluz and Torres S. 1884:35-36)

…and entering a large, well-formed town, with a plaza and streets, he discovered all of the people together at the door of a temple dedicated to the Devil, to whom they were offering sacrifices, placing all of their gods in the doorway of the temple, curiously dressed with feathers, with colorful garments, entirely worked….Ahead of these were many quarters of meat from deer, brocket deer, rabbit and rhea, placed in their platters,  with a bonfire in the middle, which burns continually, day and night, and all of the people were gathered around the sacrifice [my translation, from my 1999 dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania].

This quote is from one of the early Jesuit accounts of travels in Mojos. In this particular case, the priest (a man named Zapata) traveled along the Mamoré and Iruyañez Rivers, to the north of Santa Ana. Interpreting historical records like this is an important part of Amazonian archaeology, and Amazonian studies in general.

* Eguiluz, D. and E. Torres S. 1884 [1695] Historia de la misión de Mojos en la República de Bolivia. Imprenta del Universo de C. Prince, Lima.

Turismo en Santa Ana del Yacuma

 

This sculpture sits on top of a pedestal on the circumvalación of Santa Ana, on the eastern side of town, as I recall. It depicts the leader of a cattle drive, using a trumpet made from the horn of a cow to rally his cowboys. The photo comes from the municipal government's tourism department, which has a large Spanish language website, with local music, photographs, and information about restaurants, hotels, parks, and pharmacies. Although it can still be challenging to get to there during the wet season, Santa Ana has a lot to offer, especially during the fiesta, which is celebrated on the 26th of July. The town was founded in 1708 as a Jesuit Mission.

Baroque music

The Jesuit missionaries who came to the interior of South America late in the 17th century were determined to create a new kind of society in the New World, based on different principles. One of the most powerful expressions of those ideas is the Baroque musical tradition, which flourished as indigenous children learned how to play the music of Bach and other composers on instruments which were also made in the missions. The Jesuits were expelled from the missions in 1767, but the musical tradition continued, and is now experiencing a revival. Although the Chiquitos missions to the south are better known in this regard, the Mojos missions had a musical tradition as well. This radio report comes from National Public Radio.