Life in Spanish Missions

Life in the mission revolved around the church. The church bell signaled the beginning and end of

the day, prayers, and mealtime. The Spanish priests spent their days educating the Native Americans about the Catholic religion.

-The Indians were taught Spanish prayers, songs, and dances.

-The children were schooled in the reading and writing of the Spanish language.

It was the missionaries’ hopes to turn these Native Americans into productive Spanish subjects.

The Chapel

Working out in the fields was one of the more

difficult assignments in the mission. Rain or shine, hot or cold, all were expected to

do their part to keep the mission going. Both men and women would work outdoors.

The older women were given the task of fishing. But the men had the very demanding jobs of

planting and harvesting the crops, carting in freshly quarried stone for mission construction, blacksmithing, and tanning hides.

The Fields

A select group of Native Americans were

trained by the nearby soldiers in the presidio to guard their fellow Native Americans.

They were always on the lookout for hostile Indians, such as the Apaches and the Comanche.

Remember presidios were intended to protect the missions from attacks from Native Texans.

The Fields Continued

Older men worked on making arrows for

mission defense while some of their younger counterparts worked on making chairs, tables etc.

Some Native Americans were assigned tasks that could be done indoors in the workshops. Women would spend their time spinning wool

yarn from the mission’s sheep, weaving baskets, and making clay pottery.

Of course, they had to do their part while watching their children simultaneously.

The Workshops

The Natives were put to work in the fields and

workshops because the Spanish wanted the natives to also be productive for Spain.

As laborers the Natives could help the missions to become self-supporting. Spain wanted to make money off of the colonies

rather than spending money on them. The Spanish did want to establish good feelings

with the natives in order for this to happen and so they would sometimes name the Missions after native groups in the area.

Productive Spanish Subjects

The Native Americans would gather in this area to eat their meals.

Breakfast consisted of atole, a gruel made of roasted corn.

The main meal of the day was lunch. A hearty soup made of vegetables and meat was

often served at this time. For dinner, atole was served once again.

Women were assigned the task of food preparation. They would spend their days making bread dough and cooking it in dome-shaped clay ovens.

They would also cook the atole in copper kettles over an open fire.

The Plaza

The layout of a Spanish Mission

Ultimately the missions do not work out the way the

Spanish had hoped. The Natives do not adapt well to the mission lifestyle

The diet and daily duties are very different from what they were used to.

Many end up running away or dying of disease The native population begins to decrease

The missions needed funding from the Spanish government, and so weren’t profitable like Spain had hoped.

Although, many of those missions did become the location of major cities in Texas.

Spanish Missions Fail