Publication Date
Fall 2025
Abstract
The Spanish established colonies world-wide as part of deliberate efforts to gain territory, access resources, and spread Spanish Catholicism. In what became the U.S. Southwest, the resources the Spanish were interested in were lacking, but the opportunity to convert Indigenous communities existed. This dissertation examines those conversion efforts in the pueblos of Abó, Awatovi, Gran Quivira, Pecos, and Quarai through a comparative analysis of burial patterns in both the pre-Contact and post-Contact periods. Using the framework of hybridity, mortuary theory, and conversion theory and the statistical analyses of burial index scores, chi-square, general linear models, correlation matrices, and survival analysis, I evaluate whether conversion can be seen through changes in how individuals at the five pueblos were buried from before the Spanish to post-missionization. I find that identity and distance from Santa Fe did not affect these changes, while presence of a permanent priest had some support, though minimal.
Keywords
Spanish Colonization, Historical Archaeology, Conversion, Missionization
Document Type
Dissertation
Language
English
Degree Name
Anthropology
Level of Degree
Doctoral
Department Name
Anthropology
First Committee Member (Chair)
Patricia L. Crown
Second Committee Member
Osbjorn M. Pearson
Third Committee Member
Emily L. Jones
Fourth Committee Member
John E. Worth
Recommended Citation
Brewer, Katherine Louise. "Catholic Conversion and Native Burial Practices in the U.S. Southwest." (2025). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/anth_etds/243