Knowledge Was Their Main Asset: Unveiling Native Diplomacy in the Sonora–Arizona Borderlands through Indigenous Accounts in the Colonial Archive

In October 1782, a prominent but anonymous Apache captain from the Gila River and former captive to a Spanish soldier had an insightful conversation with the Bishop of Sonora in Mexico City. Under captivity and displacement, the Native captain was now living in the vice-regal capital, “assisting and serving the sick” at the Hospital of San Juan de Dios. He vividly described the complex interethnic alliances among the indigenous groups in the early modern Sonora-Arizona Borderlands. His account stated “that a great number of [Apaches were] living and sustaining themselves within the interior of the towns of Sonora and Nueva Vizcaya.” He pointed out that the Apaches were “Indians of different nations from the Gila River and Navajo Lagoons, that they live[d] in constant war against each other, but they unite[d] with the Indians from the missions and towns from some Provinces to go and rob in distant ones.” Based on a Native informant, this unique account provides an overview of the complexity in the interactions among indigenous communities and colonial authorities. This paper focuses on indigenous knowledge recorded in primary sources. It analyzes the role of subaltern historical actors such as the Indians in captivity, peace reservations, or missions as informants for colonial authorities and their collaboration for colonial expansion. By arguing that knowledge was the main resource that Natives provided to incoming Spanish colonizers, it highlights indigenous voices within the colonial process. It underscores the significance and contributions of indigenous accounts for elaborating official documents and planning military and diplomatic strategies. Moreover, it provides an insight into interethnic alliances, the extension and persistence of Native networks, and the dynamics of warfare and diplomacy among several indigenous groups. We know about these historical processes because of the knowledge provided by indigenous informants and recorded by colonial authorities.