Missionary Linguistic Sources for the Study of the Spanish Colonial Rule: The Orinoco Basin in the 17th to 18th Centuries

This paper examines the possibilities that missionary linguistic documents offer for studying the legal history of Spanish colonial rule. Focusing on the case of the Orinoco River Basin—a region of great social and linguistic diversity in northeastern South America—it explores the various reflections, annotations, conflicts, and decisions that emerged from this linguistic diversity of the local population within Jesuit missions during the early modern period. In contrast to regions with more abundant archival documentation, where such sources have often been overlooked or regarded merely as instruments of colonial rule, religious conversion, or personal curiosity, this study proposes a methodological approach that goes beyond these interpretations. It analyzes them specifically as normative and political documents that shaped strategies for expanding the colonial system in the Americas while also setting limits and preventing the presence of foreign individuals or other imperial powers in this territory, far from the Spanish viceroyalty centers and audiencias. By examining specific cases and their changes over time, this paper aims to show more broadly how the colonial administration developed strategies that responded to local knowledge and on-the-ground needs —requiring careful study on their own terms—while also engaging with broader imperial and global policies, practices, and ideas.