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Reevaluating the Suma Occupation in the Casas Grandes Valley, Chihuahua, Mexico

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2023

John E. Douglas Open the ORCID record for John E. Douglas [Opens in a new window]  and
Linda J. Brown
John E. Douglas*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
Linda J. Brown
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, USA
*
Corresponding author: John E. Douglas, Email: john.douglas@umontana.edu
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Abstract

In 1584, Baltasar de Obregón described the people he met in the Casas Grandes Valley (CGV), Northwest Chihuahua, Mexico. He juxtaposed these “rustic” people with the sophistication of the ancient builders of Paquimé who had lived in the CGV. Seventy years later, the Spanish missionaries called the people in the CGV “Suma” and enlisted them to build Mission San Antonio de Padua de Casas Grandes. Scholars have examined Obregón's and later administrators’ accounts to argue that the Suma were a small-scale society and unrelated to the ancient people of Paquimé (~AD 1200–1430). We reevaluate this interpretation. First, we contextualize the documentary evidence within contemporary frameworks. Second, using data from the 1958–1961 Joint Casas Grandes Expedition, we compare Paquimé and Suma material culture. We argue that the Suma were likely long-term residents of the Valley, organized into horticulture villages, and exhibiting cultural practices linked to Paquimé. After critiquing previous arguments about Suma origins, we consider how this criticism relates broadly to exploring Native Americans’ reactions to colonial settings.

Resumen

Resumen

En 1584, Baltasar de Obregón describió a la población del Valle de Casas Grandes (VCG) en el noroeste de Chihuahua, México. Obregón, yuxtapone a la gente “rustica” que conoce con la sofisticación de los constructores de una antigua ruina cercana: Paquimé. Setenta años después, la población en el VCG fue nombrada “suma” por los misioneros españoles, misma que fue empleada para las labores de construcción de la Misión de San Antonio de Padua de Casas Grandes. La academia ha examinado las cuentas de Obregón y de administradores posteriores argumentando que el pueblo suma era una sociedad a pequeña escala y no relacionada con el pueblo antiguo de Paquimé (1200-1430 dC). Reevaluamos esta interpretación, primero, contextualizando la evidencia documental dentro de los marcos contemporáneos. Segundo, utilizando información de la Expedición Conjunta de Casas Grandes de 1958-1961, comparamos la cultura material de Paquimé con la de los suma. Inferimos que los suma fueron probablemente residentes a largo plazo del Valle de Casas Grandes, organizados en aldeas horticultoras las cuales exhiben prácticas culturales vinculadas a Paquimé. Posterior a la crítica del origen de los suma, consideramos cómo esta se relaciona ampliamente con la exploración de la reacción indígena al entorno colonial.

Keywords

northern Mexico archaeologyPaquiméCasas GrandesSuma identityIndigenous historySpanish colonizationEuro-American interpretive biasesarqueología del Norte de MéxicoPaquiméCasas Grandesidentidad sumaetnohistoriaestudios colonialesparcialidades occidentalistas
Type
Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 88 , Issue 2 , April 2023 , pp. 125 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for American Archaeology

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