Raphael Brewster Folsom is assistant professor of history at the University of Oklahoma.
“This book ranks among the best histories of American borderlands,
the always contested countries just beyond established power.
Folsom’s brilliant study is a masterly integration of
anthropological wisdom about the Yaqui into his own original, rich,
wonderfully developed historical research. He illustrates the
formation of the Yaqui people through centuries of complicated
military, social, religious, economic, and political engagement
with the Spanish empire, which claimed them but could never
dominate them. It is excellent scholarship, a richly significant
story, and a deeply impressive read.”—John Womack, Harvard
University
*John Womack*
“The Yaquis and the Empire is a textured, surprising, and
engrossing narrative of colonial compromises in New Spain’s fraught
northwestern borderland. Folsom builds honestly and intelligently
on previous Yaqui scholarship. But in ways small and large he
surpasses existing literature through his pioneering archival
research, his shrewd analysis, and his gifted narrative prose. This
book is indispensable for understanding the Spanish-Yaqui
relationship, and a provocative meditation on the limits of early
modern imperialism more generally.” — Brian DeLay, author
of War of a Thousand Deserts: Indian Raids and the U.S.-Mexican
War.
*Brian DeLay*
"The Yaquis and the Empire details failed conquests, Jesuit
visions, mission adaptations, and Bourbon assertions to reveal how
Yaquis mixed war, diplomacy, and cultural innovation to remain
dominant in northwestern New Spain under Spanish rule. An essential
new vision." —John Tutino, Georgetown University
*John Tutino*
"This richly documented history of Yaqui relations with colonists
and Spanish imperial authorities over the course of three centuries
is written with brio and an eye for subtleties and suggestive
comparisons. Readers will find in Juan Calixto Ayamea, leader of
the famous 1740 rebellion, a touchstone to all that engagement and
agency could mean in this setting—alliance, diplomacy, silent
collaboration, and resistance in its many forms."— William B.
Taylor, University of California, Berkeley
*William B. Taylor*
Winner of the 2015 Latin American Studies Association Social
Science Book Award.
*Latin American Studies Association, Mexico Section*
"Folsom’s insights are profound. . . After reading this
book, one is no longer surprised that Yaquis appear so often in the
historical record as both rebels and imperial soldiers. Nor
is one surprised that the Yaquis of the twentieth century could be
first hated by the Porfirian regime and later favored by Cárdenas;
enslaved and then emancipated; and reviled and finally redeemed in
the eyes of the central state. Folsom shows us that these
more recent events belong to a much longer and deeper history of
Yaqui pragmatism and survival.”—Sean McEnroe, The Americas.
*The Americas*
Runner-up for the 2015 David J. Weber-Clements Prize given by
the Western History Association.
*Western History Association*
Winner of the 2016 Phi Alpha Theta Book Award for the Best Book on
the American West, the award is jontly sponsored by the Charles
Redd Center for Western Studies at Brigham Young Uiversity and Phi
Alpha Theta.
*Phi Alpha Theta*
Winner of the 2016 Border Regional Library Association's Southwest
Book Award.
*Border Regional Library Association*
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