# Reductions

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Spanish colonial settlements for relocation and Christianization of Indigenous peoples

For other uses, see [Reduction](/source/Reduction_(disambiguation)).

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. (June 2020) Click [show] for important translation instructions. Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must follow the LLM translation guideline, revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia. Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,057 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:Reducción de indios]]; see its history for attribution. You may also add the template {{Translated|es|Reducción de indios}} to the talk page. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

A church was always at the center of the reductions; this one is in [Loreto, Baja California Sur](/source/Loreto%2C_Baja_California_Sur).

Part of a series on Spanish missions in the Americas of the Catholic Church Missions in North America California Arizona New Mexico Texas Spanish Louisiana Virginia The Carolinas Georgia Spanish Florida Baja California Mexico Sonoran Desert Chihuahua Querétaro Trinidad Missions in South America Chiloé Río Bueno Nahuel Huapi Córdoba Itapúa Chiquitos Moxos Mainas Eastern Missions Related topics Cargo system Mission Indians Reductions Andes Jesuit Visitas Catholic Church portal v t e

**Reductions** ([Spanish](/source/Spanish_language): ***reducciones***, also called ***congregaciones***) were settlements established by [Spanish rulers](/source/Empire_of_Spain) and [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) [missionaries](/source/Missionaries) in [Spanish America](/source/Spanish_America) and the [Spanish East Indies](/source/Spanish_East_Indies) (the [Philippines](/source/Philippines)). The Spanish relocated, [forcibly](/source/Forced_displacement) in many cases, [indigenous inhabitants](/source/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Americas) (*Indians* or *Indios*) of their [colonies](/source/Spanish_colonization_of_the_Americas) into urban settlements modeled on those in Spain.

The [Royal Spanish Academy](/source/Royal_Spanish_Academy) defines *reducción* (reduction) as "a grouping into settlement of indigenous people for the purpose of evangelization and assimilation".[1] In [colonial Mexico](/source/New_Spain), reductions were called "congregations" (*congregaciones*).[2][3]

Forced resettlements aimed to concentrate indigenous people into communities, facilitating civil and religious control over populations.[4] The concentration of the indigenous peoples into towns facilitated the organization and exploitation of their labor. The practice began during Spanish colonization in the [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean), relocating populations to be closer to Spanish settlements, often at a distance from their home territories, and likely facilitated the spread of disease.[5] Reductions could be either religious, established and administered by an [order](/source/Religious_order_(Catholic)) of the [Roman Catholic](/source/Roman_Catholic) church (especially the [Jesuits](/source/Jesuit_Order)), or secular, under the control of Spanish governmental authorities. The best known, and most successful, of the religious reductions were those developed by the Jesuits in [Paraguay](/source/Paraguay) and neighboring areas in the 17th century. The largest and most enduring secular reductions were those imposed on the highland people of the former [Inca Empire](/source/Inca_Empire) of [Peru](/source/Peru) during the rule of [Viceroy](/source/Viceroy) [Francisco de Toledo](/source/Francisco_de_Toledo) (1569–1581).

During the early stages of [Christianisation](/source/Christianisation) of the Americas, Spanish Catholic authorities established on occasion ecclesiastical proto-[parish](/source/Parish_(Catholic_Church)) subdivisions (*doctrinas*) for the indoctrination of the faith.[6][7]

## Linguistic *reducción*

Linguistic scholars use the term *reducido* to describe the standardized colonial registers that emerged alongside settlement programs.[8] In regions such as Yucatán, missionaries applied the logic of *reducción* to Indigenous languages, producing standardized rule‑governed varieties designed for catechesis, confession, and local administration. This process regularized grammar and orthography, introduced Christianized semantic categories, and promoted fixed syntactic patterns modeled on Latin and Spanish. The resulting forms (often referred to as *reducido*, meaning in this context "rightly ordered" or "civilized") circulated through grammars, dictionaries, sermons, and legal documents, becoming the dominant written register of the period. Examples include *[Maya reducido](/source/Yucatec_Maya_language#Maya_reducido)* and *[Nahuatl](/source/Nahuatl) reducido*.[9]

## Spanish West Indies

Further information: [Spanish West Indies](/source/Spanish_West_Indies)

The policy of reductions was begun in 1503 by Spanish colonists on [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean_Sea) islands. In the words of the Spanish rulers, "It is necessary that the Indians be assigned to towns in which they will live together and that they not remain or wander separated from each other in the backcountry."[10] The Spanish ordered Indian villages to be destroyed and selected sites where new villages should be built. The concentration, or *reducción* of the Indian population, facilitated the Spaniards' access to Indian labor, the promulgation of [Christianity](/source/Christianity), and the collection of taxes and tribute.[11] Moreover, the reduction of the Indians was intended to break down ethnic and kinship ties and [detribalize](/source/Detribalize) the residents to create a generic, pan-Indian population, disregarding their numerous tribes and different cultures.[12]

## North America

The Spanish began creating reductions in Mexico shortly after [Hernan Cortés](/source/Hernan_Cort%C3%A9s)'s conquest in the 1520s. They were begun in [Baja California](/source/Baja_California) in the 17th century and [California](/source/California) in the late 18th century. Reductions in Mexico were more commonly known as *congregaciones*.[13]

## South America

Main articles: [Jesuit missions among the Guaraní](/source/Jesuit_missions_among_the_Guaran%C3%AD), [Indian reductions in the Andes](/source/Indian_reductions_in_the_Andes), [Jesuit Missions of Moxos](/source/Jesuit_Missions_of_Moxos), [Jesuit Missions of Chiquitos](/source/Jesuit_Missions_of_Chiquitos), and [Mainas missions](/source/Mainas_missions)

[Indian reductions in the Andes](/source/Indian_reductions_in_the_Andes), mostly in present-day [Peru](/source/Peru) and [Bolivia](/source/Bolivia), began on a large scale in 1570 during the rule of [Viceroy](/source/Viceroy) [Francisco de Toledo](/source/Francisco_de_Toledo). Toledo worked to remake the society of the former [Inca Empire](/source/Inca_Empire), with some success. Many new buildings were adapted from timber, stone, adobe, which connected new Spanish building forms with local materials, especially plazas, courtyards, and cathedrals.[14] In a few years, he had resettled about 1.4 million Indians into 840 communities, many of which were the nuclei of present-day cities, towns, and villages.[15]

Probably the most famous of the reductions were in the areas of present-day [Paraguay](/source/Paraguay) and neighboring [Argentina](/source/Argentina), [Brazil](/source/Brazil), and [Bolivia](/source/Bolivia) in the 17th and 18th centuries. These were created by the [Jesuit](/source/Jesuit_Reductions) order of the Catholic Church, governed by the Jesuits through indigenous chief-turned-governors.[16] In the case of this Guaraní mission, the Jesuits aimed to make Christians of the Guaraní, impose European values and customs (which were regarded as essential to a Christian life), and isolate and protect the Guaraní from European colonists and slavers.[17][18][19][20] After the territory of the Guarani was transferred to Portugal, forced expulsion by the Portuguese led to the so-called [Guaraní War](/source/Guaran%C3%AD_War), with heavy losses for the Guaraní. The Portuguese colonizers also secured the expulsion of the Jesuits.[21][20]

The Jesuits could not duplicate the success of the Guaraní mission in the Andes, on the Moxos, among the Chiquitos, or in the Chaco.[22]

National and global [suppression of the Society of Jesus](/source/Suppression_of_the_Society_of_Jesus) put an end to the reduction system. Native wealth were sequestered by national authorities and the natives enslaved. According to [David Brading](/source/David_Brading), this was one of the factors for the [Latin American Wars of Independence](/source/Latin_American_Wars_of_Independence).[23]

## Spanish East Indies

Further information: [Spanish East Indies](/source/Spanish_East_Indies) and [Poblacion](/source/Poblacion)

In the [Spanish Philippines](/source/Spanish_Philippines), the [Spanish colonial government](/source/Captaincy_General_of_the_Philippines) founded hundreds of towns and villages across the archipelago modeled on towns and villages in [Spain](/source/Spain). The authorities often adopted a policy of reductions for the [resettlement](/source/Population_transfer) of inhabitants from far-flung scattered [barrios](/source/Barrio) or [barangays](/source/Precolonial_barangay) to move into a centralized *[cabecera](/source/Municipio)* (town/district capital), where a newly built church and an *[ayuntamiento](/source/Ayuntamiento)* (town hall) were situated.[24] This allowed the government to defend, control and [Christianize](/source/Christianization) the indigenous population in scattered independent settlements, to conduct [population counts](/source/Census), and to collect [tributes](/source/Tax).[25] This enforced resettlement led to several revolts in the 17th century, often led by community shamans (*[babaylan](/source/Babaylan)*). In some cases, entire villages would move deeper into island interiors to escape the reductions.[26]

A similar policy was implemented in the nearby [Mariana Islands](/source/Mariana_Islands) during the [Spanish–Chamorro Wars](/source/Spanish%E2%80%93Chamorro_Wars) (1670–1699).[27]

## See also

- [Indian reductions in the Andes](/source/Indian_reductions_in_the_Andes)

- [Internment](/source/Internment) – Imprisonment or confinement of groups of people without trial

- [Yapeyú reduction](/source/Yapey%C3%BA_reduction)

- *[Maya reducido](/source/Yucatec_Maya_language#Maya_reducido)*

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Real_Academia_1-0)** ["Reducciones"](https://dle.rae.es/reducci%C3%B3n). *Dicionario de la Lengua Espanola*. Real Academia Espanola. Retrieved 20 March 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Cline, Howard F.](/source/Howard_F._Cline) "Civil Congregation of the Indians of New Spain, 1598-1606", [Hispanic American Historical Review](/source/Hispanic_American_Historical_Review), vol. 29, (1947) no. 3, pp. 349–369

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Cline, Howard F. "Civil Congregation of the Western Chinantla, New Spain, 1599-1603", [The Americas](/source/The_Americas), vol. 12, no. 2, Oct 1955, pp. 115–137

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Austin_4-0)** Austin, Shawn Michael (2020). [*Colonial Kinship*](http://muse.jhu.edu/book/80789). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 219–220. Retrieved 20 April 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Altman, Ida](/source/Ida_Altman). *Life and Society in the Early Spanish Caribbean: The Greater Antilles 1493-1550*. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press 2021, pp.33, 46

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["doctrina"](https://dle.rae.es/doctrina) [doctrine]. *Diccionario de la lengua española* (in Spanish). Madrid: Real Academia Española. 2023. Retrieved 22 May 2023. En América, distrito eclesiástico servido por un sacerdote expresamente nombrado para adoctrinar a la población indígena. [...] En América, pueblo de indios recién convertidos, cuando todavía no se había establecido en él parroquialidad o curato.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Sparks, Garry, ed. (3 July 2017). "Highland Maya Theological Production". [*The Americas' First Theologies: Early Sources of Post-Contact Indigenous Religion*](https://books.google.com/books?id=qDoqDwAAQBAJ). AAR Religion in Translation. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 213. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780190678319](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780190678319). Retrieved 22 May 2023. This particular use of the term *doctrina* by Dominicans to refer to a specific kind of geographic locale that predated the parish in the region should not be confused with the other more general understanding of *doctrina* as doctrine, teaching, or instruction in the religious or non-religious sense [...].

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Hanks, William F. (2010). *Converting words: Maya in the age of the cross*. The anthropology of Christianity. Berkeley: University of California Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-520-25770-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-520-25770-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Mundy, Barbara E.; Leeming, Ben; Haude, Mary Elizabeth (2025). ["The Material Word: Indigenous Knowledge and Christian Texts in the Braidense Lectionary"](https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0003161525100795/type/journal_article). *The Americas*. **82** (2): 173–217. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/tam.2025.10079](https://doi.org/10.1017%2Ftam.2025.10079). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0003-1615](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0003-1615).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Mumford, Jeremy Ravi (2012). [*Vertical Empire: The General Resettlement of Indians in the Colonial Andes*](https://books.google.com/books?id=AbJcJQg3x7EC&pg=PA44). Durham, NC: [Duke University Press](/source/Duke_University_Press). p. 44. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8223-5310-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8223-5310-2).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Mumford, Jeremy Ravi (2012, *Vertical Empire: The General Resettlement of Indians in the Colonial Andes,* Durham: Duke University Press, p. 44

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Stern, Steve J. (1993), *Peru's Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest,* Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, p. 80

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Leal, Juan Felipe and Rountree, Mario Huacuja (2011), *Economic y sistema de haciendas en Mexico*, Juan Pablos, Editor, D. R. Voyeur, pp. 22-23

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Mundy, Barbara E. (2015). [*The Death of Aztec Tenochtitlan, the Life of Mexico City*](https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7560/766563.10?seq=12). University of Texas: University of Texas Press. pp. 99–113. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1477307601](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1477307601).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** Mumford, p. 190

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** Caraman, Philip (1976), *The Lost Paradise: the Jesuit Republic in South America*, New York: Seabury Press.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Hebblethwaite_2010_103_17-0)** Hebblethwaite, Margaret (2010). *Paraguay*. Bradt Travel Guides. p. 103.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Sarreal_18-0)** Sarreal, Julia J.S. (2014). *The Guarani and their Missions*. Stanford: Stanford University Press. pp. 6–7, 20–28. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780804791229](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780804791229).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Ganson, Barbara (2003). [*The Guarani under Spanish Rule in the Rio de la Plata*](https://books.google.com/books?id=CG7fscxlgpUC&q=reductions&pg=PR9). Stanford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8047-5495-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8047-5495-8).

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Pollen_20-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Pollen_20-1) [Pollen, John Hungerford. "The Suppression of the Jesuits (1750-1773)"](http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14096a.htm) *The Catholic Encyclopedia*. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 26 March 2014 This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the [public domain](/source/Public_domain).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Ganson, Barbara (2003). [*The Guarani under Spanish Rule in the Rio de la Plata*](https://books.google.com/books?id=CG7fscxlgpUC&q=reductions&pg=PR9). Stanford University Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8047-5495-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8047-5495-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Langer, Erick D. (2009), *Expecting Pears from an Elm Tree,*, Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 15-16

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** [D.A. Brading](/source/David_Brading), *The First America: The Spanish Monarchy, Creole Patriots, and the Liberal State, 1492–1867*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1991, pp. 453–458.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-ThePhilAPastRev_24-0)** Constantino, Renato; Constantino, Letizia R. (1975). "Chapter V - The Colonial Landscape". *The Philippines: A Past Revisited (Vol. I)* (Sixteenth Printing (January 1998) ed.). Manila, Philippines: Renato Constantino. pp. 60–61. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [971-895-800-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/971-895-800-2). [OL](/source/OL_(identifier)) [9180911M](https://openlibrary.org/books/OL9180911M).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** Abinales, P. N.; Amoroso, Donna J. (2005). [*State and Society in the Philippines*](https://books.google.com/books?id=xiOQdEzgP9kC&pg=PA53). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 53, [68](https://books.google.com/books?id=xiOQdEzgP9kC&pg=PA68). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-7425-1024-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7425-1024-1). Retrieved 12 January 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-aguilar98_26-0)** Aguilar, Filomeno V. Jr. (1998). [*Clash of Spirits: The History of Power and Sugar Planter Hegemony on a Visayan Island*](https://archive.org/details/clashofspiritshi00agui). University of Hawaii Press. pp. [27](https://archive.org/details/clashofspiritshi00agui/page/27)–46. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780824820824](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780824820824).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Navarro, Atoy M. (1999). ["Philippines-Marianas Relations in History: Some Notes on Filipino Exiles in Guam"](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/011719689900800107). *Asian and Pacific Migration Journal*. **8** (1–2): 120. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1177/011719689900800107](https://doi.org/10.1177%2F011719689900800107). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [144752846](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:144752846).

## Further reading

[Cline, Howard F.](/source/Howard_F._Cline) "Civil Congregation of the Indians of New Spain, 1598-1606." [Hispanic American Historical Review](/source/Hispanic_American_Historical_Review), vol. 29, (1947) no. 3, pp. 349–369

v t e Spanish missions of the Catholic Church in the Americas North America Mexico Baja California Sierra Gorda Sonoran Desert Yucatan Trinidad United States Ajacán Arizona California Florida List of missions in Spanish Florida Georgia Carolinas Louisiana New Mexico Texas South America Jesuit reduction Chiquitos Circular Mission Córdoba Itapúa Moxos Nahuel Huapi Río Bueno Related topics Cargo system Mission Indians Reductions Andes Jesuit

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