A frontier patronage: The protector of Indians, Juan de Gándara, and the opatas of opodepe (Sonora) at the beginning of the 19th century [Un mecenazgo fronterizo: El protector de Indios Juan de Gándara y los ópatas de opodepe (Sonora) a principios del siglo XIX]

Abstract

This study analyses the relations between the protector of Indians, Juan de Gándara and the villages of Sonora under his protection. This relationship is understood here as an effective mechanism of social reorganisation which allowed the Indians to confront the dismantling of their communities in the context of the collapse of the missions. At the same time, the relationship is identified as fundamental to the consolidation of the political capital of the new regional elites. Eventually this response would contribute decisively to the shaping of the political factions that dominated the scene in Sonora during the middle of the 19th century, whose existence cannot be explained without this type of alliance.