Luis Xavier Velarde Explained

Luis Xavier Velarde (1677–1737) was a Jesuit missionary to Mexico.

Biography

Velarde was born in Valladolid, Spain on August 25, 1677, and entered the Society of Jesus on April 20, 1697.^[1] Around 1703, he traveled to Pimería Alta to begin missionary work.^[2] By 1708, Velarde was serving at Mission La Purísima Concepción de Caborca. Velarde became the resident priest at Mission Nuestra Señora de Dolores de la Punta in 1714, and took his final vows in Opodepe on March 25, 1715.

Anthropologist Thomas Sheridan describes Velarde as "tall, deaf, and prone to heat stroke ... not much of an explorer."^[3]

In 1716, Velarde wrote a Spanish; Castilian: relacion about his experiences with the Upper Pima.^[4] He described their practice of raising scarlet macaws:^[5]

Velarde wrote that between 1725 and 1729,^[6]

Velarde died on December 2, 1737.

Notes and References

1. Book: Kessell . John L. . Mission of sorrows; Jesuit Guevavi and the Pimas, 1691-1767 . 1970 . Tucson, University of Arizona Press . 978-0-8165-0192-2 . 35 .
2. Book: Roca . Paul M. . Paths of the Padres Through Sonora: An Illustrated History & Guide to Its Spanish Churches . 1967 . Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society . 382 . en.
3. Book: Sheridan . Thomas E. . Landscapes of Fraud: Mission Tumacácori, the Baca Float, and the Betrayal of the O’odham . 26 May 2016 . University of Arizona Press . 978-0-8165-3441-8 . 40 . en.
4. Book: Rea . Amadeo M. . At the Desert's Green Edge: An Ethnobotany of the Gila River Pima . June 2016 . University of Arizona Press . 978-0-8165-3429-6 . 30 . en.
5. Book: Gregory . David A. . Wilcox . David R. . Zuni Origins: Toward a New Synthesis of Southwestern Archaeology . 1 November 2015 . University of Arizona Press . 978-0-8165-3340-4 . 353 . en.
6. Book: Grivetti . Louis E. . Shapiro . Howard-Yana . Chocolate: History, Culture, and Heritage . 20 September 2011 . John Wiley & Sons . 978-1-118-21022-2 . 434 . en.