Table Of Content“Mexican American Religions: An Introduction is a must-read for anyone who
wants to understand the history of Mexican American people and how their
religious beliefs,traditions, andpracticesinteract withbroadercultural, political,
and historical themes. An invaluable resource for teachers, students, and general
readers alike.”
Kristy Nabhan-Warren, University of Iowa, USA.
“MexicanAmericanReligions:AnIntroductionprovidesthemostcomprehensiveand
accessible treatment of this subject to date. Spanning Indigenous pre-conquest
religions to the present, as well as the plurality of religious traditions Mexican
Americans practice, it also encompasses insightful thematic chapters that collec-
tivelyaddressmajorissuesinthestudyofthesereligions.”
Timothy Matovina, University of Notre Dame, USA.
“This textbook deftly examines a broad history of Mexican American religions
and engages complex racial and ethnic issues with attention to the built envir-
onment as well as the politics of knowledge transmission. Moreover, the
author’s commitment to revealing how practice fits into different historical
periods and political contexts productively expands how we can think about
the study of religion.”
Elaine Peña, George Washington University, USA.
Mexican American Religions
MexicanAmericanReligionsisaconciseintroductiontothereligiouslifeofMexican
American people in the United States. This accessible volume uses historical nar-
rativetoexplorethecomplexreligiousexperiencesandpracticesthathaveshaped
MexicanAmericanlifeinNorthAmerica.ItaddressesthereligiousimpactofU.S.
imperial expansion into formerly Mexican territory and examines how religion
intertwines with Mexican and Mexican American migration into and within the
UnitedStates.Thisbookalsodelvesintotheparticularitiesandchallengesfacedby
MexicanAmericanCatholicsintheUnitedStates,thedevelopmentandspreadof
Mexican American Protestantism and Pentecostalism, and a growing religious
diversity.Topicscoveredinclude:
(cid:1) Mesoamerican religions
(cid:1) Iberian religion and colonial evangelization of New Spain
(cid:1) The Colonial era
(cid:1) Religion in the Mexican period
(cid:1) TheU.S.-MexicanWarandtheracializationofMexicanAmericanreligion
(cid:1) Mexican migration and the Catholic Church
(cid:1) Mexican American Protestants
(cid:1) Mexican American Evangelical and Charismatic Christianity
(cid:1) Mexican American Catholics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries
(cid:1) Curanderismo
(cid:1) Religion and Mexican American civil rights
(cid:1) Pilgrimage and borderland connections
(cid:1) Mexican American Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, and Secularism
Mexican American Religions provides an overview of this incredibly diverse
community and its ongoing cultural contribution. Ideal for students and scho-
lars approaching the topic for the first time, the book includes sections in each
chapter that focus on Mexican American religion in practice.
Brett Hendrickson is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Lafayette
College in Easton, Pennsylvania, USA.
Religion in America
Mexican American Religions
An Introduction
Brett Hendrickson
For more information about this series, pleasevisit: https://www.routledge.com/
Religion-in-America/book-series/RIA
Mexican American Religions
An Introduction
Brett Hendrickson
Firstpublished2022
byRoutledge
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andbyRoutledge
605ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10158
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2022BrettHendrickson
TherightofBrettHendricksontobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhas
beenassertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,
DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedor
utilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,now
knownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orin
anyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwriting
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Trademarknotice:Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregistered
trademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithout
intenttoinfringe.
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ISBN:978-0-367-25014-0(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-367-25013-3(pbk)
ISBN:978-0-429-28551-6(ebk)
DOI:10.4324/9780429285516
TypesetinBembo
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
In memory of Grant VanVeldhuizen
Contents
List of figures xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
PART I
Mexican American religious history 7
1 Indigenous religions: Mesoamerica and the North 9
2 Iberian religion and colonial evangelization of New Spain 23
3 The colonial era in northern New Spain 37
4 Religion in the Mexican period 50
5 Religion and race: The U.S.-Mexican War and Mexican
Americans 62
6 Mexican migration and the Catholic Church, 1880–1940 77
7 Mexican American Protestants 90
8 Mexican American evangelicals and charismatic Christians 104
9 Mexican American Catholics in the twentieth and twenty-first
centuries 117
PART II
Topics in Mexican American religion 131
10 Curanderismo 133
11 Religion and Mexican American civil rights 146
