Are you a True Patriot? Twentieth-century Dominican State Formation in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Abstract

This article examines the role played by Dominican missions in Ecuador's Amazonian territory from approximately 1930–1970. In the Dominicans' own monthly magazine, they claimed not only the roles of infrastructural development, “civilisation” of indigenous peoples, and nationalisation of territory, as did Catholic missions elsewhere; but also the roles of mediator of competing interests and redeemer of the entire country. The central Pastaza River region and important cities like Mera and Puyo were administered and developed chiefly by the Dominican missions ahead of massive colonisation and economic development linked to agriculture and oil drilling. This research contributes to our understanding of the role of Catholic missions in Ecuador's twentieth century by demonstrating that print media allowed them to be more than just frontier institutions. It also illustrates how Ecuador's “Oriente” came to be more fully integrated into the nation prior to the oil boom of the 1970s.