An account of the Tarahumara missions: and a description of the tribe of the Tarahumaras and of their country

MS 226
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Ratkay: An Account of the Tarahumara Missions

Transcript and translation of an account of the Tarahumara Indians, the Sierra Madres, and the missions

Collection area: Borderlands

Collection dates: 1683

About this collection

Photocopy of typed translation of Ratkay's 1683 report to religious officials back in Austria, written from the Carachic Mission. Most of the 69-page account describes the customs and beliefs of the Tarahumara Indians, but the last section contains historic information about the Jesuit missions in the region.

English translation is by Marion L. Reynolds.

Historical background

Austrian Jesuit missionary to the Jesús Cárichic Mission, Tarahumara, Mexico, in the late 17th century; his original name is signed on the document as Joannes Rattkey.

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