Bill Text: AZ HCR2055 | 2012 | Fiftieth Legislature 2nd Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Father Kino; contributions
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-06 - Referred to House GOV Committee [HCR2055 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2012-HCR2055-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: Father Kino; contributions |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fiftieth Legislature Second Regular Session 2012
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HCR 2055 |
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Introduced by Representatives Saldate, Gallego, Hobbs, Miranda C, Miranda R, Patterson, Tovar
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A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
recognizing the enormous contributions of father eusebio kino to the establishment of the northern mexico and american southwest region.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Whereas, Father Eusebio Francisco Kino was an Italian Roman Catholic priest who was instrumental in the exploration of northern Sonora, Mexico and southern Arizona and in the Christianization of its indigenous Indian people; and
Whereas, born Eusebius Franz Kuhn in Italy in 1645, Father Kino joined the Society of Jesus in 1665 and was ordained a priest in 1677. He was given the task of establishing missions on the Baja California peninsula on the northern frontier of what was then known as Pimaria Alta, encompassing present day Sonora, Mexico and southern Arizona; and
Whereas, Father Kino embarked on this mission in 1681, quickly establishing the first Catholic church in the Mexican Sonoran Desert. Over the next thirty years, he would go on to establish twenty-four missions and country chapels in the region, including the famous Mission San Xavier del Bac near Tucson, which continues to function as a Catholic parish church. In his travels, Father Kino interacted with sixteen different Sonoran tribes, established nineteen villages and built roads to provide access to remote areas across northern Mexico and into present day California; and
Whereas, Father Kino played a vital role in the economic growth of the region through his efforts to teach the Native people how to further their agricultural endeavors. He shared European seeds and grains and foreign herd animals with the region's inhabitants, growing the initial mission herd of twenty cattle to 70,000 during his time there; and
Whereas, a man of varied interests and crafts, Father Kino was also an expert astronomer, mathematician and cartographer as well as a writer of several books on religion, astronomy and maps; and
Whereas, Father Kino was revered for his humanitarian values and his dedication to promoting the rights of the indigenous Indian people. He opposed the slavery and forced labor of the Natives in the silver mines that was common practice among the Spaniards of the day; and
Whereas, Father Kino died from fever on March 15, 1711 in Sonora, Mexico, but his tremendous agricultural, religious and cultural contributions to the region left a lasting legacy that continues more than three hundred years later.
Therefore
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring:
That the Members of the Legislature recognize the exceptional contributions of Father Eusebio Kino to the settlement of the northern Mexico and southwest American region.
