Indigenous communities continued to be governed by their traditional elites. The tribute and labor service that they delivered to the colonial government was similar to that of the pre-contact era and was likewise administered by their own governors. Even when Indian laborers were summoned to perform labor service in the cities or on Spanish estates, they did so under the immediate supervision of their own leaders, worked in groups, and had at best occasional contact with any Spaniards.

The Christianization of the sedentary peoples is often misunderstood. These societies had traditionally incorporated the major god of any conquering power into their local pantheons, as they reasoned that it had shown its effectiveness through the victory of its believers. So it is more accurate to refer to the acceptance of Christianity by these communities than it is to their conversion. In fact, a chronic shortage of Spanish priests prevailed, and few proselytized or lived among the natives. Priests assigned to extensive Indian parishes traveled periodically to its various communities, spending much time only in the largest of them. The form of Catholicism that developed in native communities emphasized devotion to the saints, religious brotherhoods, the social ties of ritual godparenthood, and the sponsorship of public festivals on religious holidays that also promoted community identity.

Colonial treatment of native people

On most issues, no sharp distinctions can be drawn between the character of native-European relations in the colonies of one country against those of another. For example, the general view holds that French and Dutch colonies in North America cooperated closely with indigenous peoples, while the English sought to drive them from their colonies. In fact, significant exceptions can be found in all three cases.

Thus, colonists of the different European countries never followed a consistent policy towards the Indians. Instead they sought close relations with local native societies that controlled trade in a valuable commodity, such as furs or hides. But when the Indians had no such resource, colonists typically had no qualms about attacking them or driving them away to gain their lands.

The colonists of French Canada certainly maintained friendly relations with the native societies of that region; however, in the Mississippi territory, French settlers massacred Natchez villages and drove the survivors from the area. Dutch traders at Fort Orange—later named Albany—traded peacefully with surrounding Indian peoples for several decades. But Dutch settlers around New Amsterdam—later New York City—attacked local native societies to eliminate them. Finally, while English colonists in Connecticut massacred the Pequot people, they carried on a lively trade in deerskins with local tribes in the Carolinas. When few deer remained, however, these English pitted local tribes against each other to obtain slaves to sell.

The few Spanish who settled in Paraguay cooperated with the local Guaraní society from the very founding of the colony. The colonists joined them in combat against the hostile nomadic peoples who surrounded them. Tremendous interculturation took place, with the Spanish adopting as many Guaraní cultural practices as the natives did theirs. All inhabitants became bilingual. The colonists learned that Guaraní men would work for them only when the female heads of their lineage groups instructed them to do so. The settlers therefore incorporated one, two, or sometimes even several Guaraní women into their households to gain access to workers. Within a few generations, all members of the “Spanish” sector of society were biologically mestizos, the Spanish term for people of mixed-race ancestry. However, the few prominent families of the colony continued to term themselves as “Spanish,” for it was inconceivable that a colony’s elite could be otherwise.