Bibliography

Good books on the Chiquitania are notoriously difficult to find, and harder still to locate in English. The vast majority are in Spanish, followed by German and French. The task is complicated by the fact that there is no single, comprehensive treatment that incorporates the Chiquitania's cultural, economic, historical, and religious components together and addresses the matter from a wholistic approach. The literature is highly compartmentalised, with each work focusing on one or two areas and scarcely mentioning (let alone synthesising) the others. A truly all-inclusive overview does not yet exist. It also needs to be remembered that some volumes are more reliable that others: even the best tomes contain some errors, and scholarship on the Chiquitania has not progressed evenly across all areas.

Nonetheless, for those interested in reading more on this beautiful land, there are several volumes well worth tracking down. Most are not available outside of Bolivia (except through certain academic sources, such as the University of Texas' LANIC system), but they are given here regardless, as they are for the most part readily available in better Bolivian bookstores.

Usually the parish office in any of the major towns of the Chiquitania will carry at least one or two of the books listed below. In Santa Cruz, Los Amigos del Libro (3.3327937) and Librería de Verbo Divino (3.3352179), both located on calle Ingavi - the latter just a few doors down from the cathedral's side entrance - are excellent sources. There is also a small bookstore on the first floor of the Casa de Cultura's side entrance (on calle Junín) that frequently has several paperback titles available.

General Overviews of the Chiquitania
If there is a single, must-have book on the Chiquitania, it is Las Misiones Jesuíticas de Chiquitos, a monumental work edited by Pedro Querejazu, and published in 1995 by Fundacion BHN. However, at more than US$250.00, it's rather steep. It is in Spanish only.

Chiquitos: A Look at its History, by the late Alcides Parejas Moreno (Bolivia's foremost historian of the Chiquitania), published in 2004 by APAC's Fondo Editorial, is a good starting point for most readers, and costs only US$11.00. There are both English and Spanish versions available.

One other work may be classified as a general treatment: the Spanish-only Reseña Histórica Social y Económica de la Chiquitania (by Oscar Tonelli Justiniano, published in 2004 by Editorial El País). This is the only work I have come across that covers the Chiquitania in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Historical Overviews
Historical accounts of the Chiquitania invariably focus on the early Colonial and Jesuit mission eras. Studies of the Chiquitania after the secularisation of the Chiquitos missions are literally non-existent. I know...I should write one. Until then, however, there are some excellent titles out there, all in Spanish, covering roughly the two centuries between the foundation of Santa Cruz de la Sierra (1561) and the expulsion of the Jesuits (1767).

One is Mariano Baptista Gumucio's Las Misiones Jesuíticas de Moxos y Chiquitos: Una Utopía Cristiana en el Oriente Boliviano (Centro de Estudios Sociales, 2003 [3rd ed.]). As its title indicates, it also covers the hostory of the Jesuit missions in the Moxos.

Another is a short but well-documented historical account of the Catholic Church in the area, La Iglesia en Santa Cruz: 400 Años de Historia 1605-2005, by Fr. Roberto Tomichá Charupá, OFM, published by Editorial Verbo Divino in 2005. And at just US$1.85, how can you possibly go wrong?

Tomichá also wrote La Primera Evangelización en Las Reducciones de Chiquitos, Bolivia (1691-1767) (published in 2002 by Universidad Católica Boliviana), an outstanding account of the Chiquitos reducciones gathered mostly from period sources.

The best work on the subject, however, is without a doubt by Fr. Antonio Menacho, S.J. An expert on the Jesuit missions, his stunning Por Tierras de Chiquitos (published in 1991 by the Society of Jesus) is a peerless work of great accuracy and detail, replete with numerous primary source quotes and an excellent bibliography.

Finally, if you are after just the basic facts, and how and when it all happened (I have noticed not a few students fall into this group), there is my own "A Brief History of the Jesuit Colonial Missions of Eastern Bolivia".

Cultural Overviews
Misiones Jesuíticas, by Jaime Cisneros and Hugo Richter (published in 1998 [2nd ed.] by Industrias Offset Color S.R.L.) is a lovely coffee table-size work, with Spanish and (atrocious) English text. It focuses on the art, architecture, and daily life of the Chiquitos missions.

Chiquitos: The Utopia Endures, by Willy Kenning and Raúl Arrázola (published in 2003 by Willy Kenning Edición y Fotografía) is another oversized photoessay treatment of the Chiquitania. There is side-by-side Spanish-English text, and the focus is more the geography and daily life of the area, as seen through the eyes of Bolivia's best-known photographer.

A great online synopsis of the Chiquitos missions' musical heritage is Gauvin Alexander Bailey's "Missions in a Musical Key", originally published in the Jesuit magazine, The Company, in 2003. Surprise! It's in English, too.

Provincial Overviews
Provincia Velasco, edited by Jaime Cabello and published in 2005 by Organización y Gestión del Destino Turístico Santa Cruz (OGD-SCZ) and CEPAD. This Spanish-language work provides useful overviews of Velasco Province, with much interesting information on its four main municipalities: San Ignacio de Velasco, San Miguel de Velasco, San Rafael de Velasco, and Santa Ana de Velasco.

Guidebooks
Guidebooks to Santa Cruz are usually an admixture - often hilariously so - of fantasy and fallacy. And yet every year another self-appointed "expert" comes out with one. The key here is to remember that the city itself is growing at a phenomenal pace (in spite of a less than healthy economic infrastructire and outlook), and literally thousands of establishments change names, go under, move, spring up, or otherwise change each year. In the Chiquitania, however, things are a little different, and change is not quite the constant it is in la gran ciudad. All of which means that for almost any guide, you can disregard the parts that focus on Santa Cruz (unless you enjoy getting lost in foreign cities) whilst referring to those that deal with the hinterland. A few guidebooks do stand out from the rest, at least where the Chiquitania is concerned. Some of these are the following.

Santa Cruz Turístico, by APAC Fondo Editorial, published in 2002. It's US$7.00 and available in person at APAC's offices (calle Beni 228, 3.3332287). The current edition is in Spanish only, but subsequent ones will be available in English as well.

Destino Turístico Santa Cruz Bolivia, published in 2005 by OGC-SCZ. This is marginally the best of the lot, and it shouldn't run you more than US$10.00. You can pick it up at OGC-SCZ's offices on the fifth floor of the Torre CAINCO, at Avenida Las Américas 7 (3.3392925).

The Official Tourism Travel Guide of Santa Cruz Bolivia, by Bismark A. Cuéllar Chávez, published in 2004. OK, it's far from official, and it's riddled with English so poorly translated as to make it utterly incomprehensible. Notwithstanding, it does contain some really useful material on the Chiquitania, and at 300 densely packed pages, well...it's obvious Bismark's heart was in the right place. You can call him at 3.3430212 and order a copy. Trust me, he'll be thrilled if you do.

And of course, then there is the best travel guide of all, Footprint's Bolivia (if purchasing it in Europe) or Bolivia (if purchasing it in North America). If you are considering a trip to Bolivia, let alone the Chiquitania, do yourself a favour and buy the most accurate and up-to-date guide. You'll be very glad you did, believe me. Bolivia is consistently rated the best travel guide to the country by travellers and in-country experts alike. It is now in its 4th edition.