ABSTRACT
The Portuguese priest, Antonio de Sosa, here describes the different types of clothing that Algerian women wore, whether it was for every day, formal, or house wear. In the last decades of the sixteenth century, Roma were offered a straight choice between retaining their traditions or living the Christian way. Eleven witnesses shared their suspicions over 11 years based on what he ate, or refused to eat, how he washed his person and clothing, and who he associated with. The document also highlights the particular challenges of imposing Tridentine orthodoxy on a multiethnic colonial population that relied on a similarly complex colonial web of healers and healing traditions. Some of these traditions were clearly and unproblematically Christian, while others were rooted in non-Christian traditions or even challenged Christian orthodoxy. She was shown a paper with some white powders that she said she made to wash the faces of women.
