Throughout the novella, Steinbeck explores the various mechanisms and strategies Europeans colonists and their allies used to subjugate and exploit Indigenous people like Kino. Though colonial forces are not the only ones who seek to dispossess Kino of the pearl, they do pose one of the most serious threats.

Steinbeck presents religion as one such tool, though unlike some of the others, religion functions (in this setting) on a voluntary, persuasive basis. Among other things, Kino and Juana plan to marry in the Catholic Church and have Coyotito baptized with the money they expect from selling the pearl. They are not unique in their high regard for the Church, as discussions among their neighbors about what they would do with the pearl demonstrate: One man says that he would give the pearl to the Pope, while another says that he would buy Masses for the souls of his family for the next 1,000 years. Besides gathering money from its followers; the Church uses these characters’ faith and goodwill to make them submissive to colonial powers. When Kino and Juan Tomás discuss earlier attempts to sell pearls directly instead of to

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