Genocide and the Indians of California 1769-1873

8/18/2019 Genocide and the Indians of California 1769-1873

1/145

University of Massachuses Boston

ScholarWorks at UMass Boston

Graduate Masters Teses Doctoral Dissertations an

5-1-1993

Genocide and the Indians of California, 1769Margaret A. FieldUniversity of Massachuses Boston , [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: hp://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses

Recommended Citation

http://scholarworks.umb.edu/?utm_source=scholarworks.umb.edu%2Fmasters_theses%2F141&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPageshttp://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses?utm_source=scholarworks.umb.edu%2Fmasters_theses%2F141&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPageshttp://scholarworks.umb.edu/diss_theses?utm_source=scholarworks.umb.edu%2Fmasters_theses%2F141&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPageshttp://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses?utm_source=scholarworks.umb.edu%2Fmasters_theses%2F141&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPageshttp://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses?utm_source=scholarworks.umb.edu%2Fmasters_theses%2F141&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPageshttp://scholarworks.umb.edu/diss_theses?utm_source=scholarworks.umb.edu%2Fmasters_theses%2F141&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPageshttp://scholarworks.umb.edu/masters_theses?utm_source=scholarworks.umb.edu%2Fmasters_theses%2F141&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPageshttp://scholarworks.umb.edu/?utm_source=scholarworks.umb.edu%2Fmasters_theses%2F141&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages


2/145

GENOCIDE AND THE INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA 1769 187

A

Thesis

Presented

by

MARGARET

A FIELD

Submitted

to

the f f ice of Graduate Studies

and

Resea

the

Un1vers i ty

of

Massachuset ts

a t Boston in pa r t

fu l f i l lment of the requirements for the degree o

MASTER OF ARTS

MAY 1993

HISTCRY PROGRAM


3/145

GENOCIDE AND THE I NDIAN S

OF

CALIFORNIA 1769 -187 3

A The

s i s

P resen ted

by

MARGARET

A.

FIELD

Appro

ved as to s t y l e

and content

by

:

C

l i

ve Fo

s s

Pro fes so r

Co - C

hai rper

so

n

of

Co

mmittee

mes

M

O T oo

le

A

ss

i s t an t Professor

-Cha irper s on o f Committee

Memb e r


4/145

CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to thank

professors

Foss O Toole, and Bu

f or the i r ass is tance

in

prepar ing th i s manuscr i pt and

the i r

encouragement

throughout

the projec

t .

also

w

express

apprec ia t ion to my family

and

f r iends espe

c

i a

Kevin

P.

Jones-- for

the i r pat ience and s upport .


5/145

ABSTRACT

GENOCIDE

AND

THE INDIANS OF

CALIFORNIA, 1769-

MAY 1993

MARGARET A FIELD, A.B. , HAMILTON COLLEGE

M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT

BOSTO

D i rec t ed by:

Profe ssor

Cl iv e Foss and

Pro fes s o r James

M.

O Toole

This s tudy i s an e f f o r t to determine whether

phenomenon

of

genocide ,

as

def ined

in

the

UN

Conve

Genocide c f 1948, played a d i s t i n g u i s h ab l e r o l e

in

sharp d e c l i n e

of

the C a l i f o r n i a In d ian popula t ion

the

per iod

1769

to 1873.

Through

examinat ion of s

resources

as

memoirs, newspaper accounts of the t im

an t h ro p o l o g i ca l

and

demographic s t u d i e s ,

governmen

documents ,

and works on genoc ide theory , i t cons id

i s s u e s of i n t e n t and ac t i o n on t h e

p a r t

of

the Spa

Mexicans , and Americans who a r r i v ed in C al i f o r n i a

t h e

pe r iod .

he ev idence

i n d i c a t e s

t h a t g e n o ~ d e of ind ig

peoples

occur red in

C a l i f o r n i a

in

t h e

l a t e r years


6/145

Ind ian

groups .

Numerous

contemporary

accounts

prov

de t a i l s

of i nd i s c r imina t e k i l l i ng of

Indians

by Am

s e t t l e r s . The Ind ians of Cal i fo rn ia

exper ienced m

depopula t ion

when

Ca l i fo rn i a

was

~ n e r Spanish and

au tho r i t y as wel l

but

the dec l ine cannot be a t t r i b

genocide because of

lack

of

i n t e n t

and

an absence

widespread su s t a ined

one-s ided a t t a ck s on the

pa

Spanish and Mexicans


7/145

TABLE OF CONTENTS

l .CKNOWLEDGMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ABSTRACT.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

LIST

OF

FIGURES .

Chapte r

INTRODUCTION .

1 ;

POPULll

TION

ESTIMll.TES .

I I I

GENOCIDE THEORY .

IV. SPANISH PERIOD,

1769-1821

.

V.

MEX:CAN ?ERIOD 1821-1846

.

VI. AMERICAN PERIOD 1846-1873

.

VI 1 .

EVIDENCE .

Spanish

period:

Conversion

c iv i l i za t ion , coloniza t ion .

Mexican

period:

Absorption .

American

period: I so la t ion

and exterminat ion .

VIII

.ANALYSIS .

IX. C O N C L U S I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BIBLIOGRAPHY .


8/145

LIST O FIGURES

Figure

l Key t o t r iba l t e r r i to r i es

Figu

re 2 Estimated abor ig ina l popu l at ion by

regional subdiv is ion

Figure 3 Missions es tabl ished in Alta Ca l i f ornia


9/145

C H P T E R I

INTRODUCTION

The

Indians of what i s today

the s ta te

of Calif

l ike many

indigenous

groups

around the world

experi

sharp

populat ion

decl ine

following

contact

with peop

dif fe ren t lands. Researchers have

est imated

the Ind

populat ion of

California

before

the arr iva l

of the

S

m1ssions in

1769

to

have

been

as

high

as

700 000 al

the f igure most widely

accepted today

is

a

m n mum o

310 000. The

populat ion

decl ined to about

100 000 i

during

the Gold

Rush and to

about 30 000 in 1870.

subsequently

reached

a

nadir of

15 000 to 25 000 dur

decade 1890-1900. The main cause of indigenous pop

decl ine in

California

as

in

the

res t

of

the

United

i s

general ly

considered to have

been

disease . To va

extents

throughout the country however indigenous

were

also subjec t to violence and destruct ion of

the

of

l i f e .

Since the U adopted i t s Convention on Genocide

1948 the term geno ide has been applied to the

exp

as to


10/145

de l ibe ra te and systematic at tempts to destroy a group

cul ture

re l ig ion

or

e thnic

i den t i t y

can

be

in te r re

with genocide.

Some who have wri t ten about American Indians vie

pl ight of indigenous peoples as a mass genocide s t a r t

with

the

f i r s t

European

contac t . Other

authors s ingl

spec i f i c segments

of

the Indian populat ion as vict ims

genocide,

while s t i l l others

e i ther ra i se the

subjec t

dismiss i t or

do

not

re fe r

to i t a t a l l when discussi

American

Indian

populat ion

dec l ine .

In

the 1990

s tan

work The History and Sociology

of

Genocide: Analyses

Case

Studies , Frank Chalk and Kurt Jonassohn devote t

chapters to the exper iences of the Indians of the Am

They

wri te :

The

part

played

by

genocide

in

the

des truc t ion

a

cr ippl ing

of

so many

soc ie t i es

spread over a

vas

and colonized

by

s e t t l e r s of many di f fe ren t

nat iona l i t i es and socia l

systems

i s complex

and

poorly

understood.

The

opinion

of many experts

genocide

was

one

of

f ive major fac tors

tha t unde

Indian c iv i l i za t ions ;

the

others

were

disease

w

geographic removals and

r e l o c a t i ~ n s

and the

des truc t ion of t rad i t iona l w a y s . ~

Several

authors

have

used the term geno ide

in

re la t ion

to experiences

of

the Indians

of

Cali fornia .

fa r

however,

l i t t l e ef for t

has been direc ted a t exam


11/145

Indians

o f

the Round

Valley

reservat ion

in

northern

Cal i forn ia ,

descr ib ing

i t

as

a

government

sanc t ion

ed

genocide.

While

C

halk

and Jonassohn

consider spec i f ic

that indica te

geno

cid

al

in ten

t , ot

her wri t ers v ie w ge

1n

a more general way .

In

an a r t i c l e in

The Indian

Hist

or ian , William

E. Co f fe r

reco unt

s e

vents

o f

the

1

century and

wri tes

, In

1975,

the genocidal t reatment

the Ca l i fo rn i a Indian

con

t inues .

4

In co n t r a s t ,

Alber t

L. Hur

tado,

l ike

other wri te

f

ocus

on

Indian res i s

ta nc e and s ur viva l ,

expresses

skep t ic i sm ab

out applyin

g

the

la

bel

t o

the

experience

the Indians

of

C

a l i f orni

a. In

In

dian Survival on the

a

l

i forn ia

F

ro nt

i e r , H

urtado

discusses popul at ion s tu

of t h e

a

l i forni a Indians condu

c te

d

by

Sherburne F. C

and wonders

wh y

l a t e r

wri te

rs

have

not

ques t io

ned

por t raya l s o f Ca l i f or ni a Indian s as pa

ss i

ve vi c t ims:

In s tead,

subsequent

wri ter s have a cc epted [Cook ' s]

a n

al ys

i s and con c

ent ra ted

on the

gr osses

t

as

p

ects

o f

popul

at ion

dec l in

e .

Indeed,

two recent

books use t he

geno ide

in

t he i r

t i t l e s .

5

There i s a

need

to revie w evidence

of

the

par t i c

experiences

of

Indian groups in an e f fo r t to

put

geno


12/145

extreme views;

d i s t i nc t ions are necessary

i f

the co

genocide

i s to have any value as a tool in e f f o r t s

comprehend the pas t . In the other

extreme

asse r t i

genocide or

mass

k i l l i ngs were not

s i g n i f i c a n t f ac t

American Ind ian

popula t ion dec l ine a re

a l so

not

ver

he lp fu l .

The

American

Ind ian

exper ience

though

co

and d iver se

pre sen t s many pa ra l l e l s to the

exper ie

other popu la t ions

t h a t

have dec l ined fo l lowing con

ou ts ide r s .

Considerat ion

of

the impact

of

genocide

sp e c i f i c cases i s of

s ign i f i c a n t

value in unders tan

both the phenomenon of genocide i t s e l f

and

what

hap

a

p a r t i c u l a r place and

t ime.

This

s tudy i s an

e f f o r t

to determine

whether g

played a

d is t ingu ishab le ro le in

the populat ion de

the

Indians

of

Cal i fo rn ia .

Spec i f i ca l ly

I

examine

purposes

behind

i n t e r a c t i o n s

with the

Indians

on

th

of Spanish

miss iona r i e s

and so l d i e r s Mexican s e t t l

the Mexican m i l i t a ry and U.S. s e t t l e r s

governmen

o f f i c i a l s and

the army as well as the impl ica t ion

t he i r

re spec t ive goal s .

These

i s sues a re

explored

through examinat ion

memoirs such

as

those of exp lo re r s t r apper s

and


13/145

cond i t ions of the Indians ; pop ula t ion assessments a

s tud ies

of assessment

methods;

works

on

genocide

th

and records

of Ind ian pol icy

elsewhere

in the

Unite

S ta t e s .

The Ind ian exper ience

var ied cons iderably acco

the

people

the Ind ians encountered and the type of

Indians inhab i t ed and i t s

value

to ou ts ide r s .

Span

miss iona r i e s ,

who

s e t t l e d mainly in coas t a l a reas o

Cal i fo rn ia ,

sought to ga in and

main ta in

conve r t s , b

por t r aya l s

of

the Franc iscans as

benevolent

toward

C al i f o r n i a Indians have been the sub jec t of much de

r ecen t

yea rs .

6

Indians

l i v in g n ea r

miss ions and ran

who s t o l e c a t t l e or

horses

were sub jec t to swi f t

r e t r i b u t i o n

from

Spanish and Mexican s e t t l e r s .

Th

a r r i v a l

of

white

s e t t l e r s from

the

eas t

fo l lowing t

d i scovery of gold in nor the rn Cal i fo rn ia in

1848

r epre sen ted ,

accord ing to many

accoun ts ,

the most

d

physica l

encounte r

between the Ind ians and ou ts ide r

These l a t e r c onf l i c t s , which

gene ra l ly

occurred in

with d ive rse Ind ian popula t ions ,

had

a

c lea r econom

na ture :

the

Indians

posed

an obs tac l e to white lan

( see Figure 1

p

6 ) .


14/145

._

. .

' '

ey to T


15/145

the consequences of European explorat ion of the

We

Hemisphere

in i t ia ted

500

years

ago

,

an

examination

occurred from the arr ival of the Spanish in Alta

C

in

1769 to

the

conclusion o f the l as t great armed c

between

the

Indians and

whites in Cal i fornia- - the M

Wars in

northern

Cal i fornia- - in

1873 can serve to

i l luminate at least

part

of the

picture .

1.She

rb

urne

F . Cook,

The Population

of

the

C

I

ndia

n

s ,

1769-1970 (Berkeley , 1976 ) ,

pp

.

69-

His to r ic

al

Demography,

in

Robert

F.

Heizer ,

ed. ,

of

North American

Indians (Washington, D.C., 1978),

93; Stephen Powers

,

Tribes of

California (Berkel

( r

eprin t

of 1877

edi t ion)

), p.

416.

2.

Frank

Chalk and

Kurt

Jonassohn, The

History and

S

of Genocide:

Analyses and Case Studies

(New

Haven

p.

176.

3 . Lynwood Carranco and Estle Beard, Genocide and

V

The Round

Valley

Wars of Northern Califo rnia ( Norman

1981 ) ; William

E.

Coffer, Geno

c

ide of the

C

a

Indian

, The Indian Historian

10(1977

)

:8 -

15 ;

Rupert C

Je

anet te

Henry

Co

s ta , eds

. ,

The Missions of C

a l i fo

Legacy

of

Genocide ( San Franc

isco

, 1987) ; Jack

Nor

Ou

r Horld 's Cried: Genoc ide in Northwestern

Califo

Francisco,

1979) ; Russell Thornton,

American

Indian H

and

Survival :

A

Populat ion History

Since

1492

Okla. , 1987).

4 .Coffer,

p.

13.

Also

on genocide and colonizat io

Paul

Sar t re , .On

Genocide, Ramparts (February

19 68)

42 .


16/145

7 . John c. Ewer-s, ed. Adventures

of Zenas

Leon

Traooer

Norman, Okla . ,

1984); Sherburne

F . C

Conflict

Between

the

California

Indian

and

White

Civ

Berkeley,

1976), p.

201;

George Harwood Phil l ips

and Challengers: Indian

Resistance

and Coope

Southern California Berkeley,

1975)

pp . 40

-47

; R

Heizer and Alan F.

Almquist,

The

Other Cali

Prejudice

and Discrimination

Under Spain, Mexico,

United States to 1920

Berkeley,

1971), p. 18.

S.Cook

1976a,

p. 257.


17/145

C H A P T E R I

POPULATION ESTIMATES

Researchers have used

a

v a r i e ty

of methods ov

years to

es t ima te

the

populat ion

of Nat ive America

North

America,

the United Sta tes , and Cal i fo rn ia b

contac t

with

Europeans

in an

e f f o r t

to determine th

magnitude of

indigenous

popula t ion dec l ine .

There

littl

consensus

on

the

sub jec t . In

a 1992 essay,

h i s t o r i a n John D. Daniels

reviewed

methods

of

ca lc

abor ig ina l

popula t ion

in

North

America

and

conc

l

ud

More

than a century of

debate

has

produced

ne

genera l ly

accep ted

popula t ion

es t imates

nor

c

on the methods

of

obta in ing them. The major i

cur ren t i nves t iga to rs r e j e c t the extremely

low

of

the ear ly bot tom-up

sfhool

;

beyond

t ha t po

littl agreement ex i s t s .

The

bottom-up

schoo l ,

which

according

to

Da

fa l l en

out o f

favor , r e f e r s to a

method

of

es t imat

popula t ion t ha t

r e j e c t s a l l forms

of infe rence

exc

s imple analogy.

A

b r i e f overview provides

some fa

with the sources and techniques t ha t have been use

major con t r ibu to r s to the s tudy of

Native American

demographics before con tac t .

In

1910, Smithsonian

Ins t i t u t i on an th ropo log i


18/145

e thnoh is to r ica l

approach, cons ider ing in fo rmat ion

from the observa t ions of ear ly

European

exp lo re r s

t iming and s ev e r i t y

of

epidemics , and

fami ly s i z e

s t ruc tu r e .

He sa id t ha t

about

403,000 American In

remained a t

the t ime

of

h is wr i t ing

represent ing

percen t

dec l ine .

2

In

a

1976

essay

Smithsonian

In

an th ropo log i s t Douglas H. Ubelaker notes t ha t

Moon

d e l i b e ra t e l y favored

conserva t ive es t imates and s

t ha t Mooney s abor ig ina l

es t imate

repre sen t s a min

the ac tua l number

could in

fac t be much higher .

3

In

1934, an th ropo log i s t Alfred L. Kroeber r e l

Mooney s assessment ,

except

for Mooney s es t ima te

C al i f o r n i a

popula t ion

to a r r i v e

a t

a f igure

of

90

Native

Americans nor th of the Rio Grande before co

Kroeber had

recons idered the

number

of indigenous

Cal i fo rn ians using

a

t r i be -by- t r i be

assessment o f

In

1966,

an th ropo log i s t

Henry F. Dobyns prese

sharp ly d ivergen t assessment by

working back from

point

popula t ion and i n f e r r i n g from s tud ies of

car

capac i ty . Dobyns

used a

r a t i o

method to p r o j ec t t

precontac t popula t ion based on a nad i r populat ion

490,000 North

American

Indians in

1930

and presen


19/145

approximately

18

mi l l i o n Native Americans in North

America.

6

In

1987, so c i o l o g i s t Russel l Thornton

used

Do

r a t i o

method,

but

on a

lower nadi r

populat ion

(250

the United S ta t e s in 1890-1900 and 101 000 in Cana

1906), to

a r r ive a t

an es t imated 1492

populat ion o

than

7 mil l ion nor th

of

Mexico,

with

more

than 5 m

those

in

the United S t a t e s .

1

In

the

same yea r

An

Ramenofsky

es t imated

a North American

abor ig ina l p

of around 12

mil l ion based

on archaeo log ica l

evide

year l a t e r Ubelaker , who continued to adhere to t

bottom-up approach even as the school carne under a

suggested a

North American

es t imate of

1,894,350 i

persons for

the

year 1500 based on t r i be -by- t r i be

compiled

in

the

1978

Smithsonian

Ins t i t u t i on

Handb

North American

Indians .

9

According to Ubelaker ,

b

1900 the North American

Indian

popula t ion had

been

to approximately 530,000, c o n s t i t u t i n g a dec l ine

o

pe rcen t . Ubelaker es t imates

t ha t the Cal i fo rn ia i

populat ion

s u f f e r ed

the

g re a t e s t reduc t ion

from 2

which he es t imates as the

precontac t

popula t ion t

of 10,000 in 1940,

amounting

to a 95 percen t d r o p ~


20/145

p a t t e r n s and food supply .

In a 1905

essay ,

c. Ha

Merriam

presen ted f ind ings based on records from

Ca l i fo rn i a s Franc iscan

miss ions and h is

observa t io

av a i l ab l e food

supply .

Merriam

es t imated

t h a t the

indigenous popula t ion of Cal i fo rn ia was much less- -

a t

the

t ime

of

discovery .

2

Twenty

years

l a t e r ,

Kr

es t imated the s t a t e s precontac t popula t ion a t 133

t o t a l

der ived

from

h is ca lcu la t ions

of

ind iv idua l t

and d i a l e c t

groups. l3

In 1943,

Sherburne

F. Cook, whose work on

the

Cal i fo rn ia Ind ian

popula t ion

i s

gene ra l ly

accep ted

most

thorough t o da t e , es t imated the

s t a t e s

preco

popula t ion

a t

133,550 using

e s s e n t i a l l y the

same so

Kroeber. However,

in

a volume publ ished a f t e r

h is

dea th ,

he

r ev i sed

h i s e s t ima te to

310,000

fo l lowing

examinat ion of records

and

a rchaeo log ica l evidence

reg ions

of

Cal i fo rn ia ( see Figure

2,

p. 13). l4

Cook

es t imates

t ha t

the

C al i f o r n i a Ind ian

pop

in

1845,

before the d iscovery

of gold , had f a l l e n

150,000,

and tha t t subsequen t ly

f e l l to about 10

1850,

a

year

a f t e r

the Gold Rush began.

Five years

when mining a c t i v i t y was a t ts

peak,

t he re

were

n


21/145

- Reqtonal dMslon

Tribe

lnehJded

n

p


22/145

1890-1900.

The U.S. census shows 16,624

in

1890 an

in

1900,

but

Cook a s s e r t s t h a t

of f i c i a l

recording

m

many Ind ians . Since

the

tu rn of

the

century , the

popula t ion has been inc reas ing . l6

In h is examinat ion

of

methods t ha t have been e

to determine North America 's

abor ig ina l

popula t ion ,

groups

such popula t ion

s tud ies

i n to

th ree

broad sch

thought :

bottom

up

( e . g . ,

Mooney,

Kroeber,

and

Ubelaker) ,

a rea

model ing (Cook), and

top down

(

Thornton) . Danie l s d is t ingu ishes among the t h ree

approaches through the types

of

evidence accepted

b

adherents

of each method. The bot tom-up

approach a

only

d i r e c t pr imary

evidence and

r e j e c t s a l l forms

infe rence

except s imple analogy;

es t imates

from t h i

for

the

abor ig ina l

North

American

popula t ion

tend

t

low, in the mil l ion

to

mil l ion

range.

Area mo

accep t i n d i r e c t ev idence , s imple

i n fe rence ,

and s im

analogy i f used cau t ious ly , and they oppose Mooney

Kroeber ' s f requent d iscount ing

of

primary

wri t t en e

Moreover, they

of t en inc rea se e s t ima te s

from d i r e c t

evidence

on

the grounds

t ha t d i sea se caused

unde r re

Their North

American

es t imates commonly range from


23/145

such

as carry ing

capaci ty , over

simple

analogy. Th

es t imates

range

from

7

mil l ion

to

18

mil l ion .

Daniels

s t a t e s

tha t a

survey

of 10

current

tex

shows

tha t

f ive have

essent i a l ly

adopted Dobyns's

1

est imate, and tha t the

approach

of the top downers

current ly predominates.

He notes , however,

tha t

to

downers have expanded the

use

of

inference compared

role in previous ef for t s / and observes tha t some c r

have expressed doubts about Dobyns's use of

sources

For the Cal i forn ia

Indian

populat ion, the gene

accepted f igures are a precontact populat ion of abo

300,000 and a nadir populat ion of

about

20,000 arou

Q

year 1900.-v Cook remains the most important

and

in f luent i a l

20th

century

scholar on Cal i forn ia

Indi

populat ion his tory and there

has

been

no

subs tant i

rev is ion of f igures

based

on his research . l

9

1.John

D Daniels , The Indian

Populat ion

of

North

in

1492, William

and Mary

Quarter ly 49:320.

2.James Mooney, Populat ion, in Frederick

W

Hodge

Handbook

of

American Indians North

of Mexico,

vol.

York, 1971)

p.

287;

Douglas

H.

Ubelaker,

The

Sourc

Methodology

for

Mooney's Estimates

of North

America

Popula t ions ,

in William M Denevan, ed . The Nativ

Populat ion of the Americas in 1492 (Madison, 1976),

243-288.


24/145

6.Henry F. Dobyns and Will iam R.

Swagerty ,

Their Nu

Become Thinned Nat iye American Popula t ion Dynamic

E as te rn

North

America

(Knoxvi l le ,

1983) ,

pp.

34-44,

295.

? .Thorn ton , pp.

30-31.

8.Anne F. Ramenofsky, Vectors of

Death:

The

Archae

European Contac t (Albuquerque, 1987) ,

pp. 160-162,

9 .Douglas

H

Ubelaker , Nor th American Ind ian Popu

Size , A.D. 1500-1985,

American

Journal of Phys ica l

AnthroPology 77:289.

10.Ubelaker

1988,

pp. 291, 293.

11.Powers ,

p .

416.

12.C. Har t

Merriam,

The

Ind ian Popula t ion of

C al i f

American Anthropolog is t 7:598.

1 3 .A l f red L. Kroeber , Handbook of the

Ind ians

of C a

(Berke ley , 1925)

p.

882.

14.Cook 1976b, p.

43.

15.Cook

1976b, p.

44.

16.Cook 1976b, pp. 70-71.

17 .Danie l s ,

pp.

310-318.

18.Thornton, p . 109.

19.Hurtado 1988, pp. 1-2 .


25/145

C H A P T E R

I I I

GENOCIDE TH ORY

Calcu la t ion of the

magni tude

of indigenous

pop

l os s fol lowing con tac t with

o u t s i d e r s remains a

sub

much

debate , but

the

dev st t ing impact on the

indig

popula t ion i s i r r e f u t a b l e . Russel l Thornton

notes t

based

on fundamental

demographic

p r in c ip l e s , the

Na

American dec l ine r esu l ted both from i nc rea se s in dea

r a t e s

and from decreases in b i r th r a t e s ,

but

t i s

tha t

the increased

death

r a tes

were

of pr imary

impor tance . ·

In 1910 James Mooney

presen ted a b r i e f assessm

the main

causes

of American Ind ian popula t ion

dec l in

order of s ig n i f i c an ce ,

as

smallpox and other epidemics; t ube rcu los i s

sexual di sea se s ;

whisky

and a t t endan t

d i s s i p a t i o n s ; removals

s t a rv a t i o n and su

to unaccustomed

cond i t ions ;

low v i t a l i t y ~

mental

depress ion under

misfor tune ;

w r s

Mooney

s t a t e d t h a t a l l

but wars

and

t ube rcu los i s

co

cons idered

to

have

come

from

the

white

man

while

t

i nc rea s ing des t ruc t iveness of t ube rcu los i s

i t s e l f i s

l a rge ly to cond i t ions consequent

upon

h is adven t .

3


26/145

minor i ty

popula t ions .

The convent ion provided

a

l ab

the phenomenon,

found

th rough h i s to r y , of vio lence a

groups .

Resea rche rs in many

f i e ld s

have s i n ce used

term

genocide some more convinc ing ly

than

o t h e r s ,

t

descr ibe

a

wide range

of

s i t u a t i o n s .

In

1987,

Thornton a rgued

t ha t

whi le

Mooney's

ra

of

the causes of American

Ind ian

popula t ion dec l ine

b a s i c a l l y

co r r ec t ,

genocide--a te rm not ava i l ab le

to

in 1910--mus t be

added

to the l st

5

Thornton wri te

fo r

the per iod 1492 to 1890 1900, European co n tac t

a

co l o n i za t i o n r e s u l t e d i n i n c reased

Native American

d

ra t e s

through

in t roduced d i s eas e , inc lud ing alcohol i

warfare

and

genocide; geographica l removal

and re loc

and dest ruc t ion of ways of l i f e ,

such

as dis rupt ion

s u b s i s t en ce

p a t t e r n s .

He

notes

t ha t some

causes

we

important for

ce r ta in t r ibes

than others , while

int r

d i s eas e

was

the

s i n g l e most

impor tan t

f a c t o r o v e r a l

The quincen tena ry of Columbus 's

voyage

to the

World

has

e l i c i t e d a great deal of opinion

on

the im

European

expansion

on indigenous peoples , and the te

genocide f requen t ly has been

invoked

in the

deba te .

example,

in

an essay

rev iewing

Ramenofsky's a rch aeo


27/145

Other

wri te r s

for

di f fe ren t purposes, have ba

such uses of

the

term.

Some who

objec t do so

in de

European

expansion, while others

emphasize Indian

res is tance and

dispute

por t raya ls of American India

passive vict ims .

3

Between

the

two

extremes

i s the

tha t

genocide

was

one

of

many

fac tors

t

hat

c

on t r ibu

the

dec l ine

of the indigenous Americans .

Because the

Indian

experience in the Americas

complex,

assessment

of

the

impact

of

genocide on N

me

r i c

ans

needs t o

e

addressed in a case-by-case m

n

examinati

on of the U Convention

on

Genocide

pro

s t a r t i ng point

for

determining

the

prope r appl ica t i

the

term in

the

case

of

the Indians

of

Cali fornia f

period 1769-1873.

Genocide

i s

defined

as

any

of

the following acts committed

with

to destroy,

in

whole or in

par t , a

nat io

n

e thni

ca l ,

racial

or

re l ig ious

groups

as

s

a Kil l ing members

of

the

group;

b)

Causing

ser ious bo

di ly or

mental harm

member s of the

gro

u

p;

c)

Del ibera te ly

in f l i c t ing

on

the

group

condit ions of

l i f e

calcula ted to

bring

ab

physical des truc t ion in whole

or in

par t ;

d)

Imposing measures in tended to prevent

within the

gr

o

up s ;

e Forcibly t ransfe r r

in

g c hi ldren

of

the


28/145

to prevent and

punish . '

Thus, under the U conven

the

key f ac to r s in

determining

whether

genocide occ

are the

types of

ac t s and

the in ten t to

des t roy

mem

a spec i f i ed group.

Cr i t i c s

of the U d e f i n i t i o n

sugges t

tha t the

convent ion could be more inc lus ive in

some

areas an

- \

exc lus ive

in

o ther s . - · In

Genocide and Human Rights

Global

Anthology,

Jack Nusan Por te r , the

volume s

e

argues

tha t hi s

own

d e f i n i t i o n of

genocide

inc ludes

de l ibe ra te ex te rmina t ion of

po l i t i ca l and

sexual

gr

another

important author on the

sub jec t , Leo

Kuper,

favors the

i nc lus ion

of

po l i t i ca l groups in the

convent ion.

Chalk

and Jonassohn deem the convent

f lawed for

a number of reasons, including the exclu

the

de l ibe ra te

an n ih i l a t i o n

of

po l i t i ca l

groups

and

c la s se s .

They acknowledge

tha t

schola rs who

have

n

flaws

cont inue

to use the U d e f i n i t i o n in

deferenc

the

fac t tha t

the

U

d e f i n i t i o n

i s the only i n t e rna

recognized

d e f i n i t i o n of

genocide. S t i l l , they

r e

U convent ion in favor

of

a r e s t r i c t i v e

def in i t ion

own

designed to l imi t app l ica t ion of

the

term to th

xtr m

cases

of mass k i l l i ng .

Chalk and

Jonassohn


29/145

for considerat ion of 20 th century cases . However,

convention

i s

adequate

for the

purposes

of

the

c

ur

study

:

t

presents

the

essent i a l components of

ge

and , as

Chalk

and

Jonassohn

noted,

t i s as close

s tandard def in i t ion

as

ex i s t s in curren t scholar ly

P

resent ed

with

the

fac ts

of mass

death

in a l l

horr i fy ing de ta i l s , t

i s

not unreas on

a

ble to

feel

repugnance a t ef for t s

aimed

a t label ing , quantify i

makin

g d is t in

c t

ions , and

otherwise

anal yzing the p

natu

re

of

such

events .

The

dis t inc t ions are

neces

however,

to gain

a bet t

er understanding

of such

ev

t o make sure that they are not wri t ten off

and fo

r

l

.Thorn

t o

n,

p. 43.

2.Mooney,

p.

286

.

3.Mooney, p.

286.

4.For discussion of uses and misuses of the

term

g

see

Jack Nusan

Por ter

, Genocide and Human

Rights:

Anthology (Lanham, Md , 198 2), pp. 7-12 ; Chalk an

Jonassohn, p .

3.

S .

Thornton,

p.

44.

6.Thornton, pp. 43-53 .

? .Ezra Zubrow, The Depopulation of Native America

Antiqui ty 64:754-65.


30/145

lO.The cont rovers ies surrounding

the draf t ing of

th

Convention on

Genocide

for example, Soviet objec t io

the

inclusion of po l i t i ca l groups as

a protected

ca

tha t u l t imate ly

inf luenced

i t s f inal form

are discu

Leo

Kuper, Genocide:

I t s

Pol i t i ca l Use

in the

Twe

Century New Haven, 1981 , pp. 24-39, and in Chalk

Jonassohn, pp. 8-12, 21.

l l .Por t er

p.

8; Kuper p.

39.

12.Chalk

and Jonassohn,

pp. 11, 23.


31/145

C H A P T E R IV

Spanish

p er io d , 1769-1821

The

C a l i fo rn i a

Ind ian

popula t ion

began to

dec l

sh a rp ly a f t e r the a r r i v a l of

Spanish

Franc i scan

mi s s i o n a r i e s from Baja

C a l i fo rn i a

in 1769.

The

21

e s t a b l i s h e d

by t h e Spanish

along

the

Al ta

C a l i fo rn i

had

a t o t a l

Ind ian popula t ion of about 54,000 fo r t

per iod ending wi th miss ion s ecu l a r i z a t i o n , in 1834

Figure 3, p. 2 4 ) . Between 1770 and 1830, the C a l i

Ind ian

popula t ion

i s

es t ima ted

to

have

f a l l e n

from

to

about 2 4 5 0 0 0 . ~

When

the

m i s s i o n a r i e s s e t t l e d

in

an a rea , they

at tempted to a t t r ac t voluntary converts

from

the

lo

Ind ian popula t ion th rough

g i f t s

of

t r i n k e t s or

indu

of

food, c l o t h i n g , or s h e l t e r .

3

In

h i s

1913 work

Zephyr in

Enge lha rd t ,

a Franciscan ,

compi led

accounts

of

t he

popula t ion recorded

by p r i e s t s

and

t r a v e l e r s . Acco

Enge lha rd t ,

All

account s agreed

in

represen t ing

th

of

C a l i fo rn i a

as among the most

s tup id ,

b r u t i s h , f i

flazy and most

improvident

of the ab o r ig in es

o

Amer


32/145

C LIFORNI

a

Missions established in Alta California: a, San Diego

de

Alcala,

1769: b,

San Carlos Borromeo Carmel), 1770; c, San

Antonio de Padua,

d,

San Gabriel, 1771;

e,

San Luis Obispo de

Tolosa,

1772; f

San Francisco de Asis Dolores), g, San Juan

Capistrano,

1776;

h, Santa Clara, 1777;

i,

San Buenaventura

Ventura),

1782;

j Santa Barbara, 1786; k, de la Purisima

Concepcion, 1787;

l,

Santa Cruz, m, de la Soledad, 1791;

n,

San

i g u e ~

1796;

o, San Juan Bautista,

p,

San Jose, q, San Fernando

Rey de Espana,

1797; r,

San Luis Rey de Francia, 1798; s, Santa


33/145

He

quotes miss ion

f r i a r Francisco Palou, who observe

' 'Some

supers t i t ions

and foo l i sh

prac t i ces

were

disco

among

the

Indians,

and

among the

old

men some r id icu

t a l e s , but they were

eas i ly

d i s i l l u s ione d . '

According to Engelh ardt , the main purpose of th

mission

was

to teach the Indians

a

higher

level

of

exis tence through the worship of

God,

and the only w

t each them was to keep them a t

the

miss ions .

Once

a

Indian

had

been bapt ized ,

he

or she was not

permi t t e

re turn to wild and immoral l i f e ; because they

bore

i nde l ib le mark of a Chr i s t i an

upon

the soul which

i t

not

allowed

to desec ra te . Moreover, an

Indian

who

deser ted the

mission

was a

t r a i t o r

to

Chr i s t i an i ty

a

posed a t h r ea t to

the

miss ion ' s

s a f e t y .

Thus/ f u g i t

from

the

missions

were

t racked down

and

re turned.

who l e f t a

mission

were considered

fug i t ives

for

as

two years ,

a f t e r which

th y

were dropped

from

the r e

Indians

were

congregated in and around the miss

where they

r a i sed

crops, tended to

animals , and

perf

such other tasks

as

spinning wool, smithing,

and

soa

tal low making.h

Sherburne F.

Cook

noted tha t the

m


34/145

t does

not

appear t h a t the neophytes u n i v e r s

c o n s i s t e n t l y

rece ived

e n t i r e l y

adequa te

and

n u t r i t i o n a l l y

comple te food. The

t remendous

of d i s eas e ,

e s p e c i a l l y

cont inuous , nonepidemi

d i s eas e ,

sugge s t s

a

l eve l of n u t r i t i o n

probab

i n s u f f i c i e n t fo r o rd ina ry

maintenance

and

c e r

below t he

optimum

necessAry to provide

a high

r e s i s t a n c e to i n f e c t i o n . · '

Cook a l so as s e r t s

t h a t

t he miss ions

prov ided

atmosphere conducive

t o the spread of d i sease by

aggreg a t ing the Ind ians in

communit ies of

as

many

to 2 000 people when they were accustomed to

l i v i n g

groups

wi th l e s s than 100 members. Diseases

i n t r od

the

Europeans

thus spread

r ap id ly

among

t he Ind ian

~ o r k e d l

and s l e p t in common areas.-: . .

n the

subJe c t

of

v i o l e nc e

as a cause of Ind i

popu l a t i on d ec l in e

in

the ~ i s s i o n s

Cook concludes

ro l e was n e g l i g i b l e . ' 'Cer ta in

u p r i s in g s

did occur

var ious

r eca l c i t r an t s ,

r ebe l s ,

or cr imina ls perish

f i g h t i n g

or by e xe c u t i on ,

but armed

c o n f l i c t

on a

s c a l e did not

en t e r

t he p i c t u r e , he w r o t e ~ •

Although the i s sue of

phys ica l

c o n f l i c t dur in

m is s ion pe r i od

remains

t he

s u b j ec t

of

much

deba te ,

F r a nc i sc a n

f r i a r s '

goal

of

s p i r i t u a l

conquest

i s o

and d e l ib e r a t e .

Cook

f inds evidence th t the

miss


35/145

by the miss ionar ies

as

not

conf l i c t ing with

Cathol i

t eachings were allowed.

The ab i l i t y of

Cal i fo rn ia

to adopt and modify

Chr i s t i an i ty

and incorpora te t

the i r own

manner

of

thought

i s judged an adapta t io

success by

Cook

in the sense t ha t Chr i s t i an i ty was

to ,

not

e n t i r e ly

subs t i tu t ed

for ,

Indian

bel i e fs . '

In the l a t e r

mission

period, the number of

Ind

~ u g i t i v s

inc reased, a

t rend

tha t

Cook descr ibed as

a ' 'v ic ious c i r c l e . Fugi t ive Indians who were puni

e s c a p ing genera ted d i s s e n t among Ind ians in t he mis

prompting fur ther punishment from so ld ie rs and clerg

a t t empt ing to maintain contro l .

According to Cook,

est imated

to ta l of 10 percent of the mission Indian

populat ion became fug i t ives ,

and

both c l e r i c a l and

a u thor i t i e s

were

worried about

the

problem.

y

181

at tempt to stem the flow from the missions, laws we

enacted by Spanish a u thor i t i e s tha t prohib i ted Indi

r id ing on horseback. : :

Meanwhile, in

the

period 1790-1800,

pr i e s t s

accompanied

by

so ld ie rs

ventured fa r the r from

the m

in

sea rch

of c onve r t s

as

l oca l

v i l l a g e

popu l a t i ons

conver ted or

l e f t

the coas ta l area .

Cook sugges t s


36/145

per iod, a l l pre tense

of

voluntary conversion w

discarded,

and

expedi t ions

in to

the

i n t e r io r

w

f rankly for the

puF2ose

of

mil i ta ry

subjugat io

for ed conversion.

10

In 1795, Governor Borica wrote tha t guards would be

provided to the miss ionar ies to confess or bapt ize

who were

unable

to get to the miss ions ,

but

' 'never

t b l l .,1

c a p t u r e LU9l- lves

or

a

ove

a

g en t1 l e s . -•

Engelha

includes reports

of abuses,

but he dismisses them.

case he blames a repor t of abuse on a

demented

f r i a

elsewhere he in s i s t s tha t the Indians who

claimed

a

were

ly ing.

Moreover,

Engelhardt

asse r t s

tha t

Gove

Bor ica

r ecor:wner1ded

miss ionary exped i t ions

to c o l l e c

punish runaways.--

The accounts

of

Cathol ic

mission

ac t i v i t y in

A

Cal i forn ia

discussed

above f i t

a

general pat tern

of

establ i shed by Spanish and Portuguese miss ionar ies

throughout the world as summarized by

C.R. Boxer

in

Church Mil i tan t

and Iber ian Expansion,

1440-1770:

The convict ion tha t once people had been baptiz

converted, they had

become prac t i s ing Roman Ca

in

whom

no

backs l id ing

or

reneging

on

fa i th

co

to le ra ted i r re spec t ive

of

the means used in t

conversion,

na tu ra l ly led

to

ser ious abuses.

the teachings of the

Church

on the

whole

expl i

condemned the use

of

force to obtain conver ts ,

forceful methods were of ten employed and were


37/145

Cathol ic ism or by secre t ly p r c t i c i ~ g some

for

more

or

l ess

syncre t ic

Chri s t i an i ty .

The motives

of

the Spanish

in missionizat ion an

t reatment of the

Indians

under Spanish author i ty

hav

the focus of much

discuss ion

in

l i t e ra tu re

on

th i s

p

in Cal i forn ia

his tory

and recent debate over the

pr

canonizat ion of Cal i forn ia mission system

founder Ju

Serra

has heightened the controversy.

In a 1987 res

to the canonizat ion campaign

The

Missions of Cal i fo

A

Legacy of Genocide Rupert Casto

and

Jeannette He

Casto

include

asser t ions tha t

the Franciscan

f r i a r s

Serra in par t i cu la r

are

among par t i es

responsible

f

genocide of the Cali fornia Indian peoples.

Although many ear ly

por t raya ls

of the

Cali forni

missions

depicted idy l l i c communities of

contented

workers reports of

rebe l l ions indica te tha t a t

the

l eas t some

por t ion

of the nat ive populat ion

was

un

to comply

with

the

miss ionar ies

and had to be

coerce

mission l i fe . Rebell ions and at tacks

were

recorded

number

of

missions

including

a t

San

Diego

in

1775

Colorado River

in

1781

a t

Mission San Gabriel

in 17

again in

San Diego

in

1786

and

a t San Luis

Obispo

i


38/145

' 'Repor ts

of

f u g i t i v i s m f rom the miss ions

o c c u r r e d 1

mi s s i o n f o r

every year u n t i l s e c u l a r i z a ti o n . "

2

Reasons

c i t e d by some

r e c a p t u r e d I nd i a ns as ca

a t t e m p t i n g

to

f l e e

the miss ions ( as

r eco rded by

m i s s i o n a r i e s ) i nc l ude ' 'His wife and

son

had run

awa

t h e i r

c oun t r y ,

and

a t

t he

miss ion

he

was

be a t e n

a

g

d e a l , " and They made

him work a l l

day wi thou t

g iv i

o r h i s f ami ly any th ing

to

e a t . Then, when he went

day

to

f i nd food, F a the r Dant i f logged him."- - Rep

c oe r c ion and c o r po r a l punishment

r ep r oduced

in Cook

a r e c i t e d

by some

as

proof t h a t

C a l i f o r n i a

Ind ians

v i c t i m s

of

c r u e l t y under t he mi s s i o n

p r i e s t s . n

t

hand,

Cook 's work has been c r i t i c i z e d by

Ca t ho l i c

h i s t o r i a n s

- no t a b l y F r a nc i s F. Gues t ,

O.F.M. -and

o

who

asse r t

tha t

the

missions

had an

enl ightening

e f

t he

popu l a t i on and t h a t

ha r s h

p o l i c i e s of

the

miss i

f r i a r s , such as t he use

of

f l ogg ing as a

method

of

pun ishmen t ,

ought to be judged by 18 th c e n tu r y s t an

no t

the norms

of

the

20 th c e n t u r y . :

C a s t i l l o d i sc usse s t he

mot ives

of

t he

m i s s i o n a

the c on te x t

of

the Span i sh encomiend sys tem

of

the

which

invo lved the

r equ i remen t of

Ind ian I aber fo r


39/145

soc ie ty- -a t i t s lowest

Jevels - -and

consol ida te

cont ro l

over

t e r r i t o ry . ·

4

A

s imi lar assessment of the Spanish

view

of the Ind

offered

by

his tor ian Woodrow W Borah, an associa te

Cook:

There was no i n t en t ion of dr iv ing

out

the Indi

des t roying

them.

Rather,

they

were

to

become

a new

soc ia l s t ruc ture

as

the

lower

c lass , fur

labor and serv ices to the people from Mexico,

l iv ing in the i r own

se t \ lements

under

the

guid

C h r i s t i a n m i s s i o n a r i e s ~ ~

Borah

sees the

i n t e n t i o n s

of t he Franc i scan

miss ion

Cal i forn ia as

e s s e n t i a l l y

benevolent /

desp i te i1

re l i ance on coerc ion .

According to

Borah,

both the

miss ionar ies and the

Spanish

c iv i l populat ion

saw t

Indians

as

an i n t eg ra l

par t

of

socie ty .

He as s e r t s

The

radians were

not

being

discr iminated agains t a

Indians;

they

were

simply being given

the

same

t rea

tha t

lower

c las ses

elsewhere rece ived .

Ca s t i l l o , by cont ras t , emphasizes

an

under lyin

malevolence on

the par t of the colonizers :

The Spanish colonizat ion scheme for Al ta

Cal i f

res ted

upon

a

to ta l

contempt

for

cul ture

and

h

proper ty r igh t s of the Indians.

Careful

exam

of th i s

l i t t le -known

and poorly

understood

per

Indian-white conf l ic t c lea r ly demonst ra tes

a

widespre d

d i s sa t i s f ac t i on

with

miss ion

l i f e a

colonia l

author i ty . No reasonable person can


40/145

Asser t ing

tha t the miss ion

f r i a r s had benevolen

i n t en t ions , as

Borah

does, does not necessa r i ly

imp

the Indians

must

have

benef i ted from the miss ions ,

h

Clear ly ,

the

a r r iva l

of the

Spanish

proved

devas ta t i

C a l i fo rn i a s

abor ig ina l

populat ion ,

but

C a s t i l l o

app

be ind ic t ing the Catho l ic

church s overa l l endeavor

convert

non-Chris t ians ,

r a the r

than assess ing a c t i v

spec i f i c to

the

Cal i fo rn ia miss ions .

As Borah obse

the Spanish

a pp l i e d

the same approach to

popula t ions

other parts of

the

world.

Rather than

being

s i ~ g l e d

for di sc r imina t ion or

persecut ion

by

the

Spanish

be

th y

were

Native Americans, the

Cal i fo rn ia

Indians s

as

a consequence

of having t he

m i s f o r t une

to be non

C h r i s ~ ~ a G

whc

happened

to

l ive

in

the

path

of

Span

expansion

e f fo r t s .

World War II and

the or ig ina t ion of the term

g

have

in f luenced discuss ion

of the

Spanish

per iod

exper iences of

the

Cal i fo rn ia Indians .

In a 1946 h

of Southern Cal i fo rn ia ,

Carey

McWilliams wrote , Wi

bes t theologica l

in ten t ions in the world. the Franc

padres e l imina ted

Indians

with

the

ef fec t iveness

of


41/145

Cal i forn ia , t had to be modified in a

number

respects .

Since

Cal i fo rn ia

Indians did

not

l iv

large

and s t ab le communities,

i t was impossibl

br ing the

f a i t h to them; they

had

to be brough

fa i th . The process of

removing the

Indians fro

small

rancher ias

and herding

them

in to well-gu

Hiss ion compounds resuJ_ted in the complete d is

of the na t ive cul ture .

Borah concurs ,

saying t ha t na t ive

economy,

much of

soc ia l

s t ruc ture , and nat ive government could remai

in

Hexico, whereas

the

d ivers i ty

of

the Cal i fo rn ia

populat ion,

i t s l imi ted socia l s t r a t i f i c a t i o n and

p

organizat ion , and nonagr icul tura l technology

necess

sweeping

changes

when

the

Spanish

ar r ived

to

coloni

Asser t ions tha t the devas ta t ing e f fec t the

mis

had

on

the nat ive

Cal i fo rn ia popula t ion cons t i tu t es

genocide of ten

l ink

the

mission

exper ience with l a t

contac t .

In an

essay

in he issions of

Cal i fo rn ia

Legacy

of

Genocide,

his tor ian

Jack

N o ~ t o ~ a

Native

American,

wri tes ,

The genocide tha t was miss ioniza

the Spanish and the t e r ro r of

manifest

des t iny of t

Americans

flows

from the assumed super io r i ty

of

the

race

over

a l l

others .

n] l

In

the

same

volume,

the

ed

wri te :

Pat terns

of genocide

were

l a id down

ear ly

Ca l i fo rn ia with the miss ions , then the

Mexicans,

an


42/145


43/145

e x i s t , no documen ta t ion t h a t

the Russ ians

m i s t

r

a dve r se l y

e x p l o i t e d

the

Kashaya

has been

l o

Archaeo log i s t Glenn J. F a r r i s , however,

argues

the

Russ ians

were ne t as benevolen t as some might t

' ' I t must

be remembered t h a t t he exper ience of the c

in Alaska

had been very b loody ,

with

numerous

k i l l i n

:c ;

both s i d e s . F a r r i s

sees

r easons i n ad d i t i o n to t

Russ i a ns ' a p p r e c i a t i o n of

h a v ~ n g the Kashaya as a l l

the

d i f f e r e n t

approach

in Cal i fo rn i a :

the

Russ ians

need

to

p res s

Kashaya i n t o s e rv i ce because they

brought

s k i l l e d

Aleuts wi th

them,

and

the

Russ ians

a c t i v e l y t r y i n g to

p r o s e l y t i z e . e

notes t h a t

t h e

i n d i ca t i o n s

t h a t some ' ' an tagonisms

and ex p l o i t a t i o n '

Ind ians occur red l a t e r in t he n ea r ly t h r e e - de c a de - l o

r e l a t i o n s h i p between Russ ians

and

Kashaya,

i nc l ud i n

r e p o r t s of Ind ians be ing f o r c i b l y ga t he r e d

for

f i e l d

and conc ludes t h a t

both

the Span i sh and the Russ ian

the Ind ians as

second

c l a s s

c i t i z e n s . : Still

it i

t h a t

n a t i v e

Cal i fo rn i an s

fa red

b e t t e r

in

t h e i r

c on t

Russ ians

than wi th Spania rds .

l .Cook 1976a, p. 5.


44/145

6.Quoted

in

Engelhardt ,

vol . 2,

p.

237.

?.Engelhardt ,

vol . 2,

p.

264.

8.Engelhardt ,

vol . 2, pp. 244-245, 264-265,

vol.

3,

Cook

1976a, p.

58; Thornton,

p. 84.

9.Cook

1976a, p

58.

lO.Engelhardt , vol . 2. pp. 258-263. An examination

type,

amount,

and

hours of

labor

in

the missions

i s

1n

Cook 1976a,

pp.

91-101.

p .

55.

l ~ . C o o k 1976a,

pr. 30-31 .

l3 .Cock

l976a ,

l4.Cook 1976a, pp.

145-148,

156;

Engelhardt ,

val .

J ? 7 ~ ) ? Q

.;_

_ . ; _

_.

v •

l S . c ~ o k l976a , pp. 57-64; e l h a r d t , ·vel . 3, pp.

50

l6.Cook

1976a,

pp.

74-76.

l7.Quoted in Cook 1976a, p. 7S

19. e l ha rd t , va l . 3 ,

pp .

501-502, 506-508.

19.C.R. Boxer, The Church Mil i tant

and Iber ian

Expan

1440-1770, (Balt imore,

1978), pp. 99-100.

20.Francisco

Palau, O.F.M. His tor i ca l

Memoirs

of

New

Cal i forn i a , t r . and

ed.

Herber t Eugene

Bolton

New

Y

1966), pp.

61-72,

201; Cook

1976a,

p. 66.

2l Edward D

Cast i l lo ,

' 'The Impact of Euro-American

Explorat ion

and Set t lement , in

Rebert

F.

Heizer , ed

Handbook of North American Indians , vel .

8 ,

Cal i forn

Mashl'ng•o" D

~ o ~ o \

1 ~ 4

D'•c

~ n v g Harw

' - l o t

• •

..;__,-, -J/1

t- • -

•

~ • J . . 0 ·

1

_ _ _ ~ Vl . .


45/145

24.Cast i l lo

1978,

pp.

100-101.

25.Woodrow W

Borah, The Cal i fo rn ia Mission, in C

Wollenberg,

ed . ,

Ethnic Conf l ic t in Cal i forn ia Hist

Angeles, 1970),

p. 7.

26.Borah, p. 14.

27.Edward

D.

Ca s t i l l o ,

..

The Native Response

to

the

Colonizat ion

of

Alta Cal i forn ia , in Columbian

Consequences,

vol .

1,

Archaeological

and

His to r i ca l

Perspec t ives on the

Spanish

Borderlands West, David

Thomas, ed. (Washington, D.C.,

1989),

pp.

391-392.

28.McWilliams, p. 29.

29.McWilliams, pp.

29-30.

30.Borah,

pp.

8-9.

31.Costo

and

Costo,

p. 121.

32.Costo and Costo, p.

189.

3 3 .He i

z e r and

Almquist

p

12 .

34.Diane Spencer-Hancock and William E. Pri tchard ,

to

the 18l7

Treaty

Between the Russian American

Com

Kasrd.ya

Porno

I::1dians,

Cal i fo rn ia

History

59:311.

35.Glenn

J . Far r i s , The Russian Imprint

on

the

Colonizat ion

of

Cal i forn ia , in David

Hurst

Thomas,

Columbian

Consequences,

vol . 1, Archaeological and

His to r i ca l

Perspec t ives

on

the

Spanish Borderlands

(Washington,

D.C.,

1989) p. 488.

36 .Far r i s ,

pp.488-489.

37.

Far r i s , pp.

489-490 493.


46/145

C H A P T E R V

Mexican

per iod,

1821 1846

The Mexican

period

of

Cal i fornia

h i s to ry

saw a

of changes . Authori ty sh i f t ed from the

c le r ics

of t

mission system to government of f i c i a l s . I n d i an - w h i

r e la t ions

during the period were

marked by

e f f o r t s - -

through

l eg i s l a t ion

and

force- - to

make the

indigenou

p a o ~ e s of C a l i f o r n i a

a

u s e fu l

p a r t

of an economic s

o u t s ~ d e

the

miss ions .

The

p er i o d a l s o saw Russ i an e

to

sus t a in

a

colony

at

For t

Ross and

the

a r r iva l

of

irst American

s e t t l e r s o v e r l a n d

from

the e a s t . Ca

remained l a rge ly unse t t l ed a t

the

ou t se t

of

the per i

~ h e Mexicans

were

watchfu l of encroachment

by

Russ i a

Americans .

The Indian popula t ion dec l ined during the

per io

approx ima te ly

245 ,000 in 1830 to about

125 ,000-150 ,0

1845, according to Cook s es t imates . · For the perio

to 1848, Ccok

est imates tha t the to ta l

Cal i fornia In

populat ion

decl ined

by

7

percent ,

l a rge ly

because

o

disease .

He

a t t r ibu tes only

6

percent of the to ta l

popula t ion dec l ine to k i l l i n g ,

al though

in spec i f i c


47/145

A sh i f t in a t t i t ude

regarding

the na t ive popul

accompanied the

t r ans i t i on to Mexican

au thor i ty . T

Spanish

had hoped to

c i v i l i z e

the Indians

in

the mi

and turn them

in to useful members of soc ie ty as

they

it

y

con t ras t Mexican au thor i t i e s mindful of

th

wri t ing

of a r t o l o m ~ de Las

Casas

had a more f ra t e r

view.

Las

Casas

a member

of the

Dominican

o rde r

wa

cen tury

c r i t i c

of the exp lo i t a t ion of na t ive peoples

Americas. He as se r ted

tha t

Indians were

r a t iona l

b

who were en t1 t l ed

to

re t a in the i r proper ty .

His wo

l a t e r

c i t ed in a

manner

tha t he never in tended by

F

Engl ish and Dutch propagandis ts who sought

to

deni

the Spanish charac te r for na t iona l

and

pa t r i o t i c pu

The

body

cf

l i t e r a tu re

tha t

they

generated

became

kn

the

Black Legend.

Early 19th century

Anglo

por t r ay

Cal i fo rn ia as

discussed

below reveal the

inf luence

Black

Legend

through

the

years

and

r e f l e c t

the

view

the

Spanish and Mexican

inhab i tan t s

were somehow

undeserving of

the land.

The

inf luence

of Las Casas

and

other

Spanish

humani ta r ians

on

the

manner in which indigenous peo


48/145

view

the

Spanish concept

of

sp i r i t ua l conque

whereby t roops were used to he lp gather non-C

Indians in to the

fo ld , was

not

in accord wi th

methods for

convert ing

the

heathen ~ a i d down

b

Chr i s t

and app l ied by His Apos t les , '

The views of the

Commission

for

the Developmen

Cal i fo rn ias on missions and mission

Indians

were

to

cons iderab le

inf luence

on

Mexican

pol icy in

what

i s

the s t a t e of Cal i forn ia . The f i r s t Mexican governo

l

f

<

h

d <

d

Ca orn1a

Jose

Mar1a Eo ean 1a 1ssue a Proc am

~ a n c i p a t i o n in 1826 which al lowed ce r ta in Indians

freed

from

the

supervis ion

of the

miss ions , but re l

l imi ted

to those Ind ians judged capable of

support i

themselves . The

order

was

opposed

by the miss ion

who f e l t

tha t the freed Indians

would e i t h e r be exp

by

whites

or

would succumb

to id leness , In

1827

1

E

concluded

tha t

the proclamation

had

not

gone

well f

e i t h e r the Indians r the

miss ions;

not a l l of the

who were permi t t ed

to

leave did so and

those

who l

encountered d i f f i c u l t i e s

received

no suppor t .

A new proposal , i ssued

in 1828 fea tured

plans

convers ion of a l l of the miss ions -except for two n

es tab l i shed ones - - in to towns within f ive years ,

In

were to be given

house lo t s , along

with

farm plo ts ,


49/145

approved,

with minor

changes, by the Terr i to r i a l

De

in 1830, and it

became

Echeandia s secu la r i za t ion

d

1831.

Miss ionar ies

opposed th i s plan

as

well .

Fathe

Narciso

Duran,

pres ident

of the

Cal i fo rn ia missions

tha t

the

proposal

was par t

of

a

conspi racy to

plund

miss ion

pr ope r t y .

The dispute worsened mutual d i s t

between the miss ionar ies and secular Mexican

au t hor

In

1833,

Mexico s

v ice -p res iden t

and ac t ing ch

execut ive ,

Valent in Gomes Farfas , moved to promote

colonizat ion and ~ e n

off

Russian and

American

expa

in Cal i fo rn ia , and it was f e l t tha t secu la r i za t ion

necessa ry

precond i t ion . In

1834,

Mexico f ina l ly

secu la r ized

the 2

missions

of

Alta Cal i fo rn ia ,

re le

the Indians

and

announced

plans to

d i s t r i bu t e

missi

proper ty

to

them.

6

Many Indians who

received land,

however,

did

not keep

it

and

the major i ty

rece ived

nothing; most of

the mission weal th

went to secular

author i t i e s and t he i r r e l a t i ve s . Some Indians

l e f t

missions

and re turned e i the r to t he i r v i l l ages or m

the i n t e r io r . Others went to towns such

as

Los

Ang

look

or

work,

while

still

others worked

on ranchos


50/145


51/145

Since the 1820s Americans

had

been

coming

acro

mountains to

Cal i forn ia ,

and evidence ind ica tes tha t

re l a t ions with the Cal i fo rn ia Indians were i n i t i a l l y

f r iendly .

Accounts

recorded by ear ly Anglo American

Cal i fo rn ia por t rayed Indians

as

vic t ims

of the Hispa

populat ion,

and

the

inf luence

of

the

Black

Legend

t r

i s

c lea r .

S t i l l , observers mot iva t ions

in

recordin

negat ive aspects of Indian l i f e under the Spanish an

Mexicans

do not

necessa r i ly

mean tha t Indians

were

n

t rea ted c rue l ly a t

t imes.

In

fac t , accounts

of

even

during the per iod sugges t

consis tency

in some Mexica

s o ld i e r s

approaches toward

Indians they encountered

=enas

Leonard a t rapper who

t raveled

through t

mission region in 1834

descr ibes an

inc ident near

S

Mission

when some t rade rs

accompanied

so ld ie rs

from

mission

in

search

of a group of Indians who had

s to l

horses:

They

then dismounted and went in to the t h i cke t ,

they

found

a large por t ion of t he i r horses alre

butchered

and

par t ly

dr ied and a few

old

and

f

Indians

with

some

squaws and

chi ldren .

The

In

having k i l l e d

some

of the horses

were

engaged i

drying the meat but

on see ing the

w ~ i t men ap

f led

to the mountain

leaving nothing

behind bu

i s

above s ta ted . The

disappointment

of the

Spa


52/145

our

men

would not

permit

and they went and re le

the

prisoner ,

when

the

Spaniards

f e l l ~ o

work

a

despatched them

as

i f they were dogs, , ,

Another

account , from

George Simpson's n Overl

Journey Round

the

World, During

the

Years 1841

and 1

records indiscr iminate k i l l i ng

on

the par t of Mexica

Too

indolent

to

be

always

on

the

a le r t ,

the

Cali forn ians overlook the cons tan t pi l fe r ings c

c a t t l e and horses ,

t ll they are roused beyond

measure even

of

t h e i r p a t i e n c e by some

out r age

than

ordinary

mark; and then, ins tead of huntin

the gu i l ty for

exemplary punishment,

they

des t r

every na t ive tha t f a l l s in

the i r

way,

without

d i s t i nc t ion

of sex or age. The bloodhounds, of

course , f i nd c h i e f : y

women

and c h i l d r e n f o r ,

n

g en e ra l ,

the men

ar·e

b12t:ter ab le

to

12scape,

~ t h

s o ld i e r s ] bu t c he r i ng

their ·

h e l p l e s s and inof f en

v i c t im s

a f t e r

the

blasphemous

mockery

of bap t i s

In

the

multivo:ume work on Cal i fo rn ia , Hubert

H

Bancrof t , a major h i s to r i an of t h i s per iod , a s se r t s

ne a r l y a l l Diss ion

e x p ~ d i t i o n s

between 1826 and

1830

involved a t r o c i t i e s , and

the p r ac t i c e of cu t t ing

off

to

send to the commandante general

became

a

new kin

trophy for

Cal i forn ia

warfare .

Suoh depic t ions from Anglo

t r ave le r s continued

the

1840s, as noted

by

his tor ian

James

J .

Rawls:

The

Hispanic Cali forn ians had revealed themselv

unf i t

for Cal i forn ia , not only by

humming the i r

of

Cas t i l i an

laziness ' ' and

ignor ing

the impera


53/145

i n s t i t u t i ons

and to the

obvious

s e l f - i n t e r e s t

of

the

observers

.:s

By

the end of the Mexican period, almost a l l of

indigenous peoples of Cal i forn ia , except those in th

remote mountains of the north and eas t , had come in t

contact

with Spanish-Mexican

c iv i l i za t i on .

1

The

ma

causes of I ian

populat ion dec l ine

during

the perio

epidemic disease , endemic disease , armed conf l i c t , a

des t ruc t ion

of food s u p p l y . ~ ~ The negat ive impact on

: a l i f o r n i a I nd i an

popu l a t i on

of Russ ian , as well as

Bri t i sh , fur ~ r a p p i r g as t i v i t y

was

~ a i n l y through

th

J ~ s ~ ~ u 2 L : c n

c f food r e sou rce s and

tl1e

in t roduct ion

o

disease . - :

Although

the

impact

of contac t with outs iders h

c lea r ly

been

severe

for

the

Cal i fo rn ia

Indians th

£ the ~ e x i c a ~ pe r i od , t was the mass ive i n f l ux of

Americans

which fol lowed

tha t

was

to

have

the

most

devas ta t ing

ef fec t .

The Mexicans, l i ke the Spanish

them,

considered the Indians to be an

i ~ t e g r a l

par t

soc ie ty ; many of the Anglos a r r iv ing from the East d

share tha t view.


54/145

l

·

{

S. Hu t ch in s o n ,

pp. 11 8-

15 2.

6 .Hutch inson ,

pp.

161

,

242-244

.

? .Hutch inson ,

pp

.

30

6

-307,

400-401; Heize r and Alm

p .

18;

C a s t i l l o 1 9 78 ,

p .

:1.05.

8

.Co

ok 1976a, p . 217; P h i l l i p s 1975, p. 40,

and

In

and t he Breakdown of t

he Span ish

Miss ion System

in

C al i

f

orn

i a

,

Ethnoh is to ry , 21:292.

9. H

u tch inso

n ,

p. 255-260; Coo

k , 1

976a, pp

.

200-201;

and Almquis t ,

pp .

15-18.

10.Cook

1

976a, p . 201.

11 .Diane

Spencer - Han cock,

~ ~ ~ r ~

~ R ~ o ~ s ~ s ~ ~ I ~ n ~ d ~ l ~ · a ~ n ~ s ~

R ~ u = = s ~

Americans

(

Jenner

, Calif. 1 93C j , pp. 1 9-20.

1 2

.Ewe r s , pp.

115 -

116.

l

3.Quo

t ed

in Heiz er , p. 14.

l 4 . H u b er t Howe Bancro f t ,

Hi

s t o r y of C a l i f o r n i a , vol

F r3.r..c i sco , l885 L

pp.

18 ,

10

9, 114.

: .S.R.awls,

p .

6 4.

l 6.

Rawls,

p .

4 ~

1?.C oo

k

1976a ,

p . 199 .

1

8.

·

: ook 1978, p . 93.

l 9 . Van

H. Garner ,

The Broken

Ring: The

Des t ru c t i o n

C a l i f o r n i a I n d i an s

( T

ucson,

1

982) , p. 49.


55/145

C H A P T E R VI

American

per iod

1846-1873

With the a r r iva l of Americans in Cal i fo rn ia a f t

1846 the

value of

the

Cal i forn ia

Indian

as members

soc ie ty

began diminishing and

the

Indian populat ion

entered a new

period of catas t rophic decl ine . s in

Mexican per iod

the

grea tes t

s ingle factor

1n

the

p o p ~ ~ a t ~ o n

d e c l ~ n e

was

d i s eas e but i t i s

a l so

a t t r i b

to j ~ r e c t a t t a c k

exposure

and

s t a rv a t i o n .

By 1880

nat ive populat ion of the

s t a t e had

fa l l en

to about

2

with

a d ec l i n e from

150 000

to 50 000 occurr ing in t

y 2 a ~ per iod 1845 to

1855

a l o n e ~

~ h e

whi te p e r s p ec t i v e on

the C a l i f o r n i a

Indians

to = h ~ n g e in the 1830s as

an

i n c reas i n g number

of

w

f ~ o m

the

eas t

took

up

r e s id en ce as

noted by

James R

his study of the

image

of the Cal i forn ia

Indian.

Ra

observes

tha t

Americans who se t t l ed

in

Cal i forn ia

a t

began

to

view the Indians

more

as

a

useful source of

n n

as

vict ims

of

Mexicans.

Americans adopted aspec ts

of the Spanish and

M

labor systems

tha t

su i t ed the i r needs

many

of

them


56/145

systems of encomienda by which Spaniards were

grant

Ind ian

groups from whom

they

were e n t i t l e d

to

rece iv

t r i bu t e and labor; repar t im ien to which involved

the

requirement tha t Indian v i l l ages send

quota

of t he

populat ion

to work for a

number

of weeks each year;

hacienda

by

which

Indians

e i the r

l ived

on

a

haciend

l ived in an

Indian

community and hi red themselves ou

the hacienda. Under the

hacienda

sys tem

labor

was

con t ro l l ed

through debt

peonage.

3

Under

Mexico Spa

colonia l

prac t ices

remained in p lace in Cal i fo rn ia

t

the sys tem

of

debt

peonage

on ranchos.

Americans

sa

advan tages

of

t he Spanish-Mexican sys t em, and t h e re

evidence

tha t Indians w i l l i n g ly par t i c ipa ted

in the

~

rers provided

they were

t rea ted

humanely.

4

Eventual ly ,

however Americans expanded

ex is t ing p ra

to include the capture

of

younger

Indians for s a l e ~

Although c o n t i n u i t i e s

in

labor prac t ices ex i s t e

during the t r ans i t i on from

Mexican

to

American

auth

of f i c i a l po l i c i es

es tab l i shed

upon

C a l i fo rn i a s

entr

the

Union

reveal the sh i f t

in a t t i t ude

toward the In

peoples .

P a ra l l e l s between the Anglo approach

to

th


57/145

1849 and act ion by the

newly

formed s ta te

l eg i s l a tu

1850.

A

law

enacted

in

1850

An

Act

for the

Gover

and Protec t ion of Indians , was the f i r s t in a se r i

provid

e

for the

indenture or

apprent iceship

of Indi

a l l ages. The law

in c

luded prov

i s ions f o r

local ju

of

the peace

to

r ule on

the

ownership of Indian

lan

men

could

not be convi c ted through the

testimony

of

Ind i an ; Ind i an s c on v i c ted of s tea l ing l ivestock r

valuable

i tem could be whipped;

able-b o

died Indians

lo i t e r ing could

be

arres ted i f a res ident complaine

local

ju

s t i c e of the peace ,

mayor

, or recorder cou

c onvi c t an

Indian

and s ubsequently hire tha t Indian

the

highest

bi dder.

Amer i c a

ns thu

s ad o

pted the Spani

s h and Mexi c an

of

expl

o

i t in

g I n

dian

labo

r

but

they

added

a

co

mp

on

t r a f f i cking in I ndia ns .

0

I t i s es

t imated

tha t ab ou

I n d

ian

s may have b e en i ndentur ed or so ld i n th e pe

. .

to 18 63 . '

The

Ameri

can a

ppr

oa c h

to

the Calif o rnia Indian

di f fe red from tha t of the

Spanish

and

Mexicans

in o

ways. Unlik

e t

he

Spani s h and Mexicans who did not

moral

Genocide and the Indians of California 1769-1873

Documents

Transcript of Genocide and the Indians of California 1769-1873