Geography 417
California for Educators
California’s
Native People
Objectives
•
Students will
identify the major nations of the California Indians, where such tribes lived,
describe some of the basic components of their economy, religion and social
systems.
California
Standards
•
Standard 4.1:
Discuss the major nations of California Indians, including their geographic
distribution, economic activities, legends, and religious beliefs; and describe
how they depended on, adapted to, and modified the physical environment by
cultivation of land and use of sea resources.
•
Are these the things
you would chose?
•
Is this
enough? Are Indians under-emphasized?
Web Link
•
California
History On-Line
Indians
in European History
•
Is there an
unbiased history of the Indians?
•
How do we know
what we know about Indians?
•
Where did this
‘knowledge’ come from?
•
To understand how
knowledge about Indians is created, one must look to the early sources of the
stereotypes.
Pioneer
Quote
•
He was without
knowledge, religion or morals, even their most elementary forms. He lived without labor, and ejoyed all the
ease and pleasure he could. Physically
he was not prepossing, although having considerable endurance and
strength. His skin was nearly as dark as
that of the negro, and his hair as coarse as that of a horse, while his
features were repulsive. To gratify his
appetite and satiate his lust were his only ambition. He was too cowardly to be warlike, and did
not possess that spirit of independence which is commonly supposed to be the
principle attribute of his race. In so
genial a climate as ours, [emph mine] nature easily provided for
all his wants. The best part of his time
was spent dancing and sleeping (William Halley, Centennial Yearbook of
Alameda County, 1878)
New
Historian Response
•
“Such negative
stereotypes salved the consciences of white nineteenth-century Californians as
they murdered Indians, stole their land, destoyed their cultures, enslaved
their children and confined the survivors on barren reservations”.
What has
changed?
•
Governor
Schwarzenegger and the “Indians gaming tribes are trying to rip off California”
•
“not paying their
fair share”
•
Part of campaign
ads regarding prop 70
•
Aside from
whether 70 was good or not, the language is imporant.
•
“rip off” – are
they theives?
•
“fair share” –
how much of California is fair?
•
“California” –
are the Indians not Califorians? Who is
“us” and who is “them”
Humboldt
Indian Massacre
“ The Indians are killing stock of the settlers in the back country and
will continue to do so until they are driven from that section, or
exterminated. Wednesday they killed two head of stock belonging to the brand of
Larrabee…” Humboldt Times,
2/25/1860
•
Within days over
two hundred elderly men, women, and children were slain during a series of
night raids on Indian Island conducted by “some of the prominent men of the
county.” Weapons of choice were knives and axes, useful for their silence. The
white “owner” of the island, a Mr. Gunther, was barely awakened.
Humboldt
Indian Massacre
“ …what a sight presented itself to our
eyes. Corpses lying all around, and all women and children, but two. Most of
them had their skulls split. One old Indian, who looked to be a hundred years
old, had his skull split, and still he sat there shivering”.
•
Robert Gunther,
white owner of Indian Island, recounting his discovery of the massacre.
Humboldt
Indian Massacre
“For the past four years we have advocated two - and
only two - alternatives for ridding our country of Indians: either remove them
to some reservation or kill them…the bloody demonstrations on Indian Island…is
proof that the time is arrived when either the pale face or the savage must
yield ground.” - Humboldt Times,
March, 1860
•
There is no
public acknowledgement of the Indian massacre to this day in Humboldt County.
•
There is no
acknowledgement of European violence exacted upon Indians in the California
state content standards. Why?
•
4th
grade text has two paragraphs on the demise of the Indians in
California, all delicately worded.
Redskins
•
Our national
capital has a football team in which the stereotype of Hollywood Indians is
promoted.
•
Is this different
than the Yankees, Vikings, or Fighting Irish?
Change?
•
My alma mater the
University of Illinois…
•
How can American
universities claim it does no harm?
•
Opposing schools
hang posters “Scalp the Illini”…hang Indian effigies up and down Fraternity
Row?
•
Could the
university of Berlin “honor” the victims of the Nazi holocaust by having a
student dress like a rabbi during halftime, perform the bottle dance and have
the band play “If I Were a Rich Man”
Cultural
Hegemony
•
Hegemony- several
meanings, but a popular one among social theorists, derived from Gramsci
suggest that real power is getting the oppressed support the systems of
repression.
•
Nearly as
powerful is the kind of knowledge that goes unchallenged because few think to
question the assumptions upon which such truths are founded.
•
Always already
known.
Cultural
Iconography (fig)
Cultural
Iconography (fig)
•
“Fighting
Whities”
•
Why don’t most
stereotypes of white people stick?
Indians
Arrive in North America
•
Bering Land
Bridge (4 Holocene Ice Ages)
•
10,000 - 50,000
Y.B.P.
•
Following herds?
On foot? By boat?
•
Earliest sites
under water?
Bering
Land Bridge
How do
we know about them?
•
No written
history: oral traditions only.
•
Spanish Mission
records
–
Critique of
Missionary records?
•
Estimated
population of 130,000-300,000 at time of Spanish arrival
•
Highest
population density of any “non-agricultural” area in the world at the time
•
Archaeological
Evidence:
–
Housing and
village remains
–
Middens
Distribution
•
In every area of
the state but concentrations highest along the coast.
•
Why?
•
Early Californians appear to have been very
successful up and down the coast.
•
Why do you think
the Coastal Indians were most abundant?
•
300,000 to 1
million Indians in California, like today 10% of the “U.S.” population.
•
Still poorly
known…not “movie friendly”.
•
How does this
square with the “Western Wilderness”?
California
Indian Tribes (map)
Language
•
Diversity of
tribes: 135+ dialects and at least 6 distinct language families.
•
Most diverse
region in the US.
•
Why do you think
there would be so many dialects and language families in an area so small?
•
Most of the
languages are extinct today, although preservation efforts are underway.
•
English only
U.S.?
Economy
and Agriculture
•
Mostly hunting and gathering
•
Why not
farm?...check your climographs!
•
Acorns were the
major staple crop.
•
Abundant and more
nutritious than wheat.
•
Plenty of game
and fish…diverse and nutritious
•
With exception of
Cahuilla, Yuma and Mojave agriculturalists along Colorado River.
•
Western
irrigationists have been credited with helping early Mormon groups survive.
Other
Economic Activity
•
Mined obsidian,
granite, tar and shells.
•
Cinnabar for
paint/dye.
•
Elaborate trade
systems that stretched over hundreds of miles.
•
Variety of
regions, resources created ‘complimentarity’ among the various economic regimes
and may have been responsible for the reduction of _______.
European
Bias
•
Why might the
Europeans who watched the hunting and gathering cultures not hold them in high
esteem?
•
How ‘efficient’
is hunting and gathering?
•
How was the diet
of the California Indians compared to the Europeans? Other tribes?
Local
Indians
•
Gabrielinos
(Tongva) survived on the rich ecology surrounding the Los Angeles river:
pronghorn antelope, salmon, steelhead trout, grizzly bears.
•
Chumash- Malibu
and Central CA, perhaps the most successful tribe, both in terms of numbers and
sophistication of economy, arts.
•
Cahuilla – San
Bernardino
Warfare
•
Rare, little
evidence for weapons or warfare
•
It appears that
the most warlike groups were the farming Indians in the desert.
•
What does that
suggest about the other groups?
•
Has this fact
affected our perceptions or knowledge of California’s Indians?
Villages
•
Kinship groups of
<130 people often based on familiar connections.
•
Basic unit of
political organization the ‘tribelet’.
•
Bigger tribes
could stretch for hundreds of miles and include a variety of dialects and local
traditions.
•
Headed by chiefs
and shamans, largely inherited political power.
•
Not egalitarian
or democratic, but somewhat socialistic and paternalistic toward the poorer
members.
Religion
•
Shamanism/animism,
with great variety.
•
Balance with
nature often important.
•
Some monotheistic
religions…where?
•
Guard against
your own biases regarding religions other than your own.
•
Observatories
built by the Chumash
•
Medical herbs
etc. sought by Europeans…compare with European medicine at the time.
Dress
•
Minimal, not
unlike Californians today.
•
Importance of
ceremonial dress, especially among northern tribes.
•
Pomo headress
Gender
Roles
•
Nothing
particularly surprising here, paternalistic for the most part and women took on
many traditional roles.
•
Women central to
survival of the group.
•
You should note
that women were more often agriculturalists and processors of food, and the men
hunters.
•
What implications
do such gender roles have on the success of Spanish Missions?
Miwoks at
Home (fig)
Housing
Types
•
Various reflected
natural environment
Maidu
Lodge (figure)
Art
•
California
Indians practiced a variety of art forms.
•
Men tended to be
painters, sculpters (carvers)
•
Women in many
regions were basketmakers.
The
“Columbian Exchange”
•Animals:
Horses, Pigs(Old World),
•Plants:
potatoes, corn, tobacco, tomatoes, chile peppers (from New World); wheat, rice
(from Old World)
•Diseases:
Smallpox, Measles, Syphillis, Influenza
•By
1911 there were about 20,000 Native Americans left in California.
•Slavery
and Genocide: Spanish mission slavery, organized killings of Indians in 19th
century, slave labor in America until 1870s
The
Spanish Period
•
Exploration
begins in 1542 by Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo
•
1542: Juan
Rodriguez Cabrillo arrives, along with Christianity and the horse, he brought
disease, slavery, and death. Indians came to be victims of “progress.”
•
State of
California standard 4.2.6: Discuss the role of the Franciscans in changing the
economy of California from a hunter-gatherer economy to an agricultural
economy.”
•
Is there a
suggestion that this is a positive change?
•
Serra and de
Portola, Missions 1769-1823
The
Demise
•
The main reasons
for the demise, but not elimination, of Indians include:
–
The lack of
immunity to European diseases
–
Their
peacefulness?...or European aggression…certainly Whites had better weaponry and
a culture confident in their use.
–
The lack of a
written language
–
No metallurgy
–
The wheel and
domestication of work animals
–
Concept of land
ownership?
