Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ian Salas
LBS 375
Before the Spanish arrived in California and influenced Native California life, the Natives
Californians had a quiet existence with their community and their environment. Native
Californians did not have much hostile relations with each other. The cause of this was the
abundance of resources found in California that sustains them. Because of this, Natives didn't
need to create elaborate hierarchies; their mostly peaceful ways did away with that form of
government. Their abundance of food made these tribes communal, meaning that property wasn't
the driving force in their dealings (Starr, 2077). When there was conflict in pre-Spanish
California, the "wars" did not last long. Many times, disputes were settles by arranged marriage,
bonding villages and creating a religious, economic and military bond (Bean, 1992). The Natives
ego was spiritual, communing with nature and the myths they believed in. Rather than focus on
self, they focus on their place in the world. All of this is, a cause of their natural and spiritual
surrounding (Starr, 2007). As Lowell J. Bean (1992) explains, Native California's shared a view
of their worlds that was different than those of Europeans. Their religion was part of everyday
dealings. Which meant that every person, animal, plant, and object must be treated with respect
(Bean, 1992).
The mission system, as it was known in the late 17th century, was created by two Jesuit
priests, Eusebio Francisco Kino and Juan Maria de Salvatierra (Starr, 2007). Kino and
Salvatierra's goal in building missions were to evangelize the Native Americans; they also
wanted to create a utopian society in the new world. An essential belief to the Jesuits was that
"they also sought to protect such people and their cultures from catastrophic disruption by
soldiers and civilians." (Starr, 2007, Pg. 29) Meaning that the "Jesuits were protecting the
Natives Americans from exploitation" (Starr, 2007, Pg. 31) from Spanish. For seventy years the
Jesuits ran the missions. Their power growing as the year's progress, as well as their movement
to Alta California. By the 1760's Spain would take the Jesuits power and missions from them,
relocated them to non-Spanish areas and replacing them with Franciscan priests (Starr, 2007). As
the Franciscans build missions in Alta California, they brought Native Americans into them. The
first Native Californians were attracted to the missions because they received "gifts of glass
beads, cloth, ribbons, and other trade goods" (Skowronek, 1998, Pg. 682). Many times, the
Natives Californians were forced against their will to mission life (Starr, 2007). Soldiers would
first capture the women and children, and from that Native men would follow their families into
the missions (Skowronek, 1998). If the Native Americans "ran away from the missions, as they
Daily life in the missions was drastically different from what the Native Californians
were accustomed to before. The Franciscans saw the Natives former ways as pagan. This meant
that the natives would have to change their life style completely. The Native Californians life
before entering the mission was revolved around their former faith, being a balance in all things
within their traditions and the natural world around them. The difficulty the Natives had were
caused by "cultural misunderstanding" (Hurtdo, 1999, Pg. 11), the Spanish were devoting a lot of
their time clothing the Native Californians and teaching the natives about what the Spanish
thought as pure sexual ideology. The Native Californians could not understand why there were
such strict rules. This mentality led to segregating the native population at night by their sex.
When the Franciscans failed in enforcing their rules, they punish the natives by beating them
(Hurtado, 1999). The Native Californians "accepted the lash as a fact of mission life when their
sexual transgressions caught the watchful eyes of the friars" (Hurtado, 1999, Pg. 12). Though the
Franciscans tried to civilize the Native Californians, the natives always kept part of their culture
intact. Some of these cultural practices were based firmly on their original religion, such as
dances and healing and burial rituals. Additionally, the native Californians kept their skills,
which the missions used to their advantage, such as hide workings (Skowronek, 1998).
Positive effects of the missions on the Native Californians were the additional skills they
acquired. Such new skills included farming, ranching, and artisanry. These new skills ensured
that they could have enough food as long as they stayed in the missions (Starr, 2007).
The missions had many adverse effects on the Native Californians. The Natives were forced out
of their homelands to live in the Missions. Natives were forced to abandon their traditions to fit
the culture of the mission, giving up hunting and other ancestral traditions. Native Californian
children were beaten if they did not submit to the Franciscan teaching and recaptured if they ran
away. Women were sexually exploited by Spanish soldiers and other men (Starr, 2007). Sexual
misconduct was commonplace. The friars from many missions complained about the sexual
behaviors of the Spanish towards the Native women (Hurtado, 1999). Because of the abuse from
to the Native Californians, in 1775 the Mission San Diego was attacked by a large number of
Christian and non-Christian Native Californians who were fed up with the conditions they lived
in, including the sexual misconduct (Hurtado, 1999). The tension caused the area to be a hostile
dangerous land where the Spanish hunted the runaway Natives (Starr, 2007). "The Native
American population dropped precipitously – was most likely halved, in fact by the end of the
Human rights are an important aspect of today’s culture. Every man and woman have the
right to be safe and happy and to bring up their families in a safe and secure environment. The
errors of the past must be learned so to not repeat them. The means to learn from the past are
retally available. History is widely accessible through any forms of media. The Native
Californian’s paid a steep price so other people could progress monetarily. This cannot happen
again.
Reference
Bean, Lowel J., (Fall, 1992). Indians of California: Diverse and Complex Peoples. California
Historical Society.
Hurtado, Albert L., 1946-. (1999). Intimate frontiers : sex, gender, and culture in old California.
Albuquerque :University of New Mexico Press,
Skowronek, R. K. (1998). Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan)
Missions of Alta California. Ethnohistory, 45(4), 675.
Starr, K. (2007). California: A history. New York: Modern Library.