Introduction
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California CALIFORNIA Introduction n 1990 California had the second-largest Native American By the time Europeans came onto the scene, California was home to population of any state, with 242,000 Native American numerous “tribelets,” groupings of several villages, whose Iresidents, second only to Oklahoma. While most of these people members spoke dozens of languages from seven major language are native California Indians, many have come to California from families. In very few other places in the world was there such a other states to seek employment in the metropolitan areas of the diversity of cultures and high population densities; in most areas of state, one of the ten largest economies in the world. The California the state, this came about without the development of agriculture. peoples increasingly live in urban areas as well, but there are over 100 reservations, many of them in remote rural areas. In addition to It would be difficult to overstate the importance of acorns as a staple the groups recognized by the federal government, with rights to food source for most early people in California; even those peoples government services and sovereign status, there are currently in the northern part of the state who depended on salmon also used approximately 40 groups attempting to gain federal recognition. acorns. After being ground and treated to remove the toxic tannic The state has no official recognition procedure, although it does acid, the acorns were usually made into a kind of soup or gruel, keep a list of Native American contacts and “most likely often called “acorn mush.” The abundance of oaks and the great descendants” with whom to communicate in case human remains variety of other vegetable and animal foods made it possible for are uncovered in a given locale. permanent and semipermanent villages to flourish, a development that usually implies the development of agriculture. Prior to the coming of the Europeans, the peoples of California lived in all areas of the state, making use of the varied resources found Housing ranged from temporary, simple structures in the desert there. Any land that could support human life was utilized; there south to more elaborate cedar-plank houses in the north. While was no empty land. The contrast between the land area used by pottery was not used, basketry had reached heights of artistic and Native Americans before the 18th century and the minuscule land utilitarian development, even being used as cooking vessels by base they now possess is striking. means of hot stones placed in water. Many of the groups living in the rich acorn and salmon regions developed extensive material The history of California Indians falls into three more or less distinct cultures, with elaborately decorated objects representing prosperity periods: the period before contact with Europeans (until the middle and personal wealth. Government of the tribelets was generally of the 16th century), the Spanish/Mexican period (1769-1846), and carried out by a council of elders, including a head with limited the American period. powers. Relations among the groups appear to have been generally peaceful, The Precontact Period with well-developed trading networks between coastal and inland peoples, as well as between the northern and southern parts of the Very little is directly known about this period; tribal traditions and state. archaeology provide what information is available. By around 12,000 years ago, people who made their living by hunting large mammals moved into the state and were making spearpoints and The Spanish/Mexican Period arrowheads showing exquisite workmanship. By 7,000 B.C. people were living in most areas of the state; around 5,000 B.C. people were Although the Spanish had explored and claimed the coast of what living on Santa Rosa Island, off Santa Barbara. While we do not they called “Alta California” as early as 1542, it was not until 1769 know much about these early residents of the state, over the that they actually established a permanent presence there. During thousands of years their descendants have lived there they the two centuries between these dates, Spanish, English, Russian, developed very different ways of life, attuned to the land and and French ships visited California, either exploring or stopping for resources of California’s distinct climatic and ecological zones–from provisions on the way to other destinations. When the Spanish the cool, moist northwestern corner of the state, where people were finally decided to send a colonizing expedition northward, under dependent on salmon and acorns in the river valleys and on Gaspar de Portola, it was because they felt the need to guard against shellfish, ocean fish, and acorns along the coast; to the temperate territorial incursions from the Russians and the English, although central coastal areas, where large sea fish and sea mammals were the desire to win converts to the Christian faith was also an important sources of food; to the peoples of the inland lakes and important motive. valleys, dependent on freshwater fish and waterfowl, as well as some acorns; to the peoples of the foothills and mountains, with In establishing their chain of missions along the California coast, the larger settlements based on acorns and other plant foods, as well as Spanish employed a combination of armed force and religious some game; to the desert hunters and gatherers and the desert persuasion, with force predominating. The missions were built by farmers, east of the Sierra Nevada range. forced Indian labor, and the new converts were encouraged to settle at the mission sites in much larger communities than was their 227 California SMITH RIVER 139 FT. BIDWELL ELK VALLEY Siskiyou Crescent City Del Norte KARUK Yreka XL RANCH 395 Modoc QUARTZ VALLEY 97 RESIGHINI 5 ALTURAS CEDARVILLE YUROK Weed 101 LIKELY LOOKOUT BIG LAGOON Dunsmuir 89 TRINIDAD HOOPA VALLEY 299 BIG BEND 395 Eureka BLUE LAKE Trinity Shasta ROARING CREEK 299 Weaverville MONTGOMERY CREEK TABLE BLUFF Lassen REDDING 44 44 ROHNERVILLE SUSANVILLE 101 36 Humboldt Westwood Garberville 395 Red Bluff GREENVILLE Plumas 99 Tehama 89 Leggett 99 70 Quincy ROUND VALLEY GRINDSTONE CREEK Portola Mendocino Glenn Chico Butte 5 LAYTONVILLE ENTERPRISE Sierra 49 SHERWOOD VALLEY Oroville BERRY CREEK 89 MOORETOWN REDWOOD VALLEY Colusa Truckee POTTER VALLEY Grass Nevada COYOTE VALLEY Valley Placer 20 H B 80 Tahoe City PINOLEVILLE Yuba South Lake Tahoe HOPLAND E C Sutter El Dorado MANCHESTER 65 A G 50 CLOVERDALE Lake F D 70 WOODFORD COLONY Sonoma DRY CREEK SHINGLE SPRINGS STEWARTS POINT Yolo 5 Alpine Sacramento Napa 505 Amador Sacramento 395 101 80 1 Santa Rosa JACKSON BUENA VISTA BRIDGEPORT Vallejo Solano SHEEP RANCH Additional Northern 99 Calaveras 49 Tuolumne California Indian Lands Marin 680 Sonora Stockton TUOLUMNE 120 Mono A- BIG VALLEY Contra San Berkley 120 Costa Joaquin CHICKEN RANCH BENTON PAIUTE B- COLUSA Oakland San Francisco 120 Yosemite C- CORTINA San Francisco» 580 Village 6 880Alameda Modesto Mariposa D- MIDDLETOWN San Stanislaus 140 BISHOP E- ROBINSON Mateo San Jose 280 F- RUMSEY Santa Clara 41 1 5 Merced BIG PINE G- SULPHUR BANK 101 Merced NORTH FORK PICAYUNE Madera Santa Los Banos BIG SANDY 395 H- UPPER LAKE Cruz Gilroy 152 TABLE MOUNTAIN COLD SPRINGS Santa Cruz FORT INDEPENDENCE Fresno Inyo Salinas 180 Fresno Lone Pine Montery San 33 Giant Death Valley Junction Benito Forest LONE PINE 190 198 Hanford DEATH VALLEY 1 Tulare King City SANTA ROSA TIMBA-SHA SHOSHONE Monterey 198 127 Lucia Coalinga Kings TULE RIVER 65 101 395 99 33 San Simeon Paso Robles 15 Morro Bay 178 46 Bakersfield Baker San Luis Obispo 5 58 Kern San Luis 14 Obispo San Bernardino FORT MOJAVE Santa Maria Mojave Barstow 40 Santa Needles Barbara 1 15 CHEMEHUEVI SANTA YNEZ 14 95 Ventura 5 Santa Barbara Ventura Los Angeles SAN MANUEL TWENTY-NINE PALMS 1 101 Glendale San Bernadino Los Angeles COLORADO RIVER Riverside MORONGO Additional Southern California Indian Lands Santa Monica 1- AUGUSTINE 13- MESA GRANDE Riverside AQUA CALIENTE Santa Ana 20 2- BARONA 14- PAUMA & YUIMA 3 Blythe Long Beach Orange 1 3- CABAZONE 15- PECHANGA 15 16 19 10 4- CAHUILLA 16- RAMONA 15 4 TORRES-MARTINEZ 5- CAMPO (SYCAMORE VALLEY) 17- RINCON PALA 14 6- CAPTAIN GRANDE 18- SAN PASQUAL 17H10 LOS COYOTESImperial 13 7- CUYAPAIPE 19- SANTA ROSA 18 21 San Diego FORT YUMA 8- JAMUL INDIAN VILLAGE 20- SOBOBA 9 86 9- INAJA-COSMIT 21- SAN YSABEL 2 6 10- LA JOLLA 22- SYCUAN 8 2223 712 8 11 5 11- LA POSTA 23- VIEJA San Diego Calexico 12- MANZANITA 228 Introduction California custom. When people proved reluctant to change their way of life, authorized an investigation of the prevailing conditions, and in soldiers were used to forcibly move them to the missions, where 1906, after the revelation of the 1851-1852 treaties that were never they were kept in sex-segregated quarters and prevented from ratified, public reaction supported the passage of the first in a series leaving. In addition to the cultural disruption brought about by of appropriations, renewed almost annually until 1934, for moneys these conditions, the introduction of European diseases to a to be used to purchase land for landless Indians. In 1934 the Indian previously unexposed population caused the deaths of over two- Reorganization Act, intended to give Native American groups more thirds of the estimated 1769 population of 300,000 by 1832. As the autonomy, included a mechanism for the acquisition of land for labor force declined because of deaths and desertions, Spanish Indians. soldiers ranged farther afield to secure new “converts.” And the diseases spread to more distant communities ahead of the Before 1906, almost all lands set aside for California Indians were Europeans.