CALIFORNIA STATE ID~IVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE ART AS COMM~ICATION: INDIAN ROCK ART AND MISSION ART OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA A thesis submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology by Catherine A. Weinerth January 1985 The Thesis of Catherine A. Weinerth is approved: Clay A. inger Carol J.~key, Chair v California State University, Northridge ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank the members of my Thesis Committee, Professors Carol J. Mackey, Clay A. Singer, and Norman Neuerburg, for their enthusiasm, suggestions, time and energy. At the outset of this project I was inspired by the generosity and encouragement of Travis Hudson and Georgia Lee. Members of the Northridge Archaeological Research Center, in particular Arlene Benson, Bob Edberg and John Romani, generously assisted me in getting around to the rock art sites and in understanding what I found there. Dr. Clement Meighan of the University of California, Los Angeles, kindly gave me unlimited access to the Rock Art Archive, and made some helpful suggestions on the manuscript. Greg Weinerth gave me unwavering support throughout this project. Camille Zeitouny assisted me in working on the computer, and in making final revisions. And Yolanda Difloure typed and critiqued the manuscript and saw me through all of the doldrums, agonies and celebrations. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. iii LIST OF FIGURES .............................................. viii ABSTRACT. ix Introduction. 1 General Aspects........................................ 1 Groups to be Studied................................ 1 Art Forms to be Studied. 2 Focus of the Study.. 3 Related Research: Theory and Methodology............... 4 Analysis of Art Forms. 4 Culture Change. 5 Research Methods....................................... 7 Sources............................................. 7 Analysis............................................ 7 Organization of the Thesis............................. 8 CHAPTER I Prehistory. 9 Cultural Systems. 9 Productive Level.................................... 10 Subsistence. • . 10 Technology. 10 Art Forms, Materials and Techniques .............. 11 Societal Level....... • . 12 Settlement Patterns.............................. 12 iv Kinship and Family............................... 13 Political Organization ........................... 13 Etonomic Organization ............................ 14 Artistic Organization ............................ 15 Ideational Level.. 16 Ritual Leaders................................... 16 Ritual and Ceremony.............................. 17 Mythology, Astronomy and Cosmology ............... 18 Rock Art......................................... 20 Summary................................................ 21 CHAPTER II Missionization and Acculturation .......................... 22 Miss ionization... 22 California Expeditions .............................. 22 Southern California Expedition ...................... 23 Establishment of Mission San Fernando ............... 24 Acculturation: Change and Continuity ................... 25 Secularization...................................... 28 Post-Secularization................................. 29 To the Present. 31 Summary................................................ 33 CHAPTER III Sacred Art. 34 Art and Artists........................................ 34 Major Rock Art Areas. 36 v Europe ............................................. ~ 36 Africa.............................................. 38 Other Areas. 38 North America. 39 California Rock Art.................................... 41 History of the Literature, Related Research ......... 41 Southern California Indian Art Forms ................ 42 Gabrielino and Chumash Rock Art ..................... 43 Materials and Techniques ......................... 43 Forms............................................ 44 Functions . 44 Rock Art Research Methods ........................... 46 Gabrielino and Chumash Rock Art Sites ............... 49 Santa Monica Mountain Sites ...................... 49 San Fernando Valley Sites ........................ 52 Santa Clara River Area Sites ..................... 54 Azusa Canyon Sites............................... 56 Summary.......................................... 56 Summary................................................ 58 CHAPTER IV Sacred Art at Mission San Fernando ........................ 59 Historical Background .................................. 59 Spain and Mexico. 59 California.......................................... 61 Art Work in the California Missions .................... 62 Art Work at Mission San Fernando ...........•........... 65 vi Missionaries and Indians ............................ 65 Art Forms and Design Elements ....................... 66 Restorations........................................ 69 Summary ................ : . • . 70 CHAPTER v Analysis...... 72 Prehistoric and Historical Comparison .................. 73 Productive Level.................................... 73 Societal Level. 7 4 Ideational Level.................................... 74 Fernanden'o Rock Art.................................... 76 General Aspects.. 76 Rock Art and Mission Art Comparison .................... 77 California l'1issions. 78 Mission San Fernando.... 79 Summary. 81 CHAPTER VI Conclusions ............ :. 83 REFERENCES CITED. 85 APPENDIX A (FIGURES) ......................................... 100 APPENDIX B (RESEARCH SOURCES) ................................ 120 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. San Fernando Valley Catchment Area with Rock Art Sites ....................................... 101 2. The Gabrielino Indians at the Time of the Portol~ Expedition (Distribution of Villages) ................ 102 3. The Old Franciscan Missions of California ............ 103 4. Model for Cultural System and Its Aesthetic Segment .. 104 5. California Pictograph and Petroglyph Design Elements. 105 6. Chumash line drawings ................................ 106 7. Complex Chumash pictograph ........................... 106 8. Saddle Rock Ranch (LAn-717). The Four Horsemen ...... 107 9. Saddle Rock Ranch (LAn-717). Deer with madstone ..... 107 10. Malibu Creek State Park (LAn-748). Design element ... 108 11. Vasquez Rocks County Park (LAn-367). Datura ......... 109 12. Mission San Juan Capistrano corridor wall. Vaquero lassoing a cow. 110 13. Mission San Fernando Governor's Room- south wall .... 111 14. Mission San Fernando Governor's Room- north and east walls. • . 113 15. Mission San Fernando sal a - west door ................ 114 ·16. Mission San Fernando sal a - north door .........•..... 115 17. Mission San Fernando sal a - west doorway ............. 116 18. Mission San Fernando corridor door. Deer hunter ..... 117 19. Chumash deer hunters ..........................•...... 118 20. Relationships of San Fernando Valley Catchment Area Rock Art Sites with Fernandeno Productive, Societal and Ideational Systems ......•........................ 119 viii ABSTRACT ART AS COMMUNICATION: INDIAN ROCK ART AND MISSION ART OF THE SAN FERNANDO VALLEY, CALIFORNIA by Catherine A. Weinerth Master of Arts in Anthropology The theory and methods of aesthetic anthropology are applied to art work produced by Indians of the San Fernando Valley, to aid in determining their mode of adaptation to Spanish missionization. Pic­ tographs and petroglyphs, and paintings at Mission San Fernando, are described, compared and contrasted as to their materials, techniques, forms and functions. The elements are analyzed as to their relation­ ships with other aspects of Fernande~o culture within the productive, societal and ideational realms. The evidence from this examination added to the historical, ethnohistorical and archaeological records indicates that the Fernande~o had a persistent cultural system, and adapted to missionization and acculturation by integrating - main­ taining cultural identity while becoming part of the larger societal framework. ix Introduction The purpose of this thesis is to use art work of the San Fernando Valley Indians as a source of information about the extent to which their culture changed during the mission period. Some historians and anthropologists (see Dakin 1939; Caughey 1952; Coombs 1975) give the impression that the Indians here relinquished much of their cultural identity during the decades from the late 1700s through the 1830s. Mission San Gabriel was founded in 1771 and Mission San Fernando in 1797; in the 1830s the Missions were secularized or turned over to secular control. Evidence for the continuity of the aboriginal culture will be sought in the historical, ethnohistorical and archaeological records, and in the records provided by Indian art work created before, during and after the mission period. General Aspects The San Fernando Valley is situated immediately north of Los Angeles, California. For the purposes of this paper, the valley is defined as a broad catchment area encompassing parts of the Angeles National Forest to the east, the San Gabriel and Santa Susana Mountains to the north, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the west (see Figure1). Indians from these areas were recruited as neophytes (Catholic con­ verts) into Mission San Fernando (Kroeber 1908:12). Groups to be Studied At least two ethnic groups lived in the valley in late prehistoric and early historic times. The Chumash, known mainly as the peoples of Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, inhabited the Santa Monica Mountain area and the western part of the San Fernando Valley. For example,