Synthesis Paper

Ian Salas

LBS 375

California State University Dominguez Hills

 Native American life changed a great deal 1700’s, caused by arrival of the Spanish.

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

frequently did," (Starr, 2007, Pg. 41) they would be recaptured.

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

Spanish-Mexican era." (Starr, 2007, Pg. 41)

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.