The Chumash Uprising of 1824 - Research Paper Example

? The Chumash Uprising of 1824 of The Chumash Uprising of 1824 The history of colonialism is peppered with events where native communities have risen in revolt. This has mostly been against a devaluation of indigenous cultures and their own institutions such as their religions. Colonialism led to the exploitation of native communities and a destruction of their indigenous ways of living. This led to resentment amidst these communities and they frequently made their displeasure known through revolts and uprisings. The colonial methods were all the more infuriating as they looked at their own culture and institutions as sacrosanct features of civilization. This binary between the colonial and the colonized cultures was, understandably, something that the native communities found very hard to digest. The Chumash Uprising of 1824 was one such revolt that made it clear to the Spanish colonizers that a mindless devaluation of indigenous cultures and traditions would not be tolerated. There was little that these cultures could do in these situations in terms of their military might; however, they were able to mount cultural challenges through the preservation of their own cultures. This is what the Chumash did as well. Despite reverses as far as the military aspect of their revolt was concerned, they preserved their culture in certain ways through a following of their own religions and modes of production. However, one needs to explore why the Chumash felt the need to revolt in the first place. This was definitely because of the Spanish attempts to efface their culture and the indigenous modes of being. This led to tension that then bubbled over in the form of the Chumash uprising of 1824. This was then something that can be looked at as an assertion of an indigenous identity and the symbols and signs that are attached to it. The Spanish attempt to spread Catholicism was also a potent cause for the uprising. Indigenous cultures all around the world had religions of its own. The Chumash were no different as far as this aspect was concerned. They had their own religions and ways of living. This was what the Spanish colonizers chose to challenge as part of their mission. This was part of an impulse where they believed that they had a good knowledge of the Chumash society and their culture. This knowledge is what they used for the purpose of exercising their control over the Chumash society. Edward Said, in his seminal work on postcolonial societies and the phenomenon of colonialism, says that this notion of knowledge was then converted into power by the colonizers (Said 2000, 12). However, their imperfect knowledge led to slippages in the exercise of their power and laid open room for revolts and uprisings such as the one that was carried out by the Chumash. The interstices of colonial narratives need to be looked into for a better understanding of such issues. They would help one understand the points at which the colonizer’s power was subverted and challenged. This would then lead to a better understanding even of postcolonial societies in general as a reconstruction of history is necessary for a better understanding of these societies. Another aspect of the colonization was the fact that the colonizers always encouraged only the nobility of the native country (Jackson and Castillo 1995, 36–37). If there was any possibility for the commoners to be a part of the colonial administration, there may have been a possibility that the natives would have cooperated with the colonial administration. However, this was not so in the case of the Chumash. The colonial administration often collaborated with the native nobility so as to oppress the commoners. This resulted in whatever support may have been possible for the colonizers to not emerge. This is not to point out any positive effect that colonialism may have had, but only to highlight how there was a nexus between the colonizer and the upper echelons of the colonized society. This then led to greater dissatisfaction among the masses as there were two masters to please instead of one. Then one may also say that what colonialism did was to compound the problems that were associated with the native society. This was then one of the effects of colonialism, albeit an indirect one. The fissures in pre-colonial Chumash society became more and more apparent around this time. This having been said, it also needs to be stated that the revolt was primarily against the attack on Chumash culture as it was articulated by the colonial powers of Spain. The importance of this lies in the fact that an assertion of pre-colonial cultures and civilizations was taking place at this point in time. Thus, this was a historical moment where the Chumash had become aware of the importance of their own culture. They had become aware of the existence of a civilization of their own. This is significant as this was happening against all the odds that the colonizer had set. The colonizer in this country had constantly devalued Chumash culture. This is then an indication of the resilience of the culture in question. Another reason why one may think of the revolt as a consequence of the intrusion of the colonizer is the flogging of a neophyte just a while before the revolt took place. This points to atrocities that took place on a regular basis in this part of the world as a result of the colonizer-colonized relationship. This relationship was mostly exploitative and led to a great deal of dissatisfaction on the part of the people who were made to suffer in the place that they were born. Bruce Miller makes this clear in his book A Picture of Their World. The flogging is something that he refers to as an important part of the list of reasons that are given for the Chumash uprising of 1824. This is important as it makes clear the role of the church and the mission in the atrocities that were committed upon the Chumash people (Miller n.d., 32). Even the people who had converted to Christianity were not free from this, and this again brings one to the point of forced conversions that took place among the Chumash. Another important aspect that Miller points one’s attention to is the fact that one of the earliest attacks that were carried out by the Chumash during the uprising was against the church (Miller n.d., 32). This points to a rage that was probably in the building for a large period before it actually boiled over into an uprising. The colonizers were blind to this rage, comfortable in their own ideas of the natives as a harmless set of people. Forced conversions were a regular feature in many colonies and people were converted as much with physical force as they were with discriminatory practices. Many were denied basic human rights such as healthcare if they refused to convert to the religion of the colonizer. Apart from this, the people who refused to convert and stayed in the religions that were indigenous to the native communities were denied posts within the colonial administration and were discriminated against. This also can be read in conjunction with the points that are made regarding the mission of the colonizer as a “civilizing” one. This is an important point as it makes the culture of the natives appear to be uncivilized and barbaric. The devaluation of the native cultures becomes one part of the campaign as the culture of the colonizer is hailed as the pinnacle of evolution and the desirable goal for the entire native population. This happens in historical representations of uprisings such as the one that was carried out by the Chumash during 1824 as well. The cultures of the native communities are given lesser importance when they are actually talked of. Another way in which this aspect is dealt with is by demonizing the native cultures. The Chumash Uprising has often been described as nothing but a violent revolt that disrupted peace and order in the state. It is described as arising out of inherent chaos in these communities rather than the atrocities that were perpetrated against the native populations of the Chumash. One can see through the Chumash uprising how the native populations were made to feel inferior to the colonizer. One can also, in the histories that describe this uprising, see the colonial attitude of several historians. The suppression of native beliefs and customs in order to elevate the colonizer’s culture to the level of the civilized is what the colonizers’ mission was largely about, apart from the economic aspect of it. The importance of the native uprisings such as the Chumash one in 1824 is that they point to the resistance that was offered to the colonial power even as they sought to destroy such cultures. The slippages in colonial power can be seen through uprisings such as the Chumash one that was a direct response to Spanish colonialism and the preference given to Catholicism as a religious identity. References Jackson, Robert Howard, and Edward Castillo. 1995. Indians, Franciscans and Spanish colonization: The impact of the mission system on California Indians. USA: The University of New Mexico Press. Miller, Bruce. n.d. A picture of their world. http://algoxy.com/miskno/theirworld.html [accessed Mar. 30, 2013]. Said, Edward. 2000. Orientalism. London: Penguin. Read More