The History of California Indians - Essay Example

The History of California Indians From 1850 - 1968: A Critical Review The History of California Indians From 1850 - 1968: A Critical Review In regards to the history of California Indians, there are many different issues that must be taken quite seriously into consideration, and in order to be able to come to a proper and understanding viewpoint on this matter as a whole, all of these issues must be thoroughly and fully examined, as well as all of the key matters in relation to this. California in all reality has a much greater variety of geographical regions, landforms, and even climates than that of any other area, and likewise, there was an extraordinary cultural diversity that prevailed upon this area, and kinship systems and forms of political organization differed incredibly even throughout the actual state as did such issues as religious beliefs and practices. In order to be able to truly appreciate the scope of all of this, as must make ourselves familiar with that of the true diversity of the tribal, and this includes that of: population, geography, social, and political organization. Basically, one manner in which we can seek to understand about California Indians and their culture is to actually and seriously look at the tribes that inhibit similar climatic and ecological zones, and what will emerge from using this approach is that of an incredibly remarkable similarity in material aspects of the many different tribes that have inhabited in particular locations. There are many different tribes that settled in California, and each and every one of these tribes truly needs to be examined to the tenth degree, in order to be able to get the best grasp on the issue of California Indians in general. By doing this, we will be able to understand the difficulties and tribulations that the California Indians went through, as well as gain a better understanding on them overall. This is what will be dissertated in the following. California is a large area, and so in order to understand about California Indians, we truly have to begin by separating the state into two separate parts: Southern California and Central California. Southern California truly presents that of a varied and somewhat unique region of the state, and beginning in the North, the tribes that have been and are found in this area are as follows: Chumash, Alliklik, Kitanemuk, Serrano, Gabrielino Luiseno Cahuilla, and the Kumeyaay. In regards to Central California, this particularly vast territory includes that of: Bear River, Mattale, Lassick, Nogatl, Wintun, Yana, Yahi, Maidu, Wintun, Sinkyone, Wailaki, Kato, Yuki, Pomo, Lake Miwok, Wappo, Coast Miwok, Interior Miwok, Monache, Yokuts, Costanoan, Esselan, Salinan, and the Tubatulabal tribes. There are a number of vast differences between Southern and Central California, and especially between that of the groups of tribes that are located in each area; regardless, each tribe and community had its own chieftain and these were for the most part males but females sometimes filled the positions as well, and the duty of the chieftain was to organize all of the community events and to settle any conflicts that arose between the followers - they were basically considered as being the leaders, and the followers truly did look up to them in this way. The first California Indians arrived by 900 A.D., and this was with the Athapaskan relatives of the Navajo and Apache appearing last in the northwest; as well, the number of Indians that habituated in California was not that many at the time, only 150,000, and although this is considered a small number when compared to that of today, at the time California was actually the most densely populated region of the United States and Canada. In fact, most of the Indians in California today are actually native California Indians, and there are over 100 federally-recognized Indian tribes in California, and almost 100 Federal Indian reservations in the state, with about 40 Indian groups that were seeking to gain federal recognition. California is an incredible and amazing region, and archaeologists have actually determined that people were in fact actually present in some parts of the California area at least 19,000 years ago.1 As well, some evidence even proves that human occupation in this area for back about 50,000 years, and it was around the time of 9000 B.C.E., that the California Indians began a transition from hunting to that of an economy that depended heavily on seed collection, and then it was around the time of 2000 B.C.E., that these peoples had actually developed that of subsistence patterns that were really quite fascinating and varied. It is also estimated that there were around 300,000 California Indians in the 18th Century, in about 250 distinct Indian cultures and California Indians spoke over 300 different dialects of some 100 languages.2 Another incredibly important issue in regards to California Indians is that of the gold rush; the California gold rush of 1848 is one of the most monumental periods in history, and what basically happened was that in January of this year, James Marshall had his basic work crew on the American River at Coloma near Sacramento, and the team was working away hard as usual, when Marshall ended up finding a few tiny gold nuggets. This is what actually began one of the largest human migrations in history as half a million people from all over the world descended upon California, trying to find instant wealth for themselves and their families. The California Indians in these days settled in small villages, and depending of course on where they lived, their homes were typically either square or rectangular huts. The southern tribes would generally build huts with poles and then cover them with rush mats or layers of grass for instance, while the central tribes would tend to live in semi-underground homes. The women and children would sleep in the huts in the winter, and then during the summer months it would be mats that were supported by poles that would be used as shelter. In regards to the dress that was worn during this time, typically the men would wear loincloths or even no clothing at all in the summer, and the women would wear short skirts that were made out of fibers from such things as bark, tule, grass, and deerskin. Then in the winter they would cover up more obviously due to the cold weather, and both men and women wore capes that went down almost to their feet, and both usually walked barefoot except for when there was snow, and this is when they would wear skin moccasins. It was the California Indians who were incredible hunters and gatherers, and it was easy for them because California was a state of much abundance and it was rich in natural resources. It was the men who would do all of the fishing, trapping and hunting, while the women were the ones who gathered food. It is so incredibly important to recognize the fact that the history of California Indians is truly one which is different from that of any other, and for Indians, this is really their homeland, and their actual history in fact spans for more than 10,000 years, which is a fascinating and staggering figure. As well, unlike many of the other ethnic groups, who came to find wealth and other prospects, it was only the California Indians who lived in a land of plenty, and who were really not searching for anything more, but rather were content and satisfied with where they lived and the lifestyle that they were living. Yet another incredibly important issue that has to be discussed in regards to the matter of California Indians is that of the California Indian missions; these are an incredibly intricate and essential part of the history of California Indians overall, and there are many aspects in regards to this that need to be taken note of. Basically, it was the Catholics who were the sole mission workers in California until much later on in life, and the first California Indians mission was established in the late 1700s in San Diego, until the year 1828 when there was a chain of 21 prosperous missions; these California Indians missions extended northward, all the way past San Francisco bay, There were also mission buildings that were involved here, and these buildings were constructed entirely by that of Indian labor under the supervision of the fathers. They were composed of different materials, such as brick and stone, and around each mission, except in the extreme north, there were groves of such things as patens, bananas, oranges, olives, and figs, for instance, and more than 400,000 cattle typically ranged the pastures. The missions were intricately designed and set up for many different purposes, there were fixed hours for such things as prayers and work, and so everything was basically set up in an appropriate and timely matter so that life could be planned as properly as possible. They even had a specific diet, and this was again for important purposes; this diet included such things as fresh beef, mutton, beans, and wheat and corn bread for instance, and the Indians themselves, were of many different tribes and dialects, and despite the matters of regular life, which was planned out as much as humanly possible, the Indians withered away under that of the restrictions of civilization which was supplemented by that of epidemic diseases that were introduced typically either by the military garrisons or by the seal hunters along the coast. Every part of California was once owned by what was referred to as an Indian ethnie, and so although the California Indians once owned and lived in every part of California, today, they only occupy a very small portion of the state overall. It was the California Indians who took care of California for thousands and thousands of years before the Europeans arrived, and this is why they need to be focused on and understood more, rather than looked by or forgotten. Today, all of California's federally recognized tribes have reservations or rancherias, and many of these are quite small, and as well, until now, basically getting enough food to be able to live on in these reservations was rather difficult, and even the most basic health-care was nonexistent. There is also another important commonality, one which is often times overlooked in this discussion, and it is one which stems from that of interactions with Europeans; it is known by most that the Mexican and Spanish established a string of missions along the California coast earlier in the 18th Century, but people often times still tend to overlook this fact. As well, due to the fact that the Indians at this time were gathered and rounded up militarily, and were forced to live in mission dormitories, about 2/3 of them were killed off in less than 100 years; not only from this but from European diseases and other hard labor as well. It was between the years of 1851 and 1852 that there was a treaty commission that visited California and signed 18 treaties with most California tribes, which would have reserved about 8.5 million acres for the original peoples. Under the pressure of ranchers and miners, who flooded California with the discovery of gold there in 1848, these treaties were never ratified by Congress. They "accidentally" got lost in the archives of the US Senate.3 Then, by the turn of the century, more than 2/3 of the remaining California Indians were landless, and this was primarily due to the fact that the Europeans had come in and basically taken everything over entirely. Then in the early 1950s, it was considered as being 'termination time' by the US government, or in other words they wanted to remove any remaining reservation land from its protected federal status. What basically happened was that the BIA promised that if they agreed to be terminated that there would be a fixing of such things as electricity, and they would make road improvements and bring in water, things like that, and so basically the Indians looked at it in the way that anyone would: they were going to be terminated either way, so they reluctantly agreed to terminate themselves, so that their land would be able to be improved to a point where they would be able to support themselves and not have to worry about the governments that much anymore. However, the BIA's promise certainly do not go through, and the inevitable result was that of the loss of most of the small bits of land that had been reservations, and of course then all of the terminated lands were vulnerable to such things as tax loss, improvident or subsistence mandated sales, and so on. In conclusion, we can clearly see that the California Indians are definitely a massive part of our history in general, and that they really should be given more credit than they have been; they are the ones who took care of the land of California before anyone else and better than anyone else at that. They were the ones who inhabited it first, the ones who took the most pride in it, and the ones who really started a true and monogamous culture in the California and surrounding area. The California Indians are also one of the most notable and worthy stature of Indians of all, and their mark in history is one that most certainly cannot be forgotten. By looking at all of the trials and tribulations they went through, as well as the way that they lived and maintained a lifestyle, it becomes obvious that they are true survivors, and that their inhabitance in California is what truly made it the place that it is today. Bibliography Barkwell, Lawrence J. and David N. Chartrand et al "Devalued people : the status of the Metis in the justice system" in The Canadian Journal of Native Studies vol 9, n.1 1989. pp.121-150 Barnett, Cunliffe "Circle Sentencing / Alternative Sentencing" 1995 Canadian Native Law Reporter Vol. 3 page 1 to 7. Native Law Centre. University of Saskatchewan. ISSN 0225-2279 Bazemore, Gordon and Curt Taylor Griffiths Conferences, circles, boards and mediations: Scouting the "New Wave of Community justice decisionmaking Approaches 1997. The site is at: http://www.cjprimer.com/circles.htm Blais, Jean-Michel and Christine Blouin. "Les Cercles de consultation en matire de dtermination de la sentence de contrevenants autochtones" in (1998) vol. 12 R.J.E.U.L. Revue juridique des tudiants et tudiantes de l'Universit Laval at pages 27 to 61. Bluehouse, Philmer and James W. Zion "Hozhooji Naat'aanii: The Navajo Justice and Harmony Ceremony" by Philmer Bluehouse, James W. Zion in Mediation Quarterly, vol. 10, no. 4 Summer 1993. Bushie, Berma Reflections on Community Holistic Healing (CHCH). Corrections Services Canada. This is an except from the Four Circles of Hollow Water. This site is related to sentencing circles, but not directly about them. Campbell, Jane and Associates. Sentencing Circles - A Review. Ottawa: Justice Canada, Aboriginal Justice Directorate, 1995 See: http://www.sgc.gc.ca/epub/Abocor/e199805/e199805.htm for a short review of this publication. Canada. Department of Justice. Aboriginal people and justice administration: a discussion paper [Ottawa] vi, 66 pages. Canada. Department of Justice. "Sentencing team, crime and public policy sector" Intermediate Sanctions Ottawa, 1992 Canadian Association of Provincial Judges. 1982 Canadian Sentencing Handbook Canadian Criminal Justice Association "Aboriginal criminal justice in Canada Canadian Journal of Criminology Vol. 34 No. 3-4 p. 281-564. Canada. Solicitor General. Four Circles of Hollow Water. (Aboriginal Peoples Collection) Ottawa; Supply and Service Canada. ISBN 0662256298. This report is at the site: http://www.sgc.gc.ca/epub/abocor/e199703/e199703.htm The Four Circles of Hollow Water is a report on sexual abuse, that includes the Ojibwa Circle, Hollow Water Circle, Offender Circle and Victim Circle. Technically, the Community Holistic Healing Circle is closely related to Sentencing Circles. As the book says "the small community of Hollow Water has become ... [an] icon for Aboriginal people" p. iii. Any look at sentencing circles must also include a look at healing circles and Hollow Water. Canada. Solicitor General Section One: Satisfying Justice. A selection of initiative that attempt to repair harm from crime, attend to related needs and avoid or significantly reduce the use of custody. Canadian Lawyer"Trial by Healing Circle" (March, 1994) page 7 Clalifoux, Troy. "A Need for Change: Cross-Cultural Sensitization of Lawyers" (1994) Volume 32 Alberta Law Review (No. 4) at page 762. The article is about systemic discrimination in the Canadian criminal system but he touches briefly upon sentencing circles. Chartrand, Larry "The appropriateness of the lawyer as advocate in contemporary justice initiatives" (1995) 33 Alberta Law Review (No. 4) p. 874 Coyle, Michael "Traditional Indian justice in Ontario : a role for the present" by Michael Coyle. Osgoode Hall Law Journal Vol. 24 no. 3 pages 605 to 633. While "sentencing circles" may not be speficially mentioned the article does talk about community decision making being a horizonal process "which involved the participation and the consent of the community at large" see page 615. Crnkovich, Mary "A Sentencing Circle" in Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law Number 36 / 1996. Special issue. This article is an edited version of a report for the Dept. of Justice re: "the proceedings of the first circle held in the Nunavik Region of Quebec... In the spring of 1993 Judge Jean-Luc Dutil conducted the first sentencing circle in Nunavik" - from page 159 Daisley, Brad. "Sex charge resolved by Native healing circle" (July 1998) 18 Lawyers Weekly No. 10 at page 6 Dickason, Olive "The healing power of the native circle" The Globe and Mail Saturday, October 12, 1996 at page D17 Books/Native Issues Depew, Robert. Review of "Justice for the Cree: customary beliefs and practices by Roger McDonnell." Canadian Journal of Criminology 34. 3-4 (1992) at page 540 Dickson-Gilmore, E.J. "Finding the ways of the ancestors: cultural change and the invention of tradition in the development of separate legal systems" Canadian Journal of Criminology 34. 3-4 (1992): at page 479. Dumont, James "Justice and Aboriginal people" Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples and the Justice System (Report of the National Round Table on Aboriginal Justice Issues). Ottawa: Canada Communications Group, 1993 at pages 42 to 85. Edwards, Bob. "A risky experiment: lawyers criticize circular sentencing" in British Columbia Report August 31 Fafard, C. "On being a northern judge" in Continuing Poundmaker and Riel's Quest Eds.Richard Gosse et al. Saskatoon: Purich Publishing 1994. Foden, Brian "Authorities disagree about appropriate use, but... Setencing circles gaining acceptance from lawyers". The Lawyers Weekly. December 13, 1996. Footz, Valarie "Sentencing circles" in February 1999 vol. 23 Law Now no. 4 at page 43. Gosse, Richard et al Continuing Poundmaker and Riel's Quest. Saskatoon: Purich Publishing 1994 Green, Ross Gordon Aboriginal sentencing and mediation initiatives: the sentencing circle and other community participation models in six Aboriginal communities. Winnipeg : University of Manitoba, 1995. viii, 286 leaves : map, plates. Thesis (LL.M.) -- University of Manitoba, Fall 1995. Green, Ross Gordon "Aboriginal sentencing and mediation: within and without the circle". in Manitoba Law Journal v. 25 no. 1 1997 at pages 77 to 125. "The purpose of this study is to identify, decribe, and evaluate criminal and medication initatives functioning in Canadian aboriginal communities. These have been characterised by increase participation of victims, offenders, and local community members. Specific initiatives of six aboriginal communities in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were studied in depth..." - from page 78 Green, Ross Gordon Justice in Aboriginal Communities : sentencing alternatives. Purich Publishing Saskatoon, 1998 192 pages indexed paper 6 x 9 ISBN 1895830 109. Read More