Life of the Indians

Effects of the California Missions on the Native American Population

Martha Rodriguez
LBS 375
Professor Kim Trimble
March 5, 2014
The Effect of the California Mission on the Native American

Life of the Indians

Before the arrival of the Spanish people to California, the Native Indian people in
California were the first occupant of the state. Native Americans have been making California
their home. Their lives in California was surrounded with their own ideas and beliefs of what
they knew was the way of life and how it should be lived. There was an abundance of Native
American tribes in California, there were located from the far north, valleys, bay areas, and
desert areas. There was a diversity of Native American tribes that spoke different languages and
their population was enormous but not until the people of the other worlds became to arrive. The
arrival of the missions changed the life of the Native American. The life of the Native American
was very simple and things changed once the missions began to imply their principles and beliefs
of the true way of life which was completely different of the Native Americans. Understanding
the life of a Native American before the arrival of the missions, will show that the mission
system establish in California didnt benefit them but it rather affected and damaged their lives.
The life before the arrival of the Spanish was defined as living in harmony and peace
with one another Native American tribes. Many tribes lived near each other and conflict or wars
was an issue or present in that time. The Native Americans had their own places under their own
beliefs and cultures. They had their own myths and rituals that they would practice with in their
native community. Many of the rituals, were dancing which were normally performed for the
gods that they believed which supplied them with rain, and food production. According to
Kevin Starr (2005), Native Americans believed and saw the grizzly bear as another kind of
human being, a creature from the mythic past(p.12). Some of the activities that they would do to
survive was by hunting and gathering, fishing, and gathering plants. They believed in their own
gods, and in the nature of the earth.
The daily life of a Native American can be defined as a simple way of living and

Life of the Indians

surviving in an area that wasnt necessary of elaborate ideologies and customs, very unlike the
once the Spanish established on them. Everyone within their Indian community like men,
women, and children contributed to the good of the group. (Bean p. 309). For example, many
Native Americans survived on the way they hunting and gathering food, women would weave
baskets. Many men did the hard labor, like gathering wood, fishing, and the management of the
rituals affairs being performed. Native women would prepare the food with the animals and
plants gathered teach and take care of the children, and they make baskets. Children at an early
age, learned the ways of life and the tasks that the adults performed through games.
Once the Spanish, established themselves in California by creating the missionary
system. The life of the Native Americans changed drastically, in a way that the Natives had no
choice other than follow and obey the rules of the missionaries. The number of Native American
settled in California were hundreds of thousands, but slowly that all began to change once they
missions began to implying their belief and cultural custom. The establishment of missions in
California, was the way of developing the Native American into people of the New World. In the
1680, the Spanish established the Laws of the Indies which called for the integration and
interaction of ecclesiastical and secular societies and form worldly...human being ( Starr p.28).
The Law of the Indies was to teach and educate the Christianity beliefs to the Natives and
introduce them to the secular society which is people of reason and be baptized Catholics and
be useful citizens (Starr p.29) to the Spanish and not for the Native Americans. The Spanish
people were a big influence on the Native Americans, because the establishment and buildings of
the missions were done by the Native Americans hard labor. In the book California by Starr
(2005) adds that the way the missions recruited the Native Americans was by a violent intrusion
into the culture and human rights of the indigenous peoples (p.41). The way that Native

Life of the Indians

Americans were sent to the missions was by forced. It was against their will, and were treated as
children that were not fully grown to adulthood. Children are seem as people that have to be
taught and be guided to the right way of life. Native American could be beaten when
recalcitrant or ran away from the missions, as they frequently did, and were recapitulated( Starr
p.41). Native Americans lived in the missions without having the right to leave, they had to
follow the rules and regulation of the missions.
The establishment of the mission had positive and negative effects on the Native
Americans. Native American that successful converted into civilized human-being, were
farmers, artisans, vaqueros, and choral singers (Starr p.41) in the missions. Although the
mission system believe they were doing well for the Native American, what the missions did
were all negative effects. Many of the land that the Native Americans had, was taken away from
the mission. The Spanish people, compared the California Indians to a species of monkey
(Hurtado p. 8). The Native Americans welcomed the Spanish with open arms but the Spanish
settled in their land without caring or feeling any consent towards the Natives. Another negative
affect, was that it affected the marriage life of a Native American. For example, the chief was
allow to have multiple wife and that also included having a berdache and the Spanish believe this
concept was right and change this whole view of marriage. Hurtado (1999) addresses the mission
goal in marriage and that was to restructure Indian marriage to conform to orthodox Catholic
standards of monogamy, permanence, and fidelity (p.8). This idea destroyed they ways of life a
Native because they were not allow to practice marriage on way that was a custom to their
culture. The population of the Native Americans began to decrease, due to the fact that the
Spanish soldier were sexually violating the Native women and this caused diseases that were not
known to them. All the rules that the missions applied to the Native Americans, was seen as a

Life of the Indians

positive way of that time but in reality it wasn't. Many Native Americans rose up and seized
control of missions because they didn't agree to what was happening with them.
Although the missionaries believe that they were guiding the Native Americans to a
better life, by leading to work, to church, and all other activities, the establishment of the mission
affected the Native Americans. The mission system established by the Catholic principles, took
away their land, their culture values, and they right to be a human and live their lives as they
please. Native American culture was lost, due to the fact that the Spanish invaded their land and
those ideas that and culture of the Natives cannot be gain again.

Life of the Indians

References
Bean, J. Lowell. (1992). Indians of California: Diverse and Complex Peoples.California History.
71(3), 302-323.Retrieved from STOR.
Hurtado, L. Albert. (1999) Sex Gender and Culture in Old California. New Mexico: University
of New Mexico Press.
Starr, Kevin. (2005). California. New York: The Random House Publishing Group.