The Indigenous People Of California

However after these Europeans arrived, disease and conquest struck the people and since the population decrease, it is very likely that some religious traditions are lost forever. These Europeans and other intruders did not invade easily. The current Native Americans at that time resisted heavily. These resistance movements “had influence far and wide”. Some of the religious traditions of Native Americans are shared among the tribes such as the Sun Dance and the belief that everything in the natural world is connected which further emphasizes why Native Americans find importance in relationships between humans and other elements of the natural world. Many Native Americans also have certain rites of passage they must complete before they can transition from childhood to adulthood. Native Americans also believe that if you do not complete the transition from childhood to adulthood, then you can be considered a child for all your life. However, with many similarities comes a vast number of differences. One major difference between the Native

Although oral religions were prevalent among Native American religions, it can still be proved that Native Americans had a complex belief system involving gods and rituals (indians.org). In fact, “Native American religion includes an adequate level of cultural traditions and ceremonies, some of which may be in honor of an special event, and these ceremonies, much like European ceremonies, often include feasts, music, and dances (indians.org). Although most Native American religions are believed to be polytheistic, contrary to European religions, Greek and Roman beliefs were polytheistic and still considered highly advanced to this date. Many staples of what makes Catholicism or Islam a religion can be applied to what is currently known about Native American religions as a whole. Both Catholicism and religions in South America contain creation stories, and there are events in both religions held to commemorate the creation story (britannica). Native Americans also had initiation into adulthood for their followers, much like the Catholic religion has in Confirmation, the Catholic sacrament. Finally, priests, diviners, and other religious authority are included in most religions of Native America, similar to the religious authority of the Catholic Church

Europeans and Native Americans both retained religious beliefs. Though, Native Americans articulated their beliefs in a less structured way. Europeans were monotheistic. They attended churches led by and educated clergy. And, unlike Native Americans, interpreted written scriptures. In

The Europeans introduced them to technology such as guns, cannons, and knives resulting in trade and a new way to fight. Before the European arrival, many tribes hunted only when necessary; however, the development of trade with the Europeans caused Natives to hunt viciously for animal fur. This led to the decline of games the Natives needed for themselves. Another effect of European contact is the introduction of Christianity, Natives either converted voluntarily or involuntarily. For example, Spanish conquistadors convert conquered tribes to Catholicism which led to the a new version of Virgin Mary called the Virgin of Guadalupe. In the English colonies some captives were forced to convert to Christianity, learn English, and dress as an English such as Pocahontas. In contrast to the introduction of European culture, Native American cultures were loss as a product of European interaction. Diseases killed Native elders, who were responsible for passing down cultural traditions and customs, resulting in the loss of Native tradition. The loss of several languages occur as more and more Natives convert to European languages. European interaction has caused the loss of many rich Native American

The Lenape Indians are the natives of New Jersey and were around well before any of the explorers or our ancestors came to the area. They had a society rich of culture, traditions, beliefs and customs. They are one of the largest Indian tribes on the east coast, containing three primary divisions or clans. Frederick Hodge (1907) worked for the Bureau of American Ethnology and has done extensive research on the topic of Native Americans. Hodge compiled a detailed reference book called The Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, which gives detailed histories on many of the American Indian tribes. According to Hodge, the Lenape or Delaware Indians were an Indian society based from the Delaware area all the way to southern New York in

The Spanish in contact with California occurred in the mid 1530s when Cortez’s men ventured to Baja California. They began to sail north to Alta California and established 21 missions. The expedition to Alta California was the last greatest expansion of Spain’s empire in North America. The missions were a series of religious and military settlements established by the padre. The Spanish constructed the missions to gain control and power over the land in California. San Francisco Solano Mission was the last mission established in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, resulted an important historical event in California and the existence of the California flag. The Spanish arrival to California created a major impact to the lives of the native Indians, and there were many significant events occurred among the Spaniards, the native Indians, and the Americans before California became a part of America.

The Spanish began their long-term occupation in California in 1769. California and its Spanish Colonization were different from earlier efforts to simultaneously introduce missionaries and colonists in their world conquest schemes. Organized by the driven Franciscan administrator Junipero Serra and military authorities under Gaspar de Portola, they journeyed to San Diego to establish the first of 21 coastal missions.

“One general truth that threads throughout the Native American spiritual beliefs is the belief of the Mother Earth spirituality” (Coll). They often called earth their mother and called father the air. The earth to the Natives is very sacred to them and is the most important thing to them. Most of the ceremonies were in some way revolving around the earth and they called earth “home.” Most of the ceremonies were practiced for many years and were passed down through generation to generation. The Native Americans didn’t have a book like the bible or any language that was written. One big thing they had was Totems. These were everywhere in their tribes and it was supposed to represent people and the animals that represented them. The Indians were supposed to have 7 spiritual animals and the many animals on the totems were supposed to represent all the person’s spiritual

Native American culture originated in some parts North America. These countries are known as the United States of America and some parts of Canada. In the United States, there are 6.6 million Native Americans, which form about 2.0 percent of the population (Bureau, 2016). Europe had realized there were about 50 million people already living the “new world” and these people were called Native Americans. Native Americans were originally called Indians, but later through history they formed a new name. These people were called this because of them being native to the “new world” and the American part came after the colonist named the United States. Throughout history, Native Americans believed that using raw material in nature was the best way to provide for their people. Their culture thought no part of an animal should go to waste. They would eat the meat, use the skin for clothing, and make jewelry from the bones. Over the years a lot of their culture and customs were lost due to conforming with society. Their languages were referred to as “Indigenous Languages” because of them being extremely complicated and diverse. Some important factors that help understand the foundation of Native American culture are their rituals/practices, death ceremonies, holidays, family, and stereotypes.

Deborah Miranda’s Bad Indians utilizes a unique blend of writing styles to piece together a clearer and more distinct view on the Mission system, Gold Rush, and settlement of California. Through this revolutionary collection of writing, we receive a detailed account of the treatment that California Indians had to endure during the Missionization era and are able to draw our own conclusions in regard to whether the missions were a positive or negative aspect of California history. Although Miranda’s ancestors suffered and survived horrible conditions, she, in my opinion, does not villainize the Mission system, but rather displays the facts as they are, therein allowing us to reach our own conclusions in relations to this history. Because there

The Cahuilla were a Native Southern Californian tribe that occupied the Riverside County, Higher Palomar Mountain Region and East Colorado Desert. The tribe was divided into two groups or moieties know as Wildcats or Coyotes. The Cahuilla lived in small clans that varied in population, and together all the separate clans made up a larger political group called a sib ”http://www.aguacaliente.org/content/History%20&%20Culture/.” The tribe was at first considered to be very simple and savage because they were never interacted with. As the Europeans and Spanish Missionaries considered the desert an inhospitable place that was better to avoid because

The mission-presidio system was a settlement set up by the Spanish, the role of these missions was to transform Native Americans into christians and civilize them. This system was brought to California in the 1700s by the Spanish. This settlement had been used by the Spaniards before to protect Spain’s interest and to colonize in other places which they had already done in Texas for example, Baja California, Mexico and as far as Guatemala. The intent of the missions in California was to colonize the coast of California, because King Carlos III was concern about the English and Russians expeditions, he did not want them to get this lands before they did so he authorized the expansion of the missions to Alta California. The role in this missions was to convert as many natives into catholicism for them to become civilized. It was a way of expanding the spanish population by baptizing the indians because by baptizing them they were becoming part of the spanish.

The Pueblo of Santa Clara was devastated by the 2011 Las Conchas Fire, which burned more than 156,000 acres of the reservation’s upland forest in the Santa Clara Canyon area. The fire impacted not only the ecological balance of the area, but also the spiritual balance of the tribe. Although this is not the first fire that has blackened tribal and neighboring lands in recent history, it was by far the most devastating. In addition to scorching nearly two thirds of the watershed that the people of Santa Clara are heavily reliant on, the fire burned many sites of spiritual significance, and produced detrimental after effects. Because the people of Santa Clara Pueblo recognize the Santa Clara Canyon as our ancestral homeland, it is

The tribes Pima and Maricopa are two different tribes but are considered as one clan. Both tribes have been family for thousands of years. They been living in Arizona in the north and south, speaking languages, and they have transportation to get around.

The Spanish focused on concentrating indigenous populations in villages or “missions,” where they could be Christianized and forced to work for the Crown. Within these Spanish-ruled villages the ethnic differences between indigenous peoples were dissolved and gave way to a new one with the acquisition of the Quechua language . As a result, a new identity as Quechua-speaking people emerged in the region and the pre-hispanic identities vanished (Scazzocchio a1979). It is very likely that their pre-Hispanic identities disappeared around the 17th and 18th centuries.