Spanish explorers arrived on California's coasts as early as the mid-16th century. In 1769 the first Spanish Franciscan mission was built in San Diego. Local tribes were relocated and conscripted into forced labor on the mission, stretching from San Diego to San Francisco. Disease, starvation, excessive physical labor and torture decimated these tribes.Pritzker, 114 Many were
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
as
Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
by the Franciscan missionaries at the missions.
Mission Indians were from many regional Native American tribes; their members were often relocated together in new mixed groups, and the Spanish named the Indian groups after the responsible mission. For instance, the Payomkowishum were renamed '' Luiseños'', after the Mission San Luis Rey; the Acjachemem were renamed the '' Juaneños'', after the
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano ( es, Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''Las Californias'' by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan O ...
and the Kizh or Kisiannos renamed the '' Gabrieleño'', after the Mission San Gabriel.
The Catholic priests forbade the Indians from practicing their native culture, resulting in the disruption of many tribes' linguistic, spiritual and cultural practices. With no acquired immunity to the exposure of European diseases (as well as sudden cultural upheaval and lifestyle demands), the population of Native American Mission Indians suffered high mortality and dramatic decreases, especially in the coastal regions; the population was reduced by 90 percent, between 1769 and 1848.
Despite the missionaries' attempts to convert the Indigenous peoples of the missions, often referred to in mission records as "neophytes," they indicated that their attempts at conversion were often unsuccessful. For example, in 1803, twenty-eight years into the mission period, Friar Fermín de Lasuén wrote,
Generally the neophytes have not yet enough affection for Christianity and civilization. Most of them are excessively fond of the mountains, the beach, and of barbarous freedom and independence, so that some show of military force is necessary, lest they by force of arms deny the Faith and law which they have professed.
When Mexico gained its independence in 1834, it assumed control of the Californian missions from the Franciscans, but abuse persisted. Mexico
secularized
In sociology, secularization (or secularisation) is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions. The ''secularization thesis'' expresses the ...
the missions and transferred (or sold) the lands to other non-Native administrators or owners. Many of the Mission Indians worked on the newly established ranchos, with little improvement in their living conditions.
Around 1906, Alfred L. Kroeber and Constance G. Du Bois, of the University of California, Berkeley, first applied the term "Mission Indians" to Southern California Native Americans, as an ethnographic and anthropological label to include those at Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa and south.
Reservations
On January 12, 1891, the U.S. Congress passed the ''"An Act for the Relief of the Mission Indians in the State of California"''. This would further sanction the original grants of the Mexican government to the natives in southern California, and sought to protect their rights, while giving railroad corporations a primary interest.
In 1927, the Sacramento
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and Ala ...
Superintendent Lafayette A. Dorrington was instructed by Assistant Commissioner E. B. Merritt, in Washington D.C., to list the tribes in California from whom Congress had not yet purchased land, and for those lands to be used as reservations. As part of the 1928 the ''California Indian Jurisdictional Act'' enrollment, Native Americans were asked to identify their “Tribe or Band.” The majority of applicants supplied the name of the mission that they knew their ancestors were associated with. The enrollment was part of a plan to provide reservation lands promised, but never fulfilled by 18 non-ratified treaties made in 1851–1852.
Because of the enrollment applications, and the native American's association with a specific geographical location (often associated with the Catholic missions), the bands of natives became known as the "mission band" of people associated with a Spanish mission. Some bands also occupy trust lands— Indian Reservations—identified under the Mission Indian Agency. The ''Mission Indian Act'' of 1891 formed the administrative
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and Ala ...
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and Ala ...
.
Eleven of the Southern California reservations were included under the early 20th century allotment programs, which broke up communal tribal holding, to assign property to individual households, with individual heads of household and tribal members identified lists such as the Dawes Rolls.
The most important reservations include: the Agua Caliente Reservation in Palm Springs, which occupies alternate sections (approx. 640 acres each) with former railroad grant lands that form much of the city; the Morongo Reservation in the San Gorgonio Pass area; and the Pala Reservation which includes San Antonio de Pala Asistencia (Pala Mission) of the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in Pala. These and the tribal governments of fifteen other reservations operate casinos today. The total acreage of the Mission group of reservations constitutes approximately .
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel ( es, Misión de San Gabriel Arcángel) is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by Spaniards of the Franciscan order on "The Feast of the Birth of Mary," September ...
Mission San Juan Capistrano
Mission San Juan Capistrano ( es, Misión San Juan Capistrano) is a Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''Las Californias'' by Spanish Catholic missionaries of the Franciscan O ...
In Northern California, specific tribes are associated geographically with certain missions.
* Mission Dolores in San Francisco (Muwekma
Ohlone
The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...
Ohlone
The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...
Ohlone
The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...
Ohlone
The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...
San Juan Bautista San Juan Bautista is the Spanish-language name of Saint John the Baptist. It may refer to:
Places
Bolivia
*San Juan Bautista, Bolivia, Jesuit mission ruins near the village of San Juan de Taperas
Chile
*San Juan Bautista, Chile, Juan Fernández ...
(Amah-Mutsun Band of Costanoan
Ohlone
The Ohlone, formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the ...
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad
Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad ( es, Misión Nuestra Señora de la Soledad), commonly known as Mission Soledad, is a Spanish mission located in Soledad, California. The mission was founded by the Franciscan order on October 9, 1791 to c ...
Jolon
Jolon (; Spanish: ''Jolón''; Salinan: ''Xolon'') is small unincorporated village in southern Monterey County, California. Jolon is located in the San Antonio River Valley, west of Salinas Valley.
The origins of Jolon date to 1771, when the Spa ...
Current mission Indian tribes include the following in Southern California:
*
Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians
Agua means water in Spanish.
Agua may also refer to:
Places
* ''Agua de Dios'' (God's water), a municipality in Colombia
* Volcán de Agua, a stratovolcano located in Guatemala
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Agua'' (film), a 2006 Argentin ...
Augustine Band of Mission Indians
The Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians is a federally recognized Cahuilla band of Native Americans based in Coachella, California. They are one of the smallest tribal nations in the United States, consisting of only 16 members, seven of whom ...
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Cabazon Band of Mission Indians
The Cabazon Band of Mission Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.Pritzker, 120
Reservation
The Cabazon Indian Reservation was founded in 1876. It occupies located in Coachella, f ...
Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians
The Cahuilla Band of Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla people located in Southern California. They were formerly the Cahuilla Band of Cahuilla Indians of the Cahuilla Reservation.
Their tribe originally came from Coachella Val ...
Campo Band of Mission Indians
The Campo Indian Reservation is home to the Campo Band of Diegueño Mission Indians, also known as the Campo Kumeyaay Nation, a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay people in the southern Laguna Mountains, in eastern San Diego County, Califor ...
(
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians
The Viejas (Baron Long) Group of Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians of the Viejas Reservation, also called the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians, is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay Indians.
Reservations
In 1875, the Viejas Band share ...
(
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Cuyapaipe Band of Mission Indians
The Ewiiaapaayp Band of Kumeyaay Indians, formerly known as the Cuyapaipe Community of Diegueño Mission Indians of the Cuyapaipe Reservation, is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay Indians, who are sometimes known as Mission Indians, locate ...
(
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Jamul Band of Mission Indians
The Jamul Indian Village of California is a federally recognized tribe of Kumeyaay Indians, who are sometimes known as Mission Indians.
Reservation
The Jamul Indian Village is a federal reservation, located southeast of El Cajon, in southeaster ...
(
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
/ Diegueño)
* Las Palmas Band (unrecognized) of Cahuilla.
*
Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians
Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians of the Los Coyotes Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians, who were Mission Indians located in California.Cahuilla and
Cupeño
The Cupeño (or Kuupangaxwichem) are a Native American tribe of Southern California.
They traditionally lived about inland and north of the modern day Mexico–United States border in the Peninsular Range of Southern California. Today their ...
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Cupeño
The Cupeño (or Kuupangaxwichem) are a Native American tribe of Southern California.
They traditionally lived about inland and north of the modern day Mexico–United States border in the Peninsular Range of Southern California. Today their ...
Cupeño
The Cupeño (or Kuupangaxwichem) are a Native American tribe of Southern California.
They traditionally lived about inland and north of the modern day Mexico–United States border in the Peninsular Range of Southern California. Today their ...
Pechanga Band of Mission Indians
The Pechanga Band of Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Luiseño Indians based in Riverside County, California, where their reservation is located. As of 2006, there were 1,370 members of the nation. The tribe owns the Pechanga Resort ...
Mission San Miguel
Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to:
Organised activities Religion
*Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity
* Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...
Indians in
San Miguel, California
San Miguel (Spanish for " St. Michael") is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in San Luis Obispo County, California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,336. San Miguel was founded by the Spanish in 1797, when Mission San Miguel ...
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Santa Rosa Band of Mission Indians
The Santa Rosa Band of Cahuilla Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.Pritzker, 120
Reservation
The Santa Rosa Indian Reservation, not to be confused with the Santa Rosa Rancheria, i ...
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Sycuan Band of Mission Indians
The Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Mission Indians from Southern California, located in an unincorporated area of San Diego County just east of El Cajon. The Sycuan band are a Kumeyaay tribe, one of the ...
(
Kumeyaay
The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...
Torres-Martinez Band of Mission Indians
The Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Imperial and Riverside counties in California.Cahuilla)
*
Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians
The Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Mission Indians with a reservation consisting of two sections, one located near the cities of Indio and Coachella in Riverside County, and the othe ...
(
Chemehuevi
The Chemehuevi are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. They are the southernmost branch of Southern Paiute.
American Indian reservations in California
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
* Du Bois, Constance Goddard. 1904–1906. "Mythology of the Mission Indians", ''The Journal of the American Folk-Lore Society'', Vol. XVII, No. LXVI. p. 185–8 904 Vol. XIX. No. LXXII pp. 52–60 and LXXIII. pp. 145–64. 1906. ("the mythology of the Luiseño and Diegueño Indians of Southern California")
* Kroeber, Alfred. 1906. "Two Myths of the Mission Indians of California", ''Journal of the American Folk-Lore Society'', Vol. XIX, No. LXXV pp. 309–21.
* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .
Further reading
* Hutchinson, C. Alan. "The Mexican Government and the Mission Indians of Upper California," ''The Americas'' 21(4)1965,pp. 335–362.
* ''The Mission Indian'' (newspaper, 5 volumes). Banning, California: B. Florian Hahn.
* Phillips, George Harwood, "Indians and the Breakdown of the Spanish Mission System in California," ''Ethnohistory'' 21(4) 974, pp. 291–302.
* Shipek, Florence C. "History of Southern California Mission Indians." Robert F. Heizer, ed. ''Handbook of North American Indians: California.'' Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution, 1978.
* Shipek, Florence (1988). ''Pushed into the Rocks: Southern California Indian Land Tenure 1767–1986''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
* Sutton, Imre (1964). ''Land Tenure and Changing Occupance on Indian Reservations in Southern California.'' Ph.D. dissertation in Geography, UCLA.
* Sutton, Imre (1967). "Private Property in Land Among Reservation Indians in Southern California," Yearbook, Assn of Pacific Coast Geographers, 29:69–89.
* Valley, David J. (2003). ''Jackpot Trail: Indian Gaming in Southern California'' San Diego:
Sunbelt Publications
Sunbelt Publications is an American publication company that was incorporated in 1988. The company publishes and distributes multi-language pictorials, natural science and outdoor guidebooks, and regional references. The company is located in El ...
.
* White, Raymond C. (1963). "A Reconstruction of Luiseño Social Organization." University of California, ''Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology.'' Volume 49, no. 2.