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Mission Indians are the indigenous peoples of California who lived in Southern California and were forcibly relocated from their traditional dwellings, villages, and homelands to live and work at 15 Franciscan missions in Southern California and the ''Asistencias'' and ''Estancias'' established between 1796 and 1823 in the Las Californias Province of the Viceroyalty of New Spain.


History

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 ...
unit which governs San Diego County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, and Santa Barbara County. There is one Chumash reservation in the last county, and more than thirty reservations in the others. Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Ventura and Orange counties do not contain any tribal trust lands. But resident tribes, including the Tongva in the first and the Juaneño-Acjachemen Nation in the last county (as well as the Coastal Chumash in Santa Barbara County) continue seeking federal Tribal recognition by the U.S.
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 .


Southern California locations

These tribes were associated with the following Missions, Asisténcias, and Estáncias: * Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, in San Luis Obispo * Mission La Purísima Concepción, northeast of Lompoc * Mission Santa Inés, in Solvang * Mission Santa Barbara, in Santa Barbara * Mission San Buenaventura, in Ventura * Mission San Fernando Rey de España, in Mission Hills (Los Angeles) *
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 ...
, in San Gabriel *
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 San Juan Capistrano * Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, in Oceanside * Mission San Diego de Alcalá, in San Diego * Santa Ysabel Asistencia, founded in 1818 in Santa Ysabel * San Antonio de Pala Asistencia (Pala Mission), founded in 1816 in eastern San Diego County * San Bernardino de Sena Estancia, founded in 1819 in Redlands * Santa Ana Estancia, founded in 1817 in Costa Mesa * Las Flores Estancia (Las Flores Asistencia), founded in 1823 in Camp Pendleton


Northern California missions

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 ...
) * Mission San Jose in Fremont (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 ...
) * Mission Santa Clara in Santa Clara/San Jose (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 ...
) * Mission Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz ( 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 San Juan Bautista in
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 San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo in Carmel/Monterey ( Esselen nation) *
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 ...
in Soledad ( Esselen nation) * Mission San Antonio de Padua in
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 ...
. ( Esselen nation and Salinan nation)


Mission tribes

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 ...
( Cahuilla) *
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 ...
( Cahuilla) * Barona Band of Mission Indians (
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) *
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) *
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 ...
( Cahuilla) *
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 ...
/ Diegueño) *
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 ...
/ Diegueño) *
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 ...
/ Diegueño) * Giant Rock Band (unrecognized) of Morongo Serrano- Cahuilla. * Inaja and Cosmit Band of Mission Indians (
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) *
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 ...
/ Diegueño) * Juaneño Band of Mission Indians ( Juaneño) * Laguna Band of Mission Indians of the Laguna Reservation * La Jolla Band of Mission Indians ( Luiseño) * La Posta Band of Mission Indians (
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 ...
) * Manzanita Band of Mission Indians (
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) * Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians (
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)
Mission Creek Band of Mission Indians
Mission Creek Reservation of Cahuilla. * Morongo Band of Mission Indians ( Cahuilla, Serrano 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 ...
) * Pala Band of Mission Indians (
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 ...
and Luiseño) * Pauma Band of Mission Indians ( Luiseño) *
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 ...
( Luiseño) * Ramona Band or Village of Mission Indians ( Cahuilla) * San Cayetano Band (unrecognized) of Cahuilla. * San Manuel Band of Mission Indians (Serrano) * San Miguel Arcangel, descendants of
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 ...
. * San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians (
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) *
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 ...
( Cahuilla) * Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians ( Chumash) * Santa Ysabel Band of Mission Indians (
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) * Soboba Band of Mission Indians ( Luiseño) *
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 ...
/ Diegueño) * Temecula Band (unrecognized) of Mission Indians ( Luiseño and Serrano). *
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.
with some Cahuilla and Luiseño descent) Current Mission Indian tribes north of the present day ones listed above, in the Los Angeles Basin, Central Coast, Salinas Valley, Monterey Bay and San Francisco Bay Areas, also were identified with the local Mission of their Indian Reductions in those regions.


See also

* Moravian Indians * Praying Indians * Indian Reductions * California Genocide * California mission clash of cultures * Population of Native California * Native American history of California * Native Americans in California * Slavery among Native Americans in the United States *
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 ...
* Genízaros * Indigenous peoples of California


Notes


References

* 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.


External links


Indians of the California Missions: Territories, Affiliations and Descendants
at the California Frontier Project
Handbook of the Indians of California
in the Claremont Colleges Digital Library
Matrimonial Investigation Records of the San Gabriel Mission
in the Claremont Colleges Digital Library

by Alfred L. Kroeber (1906)
"Mythology of the Mission Indians"
by Constance Goddard DuBois (1906) {{Authority control Spanish missions in California Native American history of California New Spain