Marilu Munguia

LBS 375
September 20, 2017

California Missions: Negative Impacts on Native Americans

The lives of Native Americans, living during the mission period, was undeniably barbaric.

There were 21 missions build in California between 1769-1823. They were established by the

Spanish, led by Father Junipero Sierra, established to spread Catholicism throughout California

while maintaining territorial control. There were approximately 300,000 Native Americans living

in California during this time. Life, for the indigenous people of this period was extremely cruel.

Native Americans were forced relinquish long-held cultural traditions, while simultaneously being

forced to adopt European cultural norms. Native Americans were physically punished

inhumanely, for example, flogging was immediately bestowed upon those who expressed grief for

the loss of a family member. Natives Americans’ loss of freedom was analogous to imprisonment

because they were corralled and forced to live within the confines of the mission compounds. Life

for Native Americans living during the mission period deprived them of their cultural practices,

were subjected to physical torture and lost their freedom as the Catholic church tried to

“assimilate” them.

The first reason that the lives of Native Americans living during this time were extremely

barbaric was that they were separated from their cultural traditions. Prior to the arrival of the

Spaniards in California, indigenous people freely roamed the land for hunting purposes, fished in

various creeks and rivers, and lived in harmony with nature. By contrast, when the Spaniards

arrived, “All the Indians of both sexes, without regards to age, are obliged to go to church and

worship” (Source #1). Native Americans had specific cultural celebrations when honoring special

events and/or remembering loved ones. “They gathered in the cemetery and danced, men and
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women adorned themselves with feathers and with girdles ornamented with feathers and with bits

of shell, or they painted their bodies” (Source#1). “The Indigenous people were forced to turn

from hunter gatherers society toward an agricultural one” (Source #5), a cultural trait that was

practiced in Europe. Originally, Native Americans were hunter-gatherers and grew their own

crops. Women and children helped with light tasks, while the men went out to hunt. They took

from the land, only what was needed. They roamed the land free and came and went as they

wished. With the forced transition into a stationary life style (i.e. agriculturally-based), long-held

cultural ways of sustenance were quickly eradicated from their culture; those who refused this new

lifestyle were brutally punished.

Simple acts like roaming away from the compound resulted in severe physical punishment,

not attending church on Sundays resulted in corporal punishment, speaking in their native language

(instead of Spanish) was quickly met with a beating. The missions always had a group of three or

four soldiers guarding the compound. Native Americans had no freedom to wander about and eat

as they liked. “A general cooking takes place at a given hour and each family comes for their ratio

which is apportioned about the number of its members” (Source #1). They were no longer allowed

to live in traditional huts, but a home that housed two or three families and in some cases, a building

big enough to house 250 women. “The Native people farmed the land, made wine, and tended the

cattle” (Source 5) and as a result, had little or no time for themselves. They worked long hours.

“They would work seven hours and prayed for three, but on Sunday they prayed for five hours”

(Source#2). The quality of life of a Native American was no life at all. They were barred from

practicing their traditions, brutally punished if they resisted, which ultimately lead to a loss of

freedom to live life as their previous ancestors once lived.

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September 20, 2017

Not only were Native Americans stripped of their traditions, brutally beaten but they also

lost their freedom during the mission period. According to Julio Cesar, they were flogged for any

fault. He states, “We were at the mercy of the administrator, who ordered us to be flogged

whenever and however he wanted” (Document D). The treatments inflicted upon the indigenous

people was extremely vicious and cruel. How can a young child be inflicted so much pain, just

because the Alcalde wanted it done? Tiburcio, a fled Native American testified that after his wife

and daughters died, on five separate occasions, “Father Danti ordered him whipped because he

was crying” (Source#3). Tiburcio had every reason to flee and live as a free man because he was

emotionally distraught over the loss of his wife and child. As humans, we are taught to be

compassionate to someone’s loss. As a catholic missionary, Father Danti should have provided

Tiburcio with kinds words, a moment of prayer or simply given Tiburcio time to grieve. In a

separate incident, Orencio’s father was punished because, he went one too many times, with his

niece, to get a ratio of meat. Father Danti refused to give it to him and instead hit him with a

cudgel. “His niece died of hunger, and he ran away” (Source#3). Much like Tiburcio, Orencio

chose freedom rather than enduring continuous exploitation. The slavery that the Saclan and

Huichin people endured was so inhumane, that often, they preferred to die and starve, rather than

being treated like animals and lose their freedom.

All in all, Spaniards were extremely cruel toward Native Americans during the time of the

missions. Native Americans were deprived of their culture and forced to accept European norms

and practices. They were also brutally beaten by the Catholic clergy, it’s members and soldiers

unjustifiably. Native Americans were corralled like cattle within the compound walls, exploited

for labor and stripped from of their freedom. Life for Native Americans living during the mission
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period deprived them of their cultural practices, were subjected to physical torture and lost their

freedom as the Catholic church tried to “assimilate” them.