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California Indians

Historian Kenneth King said about California Indians: “If they did not have the ability for organization shown by the Six Nation (Iroquois) in the Eastern part of the United States, they were, on the whole, child like and affectionate and willing to accept the gentle rule of the padres.” The ignorance of this statement is astoundingly obvious if one looks at the indigenous people of California and the Padres of the Spanish missions without the rose-colored glasses of a romantic, euro-centric, manifest destine point of view that suggests industrial, Christian societies conquer all. The indigenous people of California were not a “primal” people that needed to rely on the Spanish and hence the Spanish were not invited into their lands. As Costo said, “The Native Californians were by no means “primitive’; rather they were singularly complex hunters and gathers.” (Costo, pg 10) King’s statement tries to justify the colonization, exploitation and murder of the indigenou...

Posted by: Tricia F. Doyle

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