2014 - History of American Indians in California

The history of California Indians is a different story from that of other ethnic groups who came in the last few centuries as immigrants to an already populated land. California is their homeland where their history spans more than 10,000 years of occupation. Unlike other groups who came to California to gain wealth or to escape undesirable conditions, California Indians lived in a land of plenty. Their material technology reflected what was necessary to meet their needs. Although it is often written about how Indians developed a means of living in harmony with their environment, this cultural lifestyle was more a reflection of numbers, the carrying capacity of the land, and personal needs. The report is a commentary on those events, procedures, laws, and situations that confronted and greatly affected California Indians and their ability to survive once Europeans arrived. The reason it is important to tell this aspect of Indian history, rather than the more romantic story of how Indians lived in harmony with nature, is the same reason it is important to tell the history of any people — so we can learn from the mistakes of the past and try not to make those same mistakes in the future. Finally, we tell this history so that Indian people and non-Indian people might better understand why Indians have evolved as they have — why they are people attempting to retain their cultural identity while surviving in the modern world.https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_usa_2_c/1004/thumbnail.jp