Lesson One

Welcome to the history of California! We want to begin our study of the "Golden State" first by discussing the original inhabitants with a rather detailed account of the practices and culture of the indigenous population native to Southern California.

Many of you may recognize the names "Modoc," "Shasta"; the town of "Salinas." The names of these counties (Modoc, Shasta) represent the titles of Indian inhabitants residing in Northern California, while Salinas is a derivation of the name "Salinan" for the natives living around the central coast (San Luis Obispo, Cambria). Non-nomadic (i.e. more sedentary) in nature, California’s natives –encompassing northern, central, and southern peoples- spoke over 135 dialects and according to several historians, their population centered around 300,000 prior to the era of the Conquistadors.

Cultural practices and family life of the "Luisenos," "Cahuilla," "Serrano," and the "Cupeno Diegeun" represent several of the southern tribes we’ll discuss in this lesson.

Housing construction involved placing poles in a rectangular area of Earth to serve as support beams. Bark, brush, and woven mats acted as roofing, which generally sloped toward the ground. The typical entrance of the house (the front door) consisted of tied bundles of grass. Not considered "Teepees," such construction generally reflected more of a domed "hut" than the triangular structure most commonly seen in the typical American "Western."

The dwellings’ interior had a place for fire to keep warm, usually located in the center of the home. Floor mats served dual purposes as carpeting and bedding. From the walls hung bows and arrows used for hunting, baskets for gathering food, and various ceremonial paints and necklaces.

The outside "yard" consisted of an area for cooking along with a "Granary" used for storing berries and nuts as a means of protecting the food supply from rodents. During menstrual periods and when in the third trimester of pregnancy, women lived in separate residences but within the vicinity of the main residence.

For men "patterns on the skin" –tattoos- evidenced a sign of manhood. Necklaces, earrings and shells were also worn. Men wore their hair very long or wound in a knot.

Women adorned grass skirts made of shredded bark, milkweed fibers, or Indian hemp. In the Santa Barbara and Los Angeles regions women wore their hair long; in the rest of California, with bangs cut by stones. Typically, a whisk broom was used for grooming.

Acorns and Acorn Mush served as a principal food source for Southern California natives. Grounded Acorns were poisonous, so indigenous peoples would continually dilute the substance with water resulting in gruel like "mush." The meat diet consisted of Deer, Rabbit, Packrats, and desert squirrels. Predictable, bows and arrows functioned as hunting weapons supplemented by nets used for capturing prey.

Groups of natives lived together in what were commonly referred to as "Bands." Each band had a principal village of residence where leaders would meet and hold council. Furthermore, camps surrounded the principal village; families not living in the principal village resided in these communities.

The band leader functioned as both advisor and spiritual leader to his community. He settled disputes, led prayer services, and kept order. Commenting on the absence of both police and codified laws a Spanish friar once observed, "What causes wonder is how these towns could keep peace and quiet…there were few fights and quarrels among them." ¹

In preparation for womanhood when a girl reached the age of 15 village elders prayed over her for a period of no less than three days. The ceremony entailed the adolescent laying on a mat outdoors during the 36 hour period accompanied by prayers and songs. On the final day of prayer tattooing of the chin took place to signify the final right of passage to womanhood.

The Southern California native male adolescent took part in a similar ritual only his involved a ceremonial transcendence of spiritual power. Wisdom came from a male’s spirituality; consequently, elevation to a higher level of thought necessitated the consumption of mashed "Jimsonweed." A huge white flowered plant with spreading leaves similar to a cucumber (commonly referred to in Spanish as "Tolaache’), liquefied Jimsonweed would produce "visions," apparitions essential for a boy’s passage into manhood. This drinking ceremony took place outside the main village followed by a procession to the principal village where marching and singing around a bonfire took place. Usually the boys would pass out –initiated by the duel effects of Jimsonweed consumption and ceremony- followed by the elders carrying the prostrate males back to the place where the ceremony commenced. There the boys lived for a week consuming gruel as their primary staple.

"Marriage"

By the time a male reached 19 years of age his family sought out a mate. Qualities sought after in a bride consisted of productive, diligent women who would assist their husbands in gathering food for the family and raising children. Upon selection by the parents, the future bride’s family received gifts from the groom’s household. He would then take up residence with his intended's family to observe her work habits. If suitable, she would move in with her husband’s family.

During the marriage ceremony the medicine man decorated the girl with feathers and seated her next to the groom. Assuming the groom led the "band" he would have his choice of more than one wife. In this case, usually a sister and her siblings would all marry the same groom. If a monotheistic union existed and the female died, the groom could select one of her sisters; if the husband expired, the wife married the brother. These intermarriages were a way of uniting families and extending kinship ties. Divorces were generally quiet affairs free from public awareness; if the couple could not get along they would separate and move back with their respective families.

"Death"

Upon the death of a member of the band, word was sent to other outlying bands. Friends sent gifts of "Shell Money" (clam shells in the circumference of a dime but five times thicker strung together) to the deceased’s family. After cremation Cahuilla people would drag gifts around the deceased's house as a means of "covering the tracks of the dead." Over the course of a year after death, mourning continued as the deceased’s family collected gifts and food baskets from acquaintances and extended family. Mourning culminated with the burning of an image of the dead person by band leaders so the deceased would posses new life and strength.

Please read chapters 1-3 in Rolle and see the discussion board for this week’s question. For this week only you will have two discussion questions. You will be asked to post a short introduction in addition to the question posed by the instructor by Sunday afternoon.

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