The Indigenous peoples of California are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. With over one hundred federally recognized tribes,[1] California has the largest Native American population and largest number of distinct tribes of any US state. Californian tribes are characterized by linguistic and cultural diversity.
The California cultural area does not exactly conform to the state of California's boundaries, and many tribes on the eastern border with Nevada are classified as Great Basin tribes, some tribes on the Oregon border are classified as Plateau tribes, and tribes in Baja California that do not cross into California are classified as Indigenous peoples of Mexico.[2]
Contents |
Before contact, California Indians spoke over 300 dialects of approximately one hundred distinct languages. Most indigenous languages of California belong to three language families: Hokan, Penutian, and Uto-Aztecan. Other language families, such as Algonquian, Athapaskan, and Yukian were represented,[2] as well as language isolates, such as Chimariko, Esselen, and Karuk.
Evidence of human occupation of California dates from at the very least 17,000 BCE.[1] Prior to European contact, California Indians had 500 distinct sub-tribes or groups that consisted of 50 to 500 individual members.[2] The size of California tribes today are small compared to tribes in other regions of the United States. Prior to contact with Europeans, the California region contained the highest native American population density north of what is now Mexico.[2]
Early Native Californians were hunter-gatherers, with seed collection becoming widespread around 9,000 BCE.[2] Due to the local abundance of resources, many tribes never had to develop agriculture. Two early southern California cultural traditions include the La Jolla Complex and the Pauma Complex, both dating from ca. 6050—1000 BCE. From 3000 to 2000 BCE, regional diversity developed with fine-tuned adaptations to the local environments. Traits recognizable to historic tribes were established by approximately 500 BCE.[3]
Different tribes encountered non-Natives at widely different times. The southern and central coastal tribes encountered Spanish and British explorers in the mid-16th century. In remote interior regions, some tribes did not meet non-Natives until the mid-19th century.[4]
Some other tribes like the Quechan or Yuman Indians in southeast California and southwest Arizona were the first to meet Spanish explorers in the 1760s and 1770s. But others on the coasts of northwest California like the Miwok, Yurok and Yokut came across Russian explorers and seafarers coming from Alaska in the late 18th century and Russians established a short-lived fortified colony Fort Ross 60 miles north of San Francisco in the early 1800s.
The Spanish began their long-term occupation in California in 1769 with the founding of Mission San Diego de Alcalá in San Diego, California. The Spanish built 20 additional missions in California.[5] The introduction of European invasive plant species and non-native diseases wreaked havoc on Native populations. Missionaries also tried to promote peace between the tribes, often risking their own lives in order to do so. They also educated the Indians in subjects such as reading.
The Population of Native California was reduced by 90% during the 19th century—from over 200,000 in the late 19th century to approximate 15,000 at the end of the century.[3] Epidemics swept through California Indian Country, such as the 1833 malaria epidemic.[4]
In 1834 the Spanish missions shifted to Mexican control and were secularized, but lands under their control were not reverted to tribes. Many landless Indians found wage labor on ranches. The United States took control of California in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, that did not honor aboriginal land title.[4]
Acorns are a primarily tradition food throughout much of California.[1] Other widely consumed aboriginal food sources included fish, shellfish, deer, elk, and antelope, and plants such as buckeye, sage seed, and yampah (Perideridia gairdneri).[2]
|
|||||
|
|||||||