History of Enslavement of Indigenous Peoples in California

Indigenous people were enslaved in California under Spanish rule, and when it was a United States territory. Indigenous slavery continued despite California's admission as a free state. While slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, some enslavement of indigenous peoples continued in California through 1867.

When the Spanish colonized California, they established a free labor system of Indigenous peoples of California within their Catholic missions. The Mexican rule of California after the Spanish perpetuated this free labor system as can be seen through the indentured servitude of native Californians under wealthy Mexican landowners. California was admitted into the United States as a free state in 1848, but due to the large amount of labor needed to operate the ranches and farms and the need for miners during the gold rush, white immigrants found ways to utilize the indigenous people for free labor.

Spanish Conquest

Pre-European contact, the population of native Californian Indians was estimated to be nearly one million. In 1540, the Spanish conquest of California occurred, but the region wasn't successfully conquered until 1769. In 1769, Father Serra founded the first Spanish mission in California Mission San Diego.^[1] Through the soliciting of soldiers by padres to capture native Californians, entire villages were baptized and forced to remain on the mission in imprisonment, speak Spanish and complete all of the labor. There were four military installations set up by the Spanish throughout California in San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara and San Diego. They housed soldiers whose job was to search for runaway Indians. Indians became cobblers, carpenters, masons, planters, harvesters and cattle slaughterers. Essentially, the missions became economic institutions with poor living conditions, spreading disease and forcing nearly all Indians into labor. Soldiers and priests often raped the women of the villages. To the Spanish, the Indians were neophytes who fulfilled a role as solely a source of manpower, an expendable resource that cost little to acquire and maintain.^[2] Reportedly, some of the missions planned on handing the missions over to Indians after ten years, however this never occurred.^[3]

There were several recorded uprisings of Indians resisting Spanish rule, one of the earliest being the attack on the Mission San Diego on November 4, 1775.^[2] The Ipai-Tipai organized nine villages into a force of around 800 people to destroy the mission and kill three of the Spanish, one of them being Padre Jaime. It should be noted, however, that not every Californian Indian uprising was violent. In September of 1795, over two hundred natives, including many old neophytes, simply deserted San Francisco all in different directions.^[3] When uprisings occurred, the natives did not go unpunished: some Indians were put to death but many were imprisoned and forced into hard labor.

Mexican Rule

From 1821-1846, after Mexico gained its independence from Spain, California was under Mexican rule. In 1824, the Mexican constitution guaranteed citizenship to all persons, providing natives with the right to continue occupying their villages. Additionally, the Mexican National Congress passed the Colonization Act of 1824 which granted large sections of unoccupied land to individuals. This act enforced a class division in which Native Americans were treated like slaves because the native Californians became the labor force for these ranchos. In 1833, the government secularized missions, saying that the missions needed to give their land to catholic Indians.^[3] Instead of doing that, however, many civil authorities confiscated most of the land for themselves. Californios often gained prominence by conducting military attacks on indigenous settlements. By 1846, Mexico’s Assembly had passed resolutions calling for funds to locate and destroy Indian villages.

While they had more rights than they had under Spanish rule, the native population still was the labor force for ranchos or in developing towns. Essentially, the entire economy shifted from work on the missions to work on large land estates of wealthy Mexicans.^[2]

Gold Rush and United States

In 1848, Mexico ceded California to the United States, bringing a flood of white immigrants into California between the years of 1845-1855 because of the gold rush. The Euro-Americans came in with an initial dislike of the Native Americans, hating and fearing them for no historical reason.^[4] The confrontation between Anglos and Indians was often brutal, resulting in the murder, burn and rape of native Californians and kidnapping and selling of women and children into slavery. In those 10 years the Indian population of the central valley and adjacent hills and mountains decreased from around 150,000 to 50,000. Many hostile interactions began to occur such as the Clear Lake Massacre of 1849.^[5] At Clear Lake Massacre, local Pomo killed two white men who had been exploiting local Indians, enslaving them and abusing them and sexually assaulting Indian women. As a result, the whites created a massive military campaign of savagery and brutality.^[6]

On the April 22, 1850, to “craft its own code of compulsory labor”,^[7] “An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians” was passed which “legally” curtailed rights of Indians. It provided that:

• “White persons or proprietors could apply to the Justice of Peace for the removal of Indians from lands in the white person’s possession”^[8]
• “Any person could go before a Justice of Peace to obtain Indian children for indenture. The Justice determined whether or not compulsory means were used to obtain the child. If the Justice was satisfied that no coercion occurred, the person obtain a certificate that authorized him to have the care, custody, control and earnings of an Indian until their age of majority (for males, eighteen years, for females, fifteen years).”^[8] In actual practice this section lead to a trade system of kidnapped Indian children, either stolen from their parents or taken from the results of militia attacks during the 1850s and 1860s. Frontier whites often eagerly paid $50–$100 for Indian children to apprentice and so groups of kidnappers would often raid isolated Indian villages, snatching up children in the chaos of battle.

• “If a convicted Indian was punished by paying a fine, any white person, with the consent of the Justice, could give bond for the Indian’s fine and costs. In return, the Indian was “compelled to work until his fine was discharged or cancelled.” The person bailing was supposed to “treat the Indian humanely, and clothe and feed him properly.” The Court decided “the allowance given for such labor.””^[8] Local authorities were often required to hire out the “convicts” within the next 24 hours to the highest bidder essentially creating a system of selling slaves out of jail.
• Indians could not testify for or against whites. It was illegal to sell or administer alcohol to Indians and if Indians were convicted of stealing any valuable or livestock, they could receive any number of lashes (as long as it was less than 25) and a fine of up to $200.^[8]

In general, Californians interpreted these 1850 laws in a way that all Indians could face indentured servitude through arrests and “hiring out”. Once the Indians had entered into this servitude, the term limit was often ignored, thus resulting in slavery; this was what Californians used to “satisfy the states high demand for domestic servants and agricultural laborers”.^[7] Acting Governor Richard B. Mason reported that, “over half the miners in California were Indians”. The enforcement of the Act of 1850 was left with the local justices of peace, meaning they became crucial links in all interracial interactions. Many justices took advantage of the vague language and the power bestowed upon them to continue the kidnapping of Indian children through 1860.^[7] Since the implementation of the Act of 1850 was left with the local justices of peace, the application of the law and the extent of exploitation was extremely uneven throughout the state of California.

Between 1851 and 1852, the federal government appointed three Indian commissioners - Redick McKee,^[9] George W. Barbour, and O. M. Wozencraft - to negotiate treaties with the California Indians because Native American tribes were recognized as foreign nations, making treaties the legal form of negotiation. The commissioners knew nothing about the California Indians or their cultures, making the process very difficult. Eventually, 18 treaties were drafted, allocating 7.5% of the state of California to Indians in reservations, but forcing them to give up the rest of their land. In June 1852, however, all of the treaties were rejected by the Senate and then put into secret files; they were not to be seen again until 1905. In 1851, some Euro-Americans petitioned the Governor of Los Angeles at the time, John McDougal, for the protection against Native Americans in the area even though only one man had been killed. The commander of the state militia at the time, General Bean, recommended that a company of citizens of no less than fifty men be organized to protect themselves from the Native Americans. Military campaigns against these Indians often led to the indiscriminate murders of Indians; their goals were to essentially exterminate the Indians. Monetary rewards were often offered for the heads and scalps of Indian people.^[3]

It should be noted, however, that there were many whites who did deeply lament the “oppression” that was placed upon the Indians.^[10] In 1860, the Act was amended to allow any Indians who were not already indentured to be kidnapped under the guise of apprenticeship. Also in 1860, an army officer at Fort Humboldt observed "cold-blooded Indian killing being considered honorable, shooting Indians and murdering even squaws and children that have been domesticated for months and years, without a moment's warning and with as little compunction as they would rid themselves of a dog." On February 16, the Indian Island Massacre^[11] occurred when the newly created Humboldt Volunteer Militia paddled to Indian Island where the Wiyot men and women slept after a week of ceremonial dancing. With hatchets, clubs and knives, the militia killed 80-100 Wiyot men and women. Two other raids occurred that night, causing 200-600 Wiyot casualties.

In an 1867 analysis done for the Secretary of War,^[12] it was noted that the rapid advancement of white settlements had greatly limited the sources of fish, wild fowl, game, nuts and roots. At that point, the Indians were forced into collisions with the whites and often needed to choose between stealing or starvation. By 1870, the population had declined from 40,000 at the time of the United States acquisition of California to 20,000. Thousands of Indians had been murdered, raped or sold into slavery.^[13]

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