LIFE AS A NATIVE INDIAN

Life as a Native Indian

Life as a Native Indian

Introduction

The people of Mexico reflect the country's rich history. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire in the early 16th century soon led to widespread intermarriage and racial mixing between Spaniards and Native Americans. As late as the early 19th century, Native Americans accounted for nearly two-thirds of the population in the region. During that century, however, the racial composition of the country began to change from one that featured distinct European and native populations, to one made up largely of mestizos, people of mixed Spanish and Native American descent. By the end of the 19th century, mestizos, who were discriminated against during three centuries of Spanish colonization, had become the largest population group in Mexico. Mestizos now account for about 60 percent of Mexicans (Mirande, 1988).

Discussion

There were an estimated 100,000 Native Americans in California. It is estimated that California was crowded with more Indians per square mile than any other portion of the pre-European United States. They were primarily hunters and gatherers, living in a bountiful land in which they did not need to raise crops or livestock to survive. Religious concepts werecomplex and subtle. Early mission records prove they were very healthy people, and at least three native remedies have found their way into the modern pharmacopoeia. They lived in villages near streams, the ocean, or groves of live oaks. Their homes were conical in shape, with the Chumash building some that were 60 feet in diameter. They made baskets so tightly woven they would hold water. Their 30 foot boats, made of planks for use on the ocean, have been judged to be the finest made by Native American tribes.

It was difficult to make such contented people see the wisdom of conversion to Christianity and acceptance of a radically different lifestyle. Factions formed within tribes, which became part Christian and part non-Christian, and these were very destructive. One of the major problems in communicating with and teaching the Indians was language. Between Sonoma and San Diego alone there were groups who spoke six different languages, each with many different dialects.(Solis,1996)

The padres originally wanted to teach the Indians in their own languages, but there was such a profusion of them that Spanish was used instead. In addition, the native vocabularies contained few words for things which could not be seen, heard, touched or tasted. The padres, of course, taught about the Christian religion. They were unsuccessful in teaching many natives to read and write. The padres tried to teach administrative duties, and when this failed, decided to teach Indians a system of "trades." In California this included raising crops and caring for livestock. Because the missions had huge herds of beef cattle, the Indians were taught the trade which today we would call ranching. In effect, they became the first cowboys, called Vaqueros. Other trades carried on in missions included tanning, blacksmithing, and wine making. Women also learned to cook, sew, spin and ...