California mission clash of cultures

This article is part of the
Spanish missions in California
series.
Architecture of the California missions
Mission Revival Style architecture
California mission clash of cultures

The Alta California Missions are a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic Franciscans from 1769 to 1823 for the purpose of spreading the Christian doctrine among the local Native Americans.

Contents
1 "A clash of cultures"
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

"A clash of cultures"

Before the padres could abandon their interim missions and begin work on more permanent structures, they had to first attract and convert a sufficiently large number of local Indians, who would comprise the major portion of their work force. The padres offered beads, clothing, blankets, even food to the “heathens” to attract them to the prospects of mission life and convince them to move into the mission compound or a nearby village. Each Indian was expected to contribute a certain number of hours' labor each week towards making adobes or roof tiles, working on construction crews, performing some type of handicraft, or farming. Women wove cloth, prepared meals, washed clothes, and were generally responsible for whatever domestic chores arose at the mission. The Indians also spent much of their days learning the Christian faith, and attended worship services several times a day.

In recent years much debate has arisen as to the actual treatment of the Indians during the "Mission Era," and many claim that the California Mission system is directly responsible for the decline of the Native American populations. Traditionally historians have portrayed mission life as one of contentment, and that the Indians were not slaves, but rather enthusiastic converts who (more often than not) took as much pride building the missions as the Spaniards who led them in their efforts. In fact, it has been generally held that most Indians enjoyed their new lives, and the many were able to sustain themselves after the fall of the mission system by utilizing the skills they had acquired at the missions. The Indians were purportedly often granted leave to visit their villages and participated in many fiestas and celebrations throughout the year at the urging of their benefactors.

Evidence has now been brought to light that puts the Indians' experiences in a very different context. For instance, women were quartered separately from the men, regardless of marital status. Once an Indian agreed to become part of the mission community, he or she was forbidden to leave it without a padre's permission, and from then on led a fairly regimented life learning “civilized” ways from the Spaniards. Indians were often subjected to corporal punishment and other discipline as determined by the padres. When Spain abandoned California it essentially left a series of building complexes which had exceeded their useful lifespans and were generally in a state of disrepair. Virtually all of the prime lands were snatched up by Spanish settlers who elected to remain in the New World, and who tended to utilize the Indian peoples as a form of slave labor. And while the native population throughout California was reliably estimated to be in excess of 300,000 prior to the founding of the first Spanish settlement, their numbers had dwindled to somewhere around 100,000 by the early 1840s due in large part to their exposure to European diseases.

References

See also

External links

See also: California mission clash of cultures, 1769, 1823, 1840s, Alta California, Architecture of the California missions, California 4th Grade Mission Project, Christian