Huntington Free Library Native American Collection CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY California and Her Indian Children Cornelia Taber mvjevmoftheAMEIucan indirn: CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 924 097 763 795 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924097763795 CALIFORNIA AND HER INDIAN CHILDREN BY CORNELIA TABER vnn riciit 1911 llv Northern California Indian Association Published by The Northern California Indian Association San Jose, Cal. , •■ ', \ Y f B T3 19 H > y^X'i///,.:-:^ V" ?f,. DEDICATION To my mother ANNA F. TABER who through many shut-in years worked unceasingly with pen and with needle for the Indians of California, and whose sympathetic encouragement made pos- sible the preparation of this book. Grateful acknowledgment should be made of assistance received, in the preparation of this Mission Study, from Mr. C. E. Kelsey, Special Government Agent for California Indians, Mr. William E. Johnson, Chief Special Officer, U. S. Indian Service, Dr. W. B. Noble, Synodical Super- intendent Presbyterian Missions in California, Mrs. H. M. Alexander, for Methodist Missions, Mrs. Dorcas J. Spencer, Natl Sup't of Indian Work, W. C. T. U., Mrs. John Bidwell, Rev. W. H. Weinland, Superintendent of Moravian Mis- sions, Mrs. Beryl Bishop Collett, Miss Alice Black- ford, and several Field Matrons. Liberal use has been made of the publications of the University of California. TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. History. Area, Climate, Fertility, Native Population, Religion, Early History, Mission Era, American Occupation, Indian Right of Occupancy, Treaties, Eviction 1 CHAPTER II. Present Conditions, Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity. Government Schools, Public Schools, Modern Missions, Land for the Landless, Government Field Matrons, Temperance, Woman's Christ- ian Temperance Union, Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity 11 CHAPTER III. Organizations for Indian Betterment. National Indian Association, Southern California Indian Association, Redlands Indian Association, Northern California Indian Association, Government Field Matron Stations, Requa, Lookout, Eureka, Middle- town, Tuolumne, Coarse Gold, Manchester, Campo 25 CHAPTER IV. Modern Missions. Colusa, Little Papoose Delegate to Sunday School Convention, Mo- rongo, Martinez, Rincon, Hoopa, Glenburn, Chico, North Fork, Bishop, Round Valley, Ukiah, Potter Valley, Manchester, Smith River, Yuma, Greenville, Auberry 46 Facts You Want to Know About California Indians. No. of Indians in California 19,839 on Reservations North " South ' ' Allotments North " " South " Forest Reserves .'. ' ' lands owned by Indians ' ' lands owned by whites provided for by government appropriation 5,500 soon to be thus provided for 1,200 still unprovided for 1,944 3,416 2,800 488 3,000 300 250 941 19,839 Education. No. of Indians of school age 3,600 " " " receiving education 2,100 " " " without educational opportunities 1,500 3,600 Government Schools. Boarding Schools. Northern California 4 Ft. Bidwell capacity 120 Greenville " 80 Round Valley " 120 Hoopa " 130 Southern California 2 Sherman Institute 550 Ft. Yuma 100 Day Sehools. 1100 Northern California Likely Manchester Upper Lake average capacity 30 Ukiah (Attendance much Tule River less) Bishop Big Pine Independence Southern California 14 Martinez Coachella Malki Soboba Santa Ynez Cahuilla Pechanga Pala Rincon La Jolla Mesa Grande Volcan Capitan Grande Campo Government Field Matrons. REQUA, Humboldt Co. Mrs. Hamilton. EUREKA, Humboldt Co. Mrs. Alice M. Peebles. UPPER LAKE, Lake Co. Mrs. Alexander. LOOKOUT, Modoc Co. Mrs. Marion E. Wolf. SUSANVILLE, Lassen Co. Miss Edith M. Young. MIDDLETOWN, Lake Co. Mrs. C. A. Johnson, TUOLUMNE, Tuolumne Co. Miss Eleanor Tebbetts. COARSE GOLD, Madera Co. Mrs. H. M. Gilchrist. CAMPO, San Diego Co. Miss Seward. Indians in California on Reservations. Humboldt County, Hoopa 436 Klamath Strip 745 1181 Mendocino County, Round Valley 607 607 Tulare County, Tulare River 1S6 156 In Northern California, 1,944 Santa Barbara County, Santa Ynez ' 62 San Bernardino County, San Manuel 53 Palms 23 Riverside County, Malki 270 Palm Springs 42 Mission Creek'. 5 Pechanga 186 Cahuilla 152 Santa Rosa 74 Saboba 141 Ramona none Cabezon, Coachella, San Augustin, Toro, Alamo , Bonito, Durbrow, Agua 62 76 Dulce, Martinez, Figtree John's . . . and .308 San Diego County, Pala 205 Pauma 54 La Jolla 125 Rincon 84 San Pasqual 86 Mesa Grande 193 Volcan 169 Los Coyotes 126 Inyaha and Cosmh 33 Capitan Grande 79 Los Conejos 58 Syquan 37 Campo 69 Cuypaipe 29 , Laguna 8 La Posta 6 Manzanita 84 Fort Yuma 655 1,178 2,100 On reservations in South, 3,416 On reservations in State, 5,360 Non-Reservation Indians in Southern California. San Bernardino County, Chimehuevis 208 Mohaves 280 488 (These Indians are under Government officers whose headquarters are in Arizona and have been included in totals for Arizona, but the Indians live in California.) Distribution of Non-Reservation Indians in Northern California by Counties. Alameda 35 Alpine 200 Amador 181 Butte 322 Calaveras 125 Colusa : 155 Del Norte '. . . 256 El Dorado 291 Fresno 444 Glenn 67 Humboldt 1,597 Inyo 1,062 Kern , . 300 Kings 122 Lake 618 Lassen 472 Madera 670 Marin 100 Mariposa . 190 Mendocino 1,555 Modoc 753 Mono 536 Monterey 79 Nevada 66 Placer 103 Plumas 488 Shasta 981 Sierra 45 Siskiyou 877 Sonoma 369 Tehama 115 Trinity 278 Tulare 231 Tuolumne 201 Yolo 42 Yuba 55 Total number of Indians distributed through 36 Counties in 257 bands, 13,991 Grand total in State, 19,839 Missions. COLUSA, Colusa Co. Rev. F. G. and Mrs. Beryl Bishop Collett. Moravian BANNING, Riverside Co. (Morongo, etc.) Rev. and Mrs. Wm. H. Weinland. MARTINEZ, Riverside Co. Rev. and Mrs. A. C. Delbo. RINCON, San Diego Co. Rev. and Mrs. D. J. Woosley. Presbyterian NEEDLES, San Bernardino Co. Rev. A. C. Edgar. HOOPA, Humboldt Co. Rev. S. C, Gilman, Miss M. E. Chase, Miss Funk. GLENBURN, Shasta Co. Mrs. Lucy A. Gay. CHICO, Butte Co. Mrs. John Bidwell. NORTH FORK, Madera Co. Rev. Alexander Hood. BISHOP, Inyo Co. Rev. W. N. Price. Methodist SMITH RIVER, Del Norte Co. GREENVILLE, Plumas Co. Rev. Mr. Armstrong. ROUND VALLEY, Mendocino Co. UKIAH, Mendocino Co. Rev. J. N. McAllister. POTTER VALLEY, Mendocino Co. Rev. Mr. Wilson. UPPER LAKE, Lake Co. Rev. H. H. Buckner. YUMA, Imperial Co. Rev. Mr. Crouch. Baptist AUBERRY, Fresno Co. Miss Ida M. Schofield, Miss Emma Christensen. Episcopal Three stations in the South for teaching lace-making. Facts You Ought to Know About California Indians. 193,000 Indians died between 1834 and 1908. This decrease was due to white aggression and crime; and can be stopped by humane measures: 1. By Missions to teach the gospel to the 10,000 native Pagans of California. 2. By purchase of homes for those in need. 3. By co-operation with government to stop Liquor Traffic. 4. By education for children. 5. By hygienic instruction by Field Matrons. 6. By medical attendance and supplies for sick. 7. By proper food and clothing for infants and instruction to mothers in care of same. 8. By better Public Sentiment which will recognize Indian Manhood and Womanhood and protect them in the common rights of humanity, including School Privileges for every Indian child. Wanted. 1. Men and Women to work in Indian Missions and as Field Matrons. I $800 would pay a Missionary's salary. 2. Missions < $1000 would build a chapel. ( $600 would build a mission cottage. 3. Sunday schools to be organized by local churches for neighboring Indians. 4. Cooking and sewing classes for Indian women and girls. 5. Supplies for Field Matrons — including medicines, sewing materials, bright pictures, and household decorations. 6. Christmas boxes which will carry in a concrete form a message o£ peace and good wiU. What is your CHURCH doing for California Indians? What is your CLUB doing for California Indians? What are YOU doing for California Indians? For information, literature, etc., address NORTHERN CALIFORNIA INDIAN ASSOCIATION Mrs. S. W. Gilchrist, President, 460 North Third St., San Jose, Cal. Mr. C. E. Kelsey, General Secretary, 145 South Whitney St., San Jose, Cal. Miss Cornelia Taber, Corresponding Secretary, Saratoga, Cal. Mrs. A. S. Bacon, Treasurer, 99 South Priest St., San Jose, Cal. FOREWORD THOUGHTS ON THINGS ETERNAL Y greatest spiritual need is to have God with me. If His presence, His grace be within my soul, then all else is, or will be, right. But this blessing cannot remain mine, if I accept or try to use it in any selfish way, or for any personal end. God comes to me, not for my own sake so much as for the sake of making me able to help my brethren. He makes me strong that I may strengthen them ; He makes me know that I may teach them. If I fail thus to use His presence, I will lose it. Nor must I be satisfied with my efforts for my brother unless I am ministering to his greatest need. That greatest need, like my own, is to have God with him. So my unchanging aim must be to bring to my brother God's presence ; to bring him into that Presence. Until I have done that, God's purpose in coming to me is not fulfilled. If I do not try to help my brother in this best way, then I am, in effect, driving God away from myself. Hence come my frequent failures, my coldness, my deadness, my loss of the peace and the strength which I have known. I have taken them for my own, and tried to keep them so, or have used them only for the lesser needs of others. And they have gone. Let me remember then, that if God is to be and remain with me, I must realize that the waters of His grace within my soul are not a pool, however fair and beautiful, beside which I am to sit and con- template His beauty and the blessings which He sends, but a spring of water, springing up into everlasting life, whose waters must flow out to satisfy the greatest needs and to supply the greatest wants of my brother's soul. — (North Dakota Sheaf.) California and Her Indian Children. I. HISTORY _ Area. From the mountainous Oregon line on the north to the plains of the Mexican border on the south, California stretches her regal length of nearly eight hundred miles. Her area of one hun- dred and fifty-eight thousand square miles more than equals the entire island domain of Japan. Her great central valley would hold all of New England, while New York and New Jersey would not suffice to fill the remainder. 'Within her borders are great moun- tain ranges with lofty peaks perpetually snow-capped and great 'desert wastes 200 feet below sea level. Mighty forests clothe her hillsides, giant power is in her rushing streams, well nigh unlimited fertility is in her alluvial soil, to which irrigation is yearly adding great stretches of territory redeemed from the desert. Climate. The climate of California varies from the semi-tropi- cal conditions in the south to the almost arctic cold of the high Sierras, where snow lies thirty and forty feet deep in the passes during the winter. Along, the coast, the northwest trade winds moderate the heat of summer, while the Japan current softens the asperity of the northern winter, producing a copious rainfall. Fertility. Climate and soil under varying- conditions allow the cultivation of almost every variety of vegetation. "Fair as the gar- den of the Lord" is sunny California. Fair and fertile she has ever been, with a food supply abundantly sufficient for a large popula- tion. "Doves, ground squirrels and rabbits, antelope, elk and quail were plentiful, while the rivers and sloughs abounded in water fowl and teemed with mussels and fish., Wild oats covered the land and acorns abounded, while along the Sierras, berry bearing manzanitas and nut bearing pine were added." Native Population. Reliable authorities tell us that California, at the time of its discovery, contained a larger native population than all the rest of the country combined. Estimates vary from one hundred thousand to seven hundred and fifty thousand. Doc- tor C. Hart Merriam of the Biological Survey places it at two hun- dred and sixty thousand ; more than two hundred dialects were spoken, classified by ethnologists into twenty-two or twenty-three 2 California and Her Indian Children linguistic stocks. Hundreds of half obliterated sites of villages, which in the early days were thriving communities, testify to the large population. In spite of the great variety of race stocks, the Indians of California were on the whole similar in manners and customs. Minor differences, partly the result of environment, marked them to a certain extent, and they may be divided into four more or less distinct groups. 1st. The great central body of those living between Point Conception and Cape Mendocino and between this coast and the Sierras. 2nd. The Indians of the northwest centering around the lower Klamath. 3rd. The Indians of the Santa Barbara coast and islands and adjacent territory. 4th. The tribes of the Colorado river. Speaking generally, the Indians of California were a peaceful, primitive people, living in conical huts of brush and tule, or sticks and bark, subsisting easih*- upon the abundant food supply. Clothing consisted of garments of shredded bark and tule and, in some localities, the skins of fur-bearing animals. They had no tribal, government similar to that of the more eastern Indians. Each little village was independent of the rest, claiming hunting, fishing and food-gathering rights in the lands adjacent. Similarity of language was sometimes a common bond and family government was recog- nized. There was little tendency to hold property in common and individual ownership was the ordinary custom. The great man of a village would be the one who had accumulated the most deer and bear skins, the most feather ornaments, the most wampum of sea shells. They hunted, they fished, they played games, they danced and they sang. The Second Group, the Indians of the Northwest, seem to have been rather more advanced. Their food was m'ore varied, their rec- tangular houses of hewn logs with circular openings for doorways, more complex. Besides their beautiful basketry, they made rude carvings on wood and elk horn. Instead of rafts of logs or tules, they had dug-out canoes made from hollow trees. Their dead were buried instead of being burned. Wealth played an important part in their lives, and money payment could assuage wounded feelings, or purchase a bride as well in this primitive community as in some others. Instead of the little perforated discs made from clam shells which were used as money by the Central Indians, these in the North used dentalia, long hollow, tooth-like shells. Wood- pecker scalps, obsidian implements, and unusually colored deer skins were also used in barter. In the Third enthnographical province, that of Santa Barbara, the Indians are either extinct or the few survivors are civilized but History 3 they seem to have resembled the Northwestern group. The Fourth area, the Colorado bands, partook of the charac- teristics of their geographical neighbors, those on the East shading off into the Indians of Arizona, the others toward the Indians of the great Central region. Arts. Basketry was their principal art. The coiled basketry of the South and the twined basketry of the North showed fine workmanship and much artistic skill in ornamentation. The de- signs were conventionalized representations of natural objects, the interpretations being pattern names. Picture writing was unknown among them. They made no pottery except in the extreme South. Rope and string were everywhere used, but woven textiles were made nowhere in the state. Their work in carving was exceed- ingly crude. Religion. Religious beliefs and ceremonies varied somewhat in the different areas; all united in attributing life, intelligence and supernatural power to all living and lifeless things. Restriction (taboo) and superstition governed practices connected with birth and death and other important events in life. The possession of supernatural power by "medicine men" (Shamans) was a belief common to all. The Indians of the Central area seem to have had a more or less defined belief in a beneficent Creator-Spirit, whose plans, however, might be frustrated by a tricky sprite, the Coyote. The Indians of the Northwest, on the other hand, believed that they owed all their knowledge and customs to a previous, now vanished race. Myths abounded, as among all Indians. There was a belief in a life hereafter, but unaccompanied by any idea of re- wards and punishments. Connected with the mourning ceremony, in some places, was a scattering of grain on the earth accompanied by chanting, to explain, that as grain falls to the earth to spring up again into life, so those who have died will live again. As every- where else, the practice of Shamanism in California centers about disease and death. Disease was supposed to be caused by some small material objects supernaturally present in the body. By in- cantations and sucking the affected part, the Shaman pretended to remove these, and he would show pebbles or other little objects in his hand in proof of his success. His supposed powers gave him almost unlimited influence which was often used despotically. Public Ceremonies. The public ceremonies were of various kinds. The annual Mourning for the Dead, called "Burning" or "Cry," was of wide-spread observance. This lasted for one or more nights. Crying, wailing, singing, and perhaps exhortation, led up to a grand holocaust of personal possessions — baskets, clothing, food, etc. — to furnish the spirits of the departed with needed pro- vision, or merely as offerings of affection. The tribal dances, par- ticularly in the Northwest, played an important part in Indian life. 4 California and Her Indian Children The Woodpecker, White Deerskin and Brush dances of the North- western Indians were great occasions for display of wealth in dan- cing regalia. These dances were supposed in some way to pro- pitiate the Powers' Above, prevent disease and insure a good food supply. Early History. While to the Spaniards in search of a Northern passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic belongs the honor of the discovery of California, it is in the records of Sir Francis Drake, antedating the mission documents by two hundred years, that we find the first account of the meeting of the white and red races in California. "Welcome, Englishmen," was Massoit's greet- ing on the far-off Atlantic coast, and it was with every sign of friendship and veneration that the children of Nature received these strangers when Drake and his men landed at Point Reyes, June 17th, 1579. "Approaching them, they stood as men ravished with admiration at the sight of such things as they had never before heard or seen, seeming rather to reverence them as deities than to design war against them as mortal men, which they discovered every day more clearly during the whole time." * * * A while after, "their King, with all his train, appeared with as much pomp as he could," and tendered to Drake the overlordship of the coun- try, placing on Drake's head his own "Crown of knitwork wrought curiously of feathers of divers colors and of a good fashion, and en- riching his neck with chains," made of bone. All honor to good Sir Francis, who received this submission in the name of his Queen, endeavoring to recompense the Indians for their various gifts. "Lifting their eyes and hands toward Pleaven," he and his men sought, like Paul at Lystra, to turn the thoughts of these pagans from the creature to the great Creator of all. Sorrowfully the na- tives saw these wonderful beings finally depart, and reluctantly Drake left this people "of a loving and tractable nature, seemingly ready to accept Christianity if it could be preached and made known to them." Century has been piled on century since these words were written. What do their stories tell of the "loving and tract- able people," and the great strong race to which were given the pure white banner of freedom and the oracles of God? Mission Era. Like a strain of distant music wafted down through the years to our prosaic age, is the story of the coming of the Padres to California. We see it all in a haze of romance ; sunny skies seem ever bending above the graceful arches of the missions nestled among verdant fields ; the silvery chime of bells floats out over the valleys ; processions of devout neophytes wind along the olive bordered highways ; content and plenty reign. We kneel in thought beside Father Junipero as, with cross uplifted high, he claims the land for God and their Catholic Majesties. One by one the Missions, twenty-six in number, extend along El Camine History 5 Real, like a chain of lights in the darkness. The dream of a kingdom of God on earth seems realized. Love to God and a great yearning for the souls of men impelled these fathers to deeds of daring, to the more difficult toil of patient endeavor, year after year. They found a childlike, pagan race, subsisting with little effort in a land of plenty. They sought to train this race in labor and in faith, for the good of their souls and the advancement of Holy Church. But their system belonged to an age that was passing. Far away across the wide prairies, beyond the snow-capped mountains, a battle was being fought — the battle for freedom, for manhood rights, and in the great symphony of the race the song of the free was to super- cede the chant of the neophyte. It was in 1768 that Spain de- termined upon the colonization of Upper and Lower California, and in 1769, the first expedition started, Father Junipero Serra leading his little band of missionaries, escorted by a body of soldiers, under the leadership of Governor Portola. The Scriptural injunction to "compel them to come in" was literally followed. The Indians were made to live in quarters within the mission bounds and pun- ished severely for migratory offenses or failure to perform religious duties. They were taught agriculture, and at least some knowledge of arts and handicrafts, architecture and stock raising, and, in indi- vidual instances, reading, writing and music. Always a free people, the Indians complained bitterly of their state of virtual peonage. In 1822, Mexico won her independence from Spain and the support of the missions languished. Finally, in 1834, the crushing blow of secularization fell. The missions had been in operation during but two generations, and the work of civilizing the Indians was still incomplete. One by one the missions were abandoned, the Padres sailed mournfully home and the strong hands that had guided and controlled the Indians were removed. Joyously at first, they hailed their new-found freedom and sped back to the lands formerly occu- pied by their fathers, only to find these already claimed by Spanish and Mexican settlers. Grown helpless by enforced dependence, they were no match for the strong new race and they melted away like dew before the sun, in the pitiless warfare of the survival of the fittest. A feeble attempt was made to reserve some land for them, but this proved ineffective. Some fled to the mountains, but most perished where they were, and of the thirty-four thousand con- verts claimed by the mission records, we find but three thousand descendants today. Doctor C. Hart Merriam of the Biological Sur- vey estimates the shrinkage of the native population throughout the state, between 1834 and 1849, at one hundred and ten thousand, which represents the appalling rate of seven thousand a year. It is some satisfaction to us as Americans that this decrease occurred under Mexican rule. History- 7 American Occupation. By the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, Mexico ceded her rights in California to the United States. We who have seen the unfurling of our beloved flag bring life, lib- erty and the pursuit of happiness to the Islands of the Sea, can scarcely credit the awful tales of bloodshed and rapine that mark the inrush of Americans into California with the discovery of gold. By 1852 the white population of California was supposed to be over two hundred thousand — men, for the most part, strong and master- ful. Traditions of two hundred years of Indian warfare and mem- ories of conflicts in the wilderness journey with the warlike tribes of the plains who were fighting for their homes, made these new- comers see an enemy in every redskin. "The Indians were armed only with bows and arrows and the miners were well armed with the best firearms of the day. As the Indians were also heavily outnumbered, their case was hopeless from the start. Owing to the many languages and dialects, united action on the part of the Indians was impossible. No general war resulted, but a great series of skirmishes and misunderstandings took place. "The Indians, of course, would meet any aggression or insult in the visual savage way, by retaliating on the first white man whom they met; then the miners would find it necessary to band together and wipe out the offending village. This was usually done by surrounding the Indian camp 'at day-break and shooting everybody who appeared. "We do not know how many of these affairs took place in California. Something like ninety or a hundred of them have been reported, and there are Bloody Creeks and Bloody Mountains and Bloody Rocks all up and down the state. In some cases the Indians undoubtedly were the aggressors. In the majority of instances, however, the Indians do not seem to have been the original ag- gressors, and in a number of cases the outrage upon the Indians was undoubtedly wanton, for the purpose of securing the Indian lands for cattle, and in some cases, it is said, for the purpose of se- curing Indian children for servants — or, to speak less politely, slaves." One instance of incredible outrage which took place in 1856 or 1857 was related to Dr. Merriam by an eye witness. "A gang of cattle and hog men took it upon themselves to drive the helpless Taches and other tribes from Tulare Lake and lower Kings River to the Fresno reservation. Men, women and children, including the sick and aged, were hurriedly driven through mud and water during the height of the rainy season by brutal men on hoseback; many fell out and perished by the way, and those who reached the hated destination and afterward escaped, returned to find then- food caches appropriated for the hogs, and, on making their pres- 8 California and Her Indian Children ence known, were themselves hunted down and quietly "taken care of" by the whites. Indian Right of Occupancy. At the time of the transfer of California by Mexico to the United States, land titles were guar- anteed as they stood. Spanish and Mexican law recognized In- dian right of occupancy and they could not be legally evicted. The Act of Congress which provided for the settlement of titles to Spanish and Mexican grants, imposed upon the Corrimission ap- pointed to make the settlement, the duty of first setting apart for Indian use all lands occupied by them, thus recognizing Indian right of occupancy as in other parts of the country. In but two cases, however, among several hundred grants, was this done. Spanish grants and Mexican law affected about one-fifth of our Indians. For the body as a whole, attempts were made to provide otherwise. Treaties. In 1851, a Government Commission travelled about, California under military escort, making treaties with the California Indians. Four hundred chiefs, representing about one hundred and fifty bands, practically all in California, signed these treaties. They were all similar in tenor. The Indians agreed to cede to the Gov- ernment of the United States their rights in the land ; to keep the peace; to accept the sovereignty of the United States, and to take certain reservations, eighteen in number, aggregating about 5,500,000 acres, described in -the treaties in metes and bounds. The government on its part, agreed to pay the Indians certain sums in goods, amounting altogether to about $2,500,000. It also agreed to reserve for Indian use forever the reservations specified. These eighteen treaties were never ratified by the Senate of the United States and so, in the Governmental view, never became operative. Notwithstanding this, the Government has since the date of the treaties proceeded exactly as though they were valid so far as the Government itself was concerned, and invalid so far as the Indians were concerned; for though the Government has taken their land and disposed of it to the settlers, and taken every other advantage which could arise from the treaties, the Indians never received a single dollar of the price promised, nor any of the reservations laid out in the treaties. The Government did, however, attempt Lo es- tablish a few reservations by executive order, most of which ef- forts failed. Two or three of the bands who were goaded into open war received small reservations of land, but the great body of the California Indians who kept the peace, and incidentally, kept the treaties, received nothing — we may say worse than nothing. In- 1902 the Northern California Indian Association heard of the treaty made with the Korus on the Sacramento, and interested Senator Bard in the subject. He caused a thorough search to be made in Washington, finally unearthing all the treaties from the secret History 9 archives of the Senate, where they had slept unknown even by the Department, for more than fifty years. Evictions. From the American occupation in 1846, to the pass- age of the Indian Allotment Act in 1887, it was impossible for an Indian in California to acquire land from the public domain, and in those forty years everything worth taking had been appropriated by white settlers, including in most cases the very lands the Indians were settled upon. The Indian was not a citizen of the United States, and therefore could not homestead land. He was not an alien, and therefore could not be naturalized and acquire the right to take up land. In 1875 an act was passed for the purpose of allowing Indians to homestead land, but the restrictions were so many that the act was of little value, in California. Here and there some white friend was found to help the Indians to comply with the intricate requirements of the law and thus obtain a home, but such instances were few and far between. At first it did not matter so much when a white settler filed on the land occupied by the In- dians and ejected them by due process of law but, as the years went on, it became increasingly difficult for an evicted Indian to find any place where he might be welcome. There is hardly a band in Northern California that does not have its tale of repeated evictions. The sufferings of the Temecula Indians, which so stirred the heart of Helen Hunt Jackson, have had their counterparts in nearly every band in Northern California. As late as the winter of 1910, a body of Indians were evicted near Healdsburg, being turned out, shelterless, in the midst of an unusually wet season. They took refuge under a county bridge until the river rose. Later they were cared for by the Government, and now have a piece of land for homes. Dr. C. Hart Merriam tells us, that "The principal cause of the appallingly great and rapid decrease in the Indians of Cali- fornia is not the number directly slain by the whites, or the num- ber directly killed by whiskey and disease, but a much more subtle and dreadful thing: It is the gradual but progressive and resistless confiscation of their lands and homes, in consequence of which they are forced to seek refuge in remote and barren localities, often far from water, usually with an impoverished supply of food, and not infrequently, in places where the winter climate is too severe for their enfeebled constitutions. Victims of the aggressive selfish- ness of the whites, outcasts in the land of their fathers, outraged in their most sacred institutions, weakened in body, broken in spirit, and fully conscious of the hopelessness of their condition, must we wonder that the wail for the dead is often heard in their camps?" 10 California and Her Indian Children QUESTIONS 1. Describe the characteristics and habits of the primitive California Indians. What can you say about numbers? Language? 2. How long was the Mission period of California history? What did the Mission Fathers accomplish? 3. What were the results to California Indians of the creation of the Republic of Mexico? 4. What were the results of American conquest and occupa- tion? 5. How were the Indian lands of California acquired by the whites? 6. Give some provisions of the treaties. How have they been fulfilled? II. PRESENT CONDITIONS, OUR RESPONSIBILITY, OUR OPPORTUNITY. It is a relief to turn from the story of sins, of omission and commission, and to think of the efforts, limited and inadequate though they be, to atone for wrong-doing and to lift up the people we have done so much to debase. We may study hopefully this phase of the Indian subject. It is for no dying race that these efforts are put forth. With the help of even what has already been done, California Indians are now holding their own numerically. There is no reason why they should not increase in this state as they are doing in the Middle West, when they have equal advantages with those Indians. Government Schools. First in order of time were the schools established by the Government. These were placed among the bands that had made themselves known by agitation. At the pres- ent time, there are day schools on all the reservations in the South, and in nine localities in the North. There are four boarding schools in Northern California and two in the South. All are doing good work, some of the teachers being veritable missionaries to their charges. Sherman Institute is particularly fortunate in having a Missionary teacher, Miss Westbrook, whose influence for good can scarcely be estimated. Public Schools. There are probably six hundred children in the public schools of the state, but racial prejudice shuts out the majority. In some localities there would not be enough children for a school were it not for the Indians. Under these circumstances the Indian children are welcome, but this is not the case in many of the more thickly populated communities. " Before the law was changed, forbidding the counting in the school census of the names of children not in attendance, many a school profited by the names of little brown children who were never allowed to attend its classes. In one district the people were very proud of their fine new schoolhouse, the best in the district, built with the state and county money allowed for Indian children who never entered its doors. The right of Indian children to an education has been rec- ognized by both state and Federal authorities. When sympatheti- 11 12 California and Her Indian Children cally taught by one who will take the trouble to overcome ^^ shyness and arouse the latent ambition in the new paths o ing, it is conceded that they equal and often surpass white cftiici of similar age. In spite of these facts, however, less than Halt 01 our 2800 Indians of school age in Northern California have a cliance for an education, the rest, about 1500 in number, being left to grow up in ignorance, a menace to themselves and to us. Modern Missions. In Southern California the Indians are largely the descendants of the Mission Indians, and thus nominally Roman Catholics. There are, however, some very successful Frot- estant Missions among them. The Moravians have- three Mis- sions, at Morongo, Martinez and Rincon, with added preaching stations. The Presbyterians have a Mission among the Mojaves, on both sides of the river at Needles, and the Methodists, among the Yumas, at Yuma. The Episcopal Church has three stations for teaching lace-making among the Southern Indians, and un- doubtedly much Christian influence radiates from the faithful teachers. Homes have been transformed by that cleanliness which is akin to godliness, because of the necessity for absolute neatness in handling the airy product of the deft fingers. In Northern California, the Roman Catholics have Missions among the Indians in the southern end of Lake County, near Kel- seyville and Guidiville, and at Carroll and Hopland in Mendocino County, and some smaller stations. These reach about 800 or 900 Indians. The Methodists have Missions at Upper Lake, Potter Valley, Ukiah, Round Valley and Greenville. The Presbyterians have Missions at Hoopa, Glenburn, Chico, North Fork and Bishop. The Congregationalists hope soon to open a Mission in Modoc County. Altogether these Missions have less than 2,000 adherents, with as many more who may have had some instruction. This leaves at least 10,000 who have not even a nominal connection with any Mission or school where Christian influence can reach them. The new Mission and school at Colusa are doing fine work under Rev. F. G. and Mrs. Beryl Bishop Collett. At Middletown in Lake County, a Sunday School is carried on by some members of two of the local churches. If such Sunday Schools could be opened for all of our Indians, the problem of carrying the Gospel to these heathen at our doors would be quickly solved. "Wherever the white man, from the beginning until now, has been just and kind, and the Missionary has remembered his Mas- ter's great commission so as not only to disciple and baptise, but also to teach them to observe to do whatsoever be commanded, there have been good Indians." Some churches have arisen to their opportunity and have, we are sure, been richly repaid. Last year the Indians from the mountains who were picking grapes in the valley, were made wel- Present Conditions, Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity 13 come in the little Baptist Church at Clovis. After the Indians had returned to their homes, one old Indian woman asked the Mission- ary, "Will the music in Heaven be any more beautiful than the music in the Clovis Church?" The scattered condition of most of our Indians precludes the establishment of large Missions in most localities, but if the Christian people living near them will but go with loving heart and friendly hand, will invite them cordially into their own places of worship, and there make them truly at home, the deed will be "twice blest, blessing him who gives and him who takes." Like the barley loaves and the two small fishes placed in the Master's hand, their own supply of sustaining food will be in- creased a thousand fold. Fallen among thieves, wounded and well nigh left for dead by the wayside of life, California Indians are sadly in need of "neighbors" who will be Good Samaritans to body and soul. Said an Indian as he flung his pocketbook on the floor of the chapel. "You can see how thin it is, but whatever we have to give, our church ought to give as much for sending the gospel to those who are without it as we spend in providing it for ourselves." Land for the Landless. Ten thousand Indians, with no claim to the land they were living on, liable to eviction at any moment, and consequently no incentive to improve their homes, living all the time a hand to mouth existence that made the purchase of land im- possible for the majority. This was the condition revealed by the investigation made by the Northern California Indian Association in 1903. Immediate steps were taken to remedy it. A whirlwind campaign of publicity resulted in petitions to Congress, which, in 1906, brought an appro- priation of $100,000, later increased to $150,000, and the secre- tary of the association, Mr. C. E. Kelsey, was appointed special Government Agent, to disburse the money. Under his wise and economical management, 5,500 Indians have been placed in secure homes; 1,200 more soon will be; the extension of the Forest Re- serves provides for 3,000 others, leaving about 900, which the Gov- ernment will probably care for. The amount of land given to individuals varies with the char- acter of the soil, averaging, perhaps, five acres to each family. The Indians are making good use of it, and the new homes are better than the old ones. The happy spirit of long-deferred hope now realiz- ed was voiced by old Captain Tack when he said, "Went on land, I say, 'Tack, this your land, you got home now.' Then I say, 'Tack, vou get no home, you got beautiful dream;' When got land, no sleep, no sleep four nights. Feel like bird, have wings, fly." The new homes have not changed the industrial status of the Indians; they still earn their living by days' labor, but they have been given that foothold on the ladder of opportunity which makes a self- respecting life possible. 14 California and Her Indian Children Southern California. Owing to the agitation b ,^ un , b J A H p^ n Hunt Jackson in the '80s, in her books, "Ramona, and a ^en- tury of Dishonor," public opinion roused itself sufficiently at tnai time to compel the Government to furnish reservations for most 01 the Indians in Southern California. Many of these reservations contained thousands of acres, but they were, to a great extent, waterless, arid and stony, with very little land susceptible ot culti- vation. A large share of the land fund was used in buying tracts of arable land to add to these existing reservations and to provide systems of irrigation with the assistance of the General Irrigation Fund. Government Field Matrons. Years ago old Sitting Bull ap- pealed to a white friend, saying, "Take pity on my women. The young men can be like white men and work, but the women to whom in the past we owed everything, have nothing left." It was to help the women up the hard road of a new civilization that the Government instituted the Field Matron service, and nobly these women fulfill their mission. In and out of the little cabins they go on their errands of mercy, here caring for the sick, there teach- ing the mysteries of yeast bread, or the greater mystery of feeding and caring for the little children, always a friend ready to "warn, to comfort, to command," preaching a gospel of soap as well as a gospel of love. Father, mother, preacher, teacher, doctor and nurse, each by turns, the Field Matron must be to the band so fortunate as to possess her services. A Civil Service Examination tests ca- pacity, but only experience can prove the possession of those quali- ties of head and heart that will ensure success. A ready sympathy is essential, but with it must be firmness in teaching the Indians to develop their own resources and lean on no one. Supplies. While everything should be done to encourage self-help, there is always much sickness and poverty needing relief, and, as Government appropriations are sadly inadequate, supplies of clothing, medicines, household utensils, and adornments are greatly needed as tools for these brave workers. Years of injustice have bred suspicion of the white man, and it is sometimes only by the gift of a new dress for a little girl, a bright ribbon, medicine or nourishing food for a sick person, that the Field Matron can win the confidence of her Indians. It surely is not right that these soldiers on the firing line should be expected to supply their own ammunition, yet in the face of the dire needs that surround them, this is just what they do, using their own salaries to the utmost limit. No better work can be clone by a church or Sunday School than to choose one of them as its "substitute" in the Indian field. Let- ters will come back that will stir the blood and make the donors thankful for a chance to serve in this warfare "for God and Native Land." These stations are true Missions, for the Matrons hold Present Conditions, Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity 15 Sunday services to which the Indians come eagerly, and day by day, as they go about their work, they carry a message of light and love that is as powerful to transform lives of Indians as of other dwell- ers in the shadow. Candidates for this service can obtain all necessary information relative to examinations, salary, etc., by addressing Mr. C. E. Kel- sey, 145 South Whitney Street, San Jose. Cal. Temperance. . The Indians assembled, at the Second Zayante Conference at Mount Hermon, passed the following resolution: "We want protection from the liquor traffic. In the early days we did not fight among ourselves and kill each other. But now the white people have brought liquor to us and it is ruining the Indians of California. We are told that there are laws for our pro- tection against liquor, but we seldom get the benefit of these laws. The white man's whiskey makes a bad Indian." "The Indian people lived here a great many years before the white people came and did not know what whiskey was. We got along well without whiskey, so let us see what Uncle Sam can do for us Indian people," wrote Captain Sherwood. Federal Liquor Laws. Uncle Sam, in the person of his repre- sentative, Chief Special Officer William E. Johnson, has clone a great deal. The Act of Congress, approved January 30th, 1897, forbids the selling or furnishing of liquors "to any Indian to whom allotment of land has been made while the title of the same shall be held in trust by the Government under the" charge of any Super- intendent or Agent, or to any Indian, including mixed bloods, over whom the Government, through its Departments, exercises guard- ianship." The same Act provides a punishment for any person who shall introduce any liquor into the Indian country, which term in- cludes any allotted land while the title to the same shall be held by the, Government. This law covers the newly-allotted homesteads for our landless Indians, as well as the regular Government Reser- vations. State Liquor Law. The state of California has a liquor law which makes it a misdemeanor "to sell or furnish, or cause to be sold or furnished, intoxicating liquors to any habitual or common drunkard or to any Indian." United States Indian Service. Under these laws, Mr. John- son's department, during the fiscal years 1910, made 265 arrests which led to 233 convictions within the state of California. In the fiscal year 1911 (eleven months), there were 169 arrests and 143 convictions. During 1910, fifty deputies and possemen of Indian blood were used in California operations, and they gave satisfactory service. Unfortunately, although the Congressional appropriation ■for this work has steadily risen, it is still insufficent to cope with all the needs; Calls from a number of reservations and Indian settle- 16 California and Her Indian Children ments in Northern California could not be responded to because of the lack of funds. This deficiency will probably be remedied and we would urge all people who have the good of our Indians at heart and who know of cases of the sale of liquor to Indians to report the same to Mr. Johnson (Address Mr. W. E. Johnson, Chief Spe- cial Officer, U. S. Indian Service, Railroad Building, Denver Colo.) And when Mr. Johnson or his aids take up such cases let all decent citizens lend them every possible assistance in their heroic efforts to rid our land of this terrible curse. All of the Field Matrons work unceasingly against intemperance; they, too, should receive all pos- sible help from the white citizens of their localities. When Mr. Johnson was bringing some cases for trial to the court in San Bernardino, the ladies of the Redlands Indian Associa- tion and some of their friends packed the courtroom and, in face of this array of public opinion, the judge could do no less than render a righteous judgment. Woman's Christian Temperance Union. The Woman's Chris- tian Temperance Union in California has had a department for In- dians ever since its representative went into Hoopa Valley at the solicitation of an Indian to report the conditions found there to the Government. The plea of the young redmen for "the white man's laws, the white man's school, and the white man's church," was irresistible to White Ribboners, and their active sympathy has been effective ever since. The dissemination of large quantities of literature and numerous addresses have awakened the Unions, Missionary Societies, etc., to Indian needs, and this has resulted in many Christmas boxes and other help. The State Superintendent, Mrs. Dorcas J. Spencer (1340 Weber Street, Alameda, Cal.) writes, "Government teachers, Mis- sionaries and Field Matrons need just the help that White Rib- boners can give. Begin correspondence with one and you will go on and become a real helper. There is ahvays something to be done for an individual that opens the way to wider influence. Sometimes it is the old who are sick and hungry, a crippled boy or girl to be placed in school, or even a case at law — and there is where In- dians are ~most helpless. The W. C. T. U. has made persistent ef- forts to suppress the sale of liquor to Indians, securing better laws for that purpose. "There are piteous tales of Indians languishing in prison be- cause no one was interested in them. One young man shot a white man who stole his wife, and was sentenced to life imprisonment, not knowing a dozen words of English at the time. After twenty years in San Quentin, during which he had made the most of the prison school, he could read and write fluently, had proved himself skilled in industries (he made seven violins in prison), and earned a good name for himself. The W. C. T. U. gained a parole for him, Present Conditions, Our Responsibility, Our Opportunity 17 giving bonds for his behavior. He at once entered the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and on Sundays assisted the Mis- sionary at an Indian rancheria. Of course, a pardon followed, and he is now a useful, law-abiding citizen. Other instances could be given." "I was sick and ye visited me ; I was in prison and ye came unto me." Families living on the frontier have an open door of opportunity in this blessed work, and the kindly influence of Chris- tian people is the most civilizing and uplifting agency. Literature. "The Health Bulletins of the State Board of Health and Education will be sent quarterly to all Teachers of Indian Schools and Temperance literature for young and old will be sent upon request. The Superintendent of work for Indians has a standing offer to send silver or gold medals for Temperance Elo- cutionary Contests to any teacher of Indian Schools who will write to her of a class in preparation for a contest soon to be held. She has had the pleasure of sending eight or nine silver and one gold medal to the Hoopas. " The Juvenile Branch of the W. C. T. U., the Loyal Legion, is especially adapted to the needs of Indians of both sexes, young and old, giving by attractive methods, a familiar knowledge of par- liamentary usage and the conduct of public affairs, besides funda- mental Temperance instruction. OUR RESPONSIBILITY Every dweller in California lives where once an Indian lived; our hearth fires burn where their camp fires burned; their whis- pering voices still haunt the oaks of our valleys, the pines of our mountains. The white race found the Indians numerous, free, self-support- ing, well fed, in good health, with, in many bands, a moral code and religious belief. A century and a half of contact has left them but a remnant in numbers; largely without the legal rights ac- corded to other races; restricted in occupations; often dangerously near the starvation line; a prey to the white man's disease and the white man's whiskey; debased by the laxity of frontier morals, and deprived, to a great degree, of the sanctions and control of their old religion. Neglected, despised, broken hearted, they fringe our civ- ilization, at once a disgrace and a menace to us as a Christian peo- ple. Shall we, can we, sit down in our luxurious, happy homes, 18 California and Her Indian Children heedless of their claims? No specious reasoning that claims the vesting of the rights of ownership in the man who can best develop the soil will cover the case. In that light, we Anglo-Saxons must give way before the children of the Dragon and the Sunrise, for they make a living where we but plant a flower garden. Eternal values are not expressed in bushels and bales. Undoubtedly the hand of God led the American people across the deserts and over the mountains for a purpose, but that purpose was not primarily the discovery of gold nor even the finding of a land flowing with milk and honey for the children of the slums. It was the spreading westward of the Kingdomj of God, westward to the ocean barrier, which was to hold back its onward progress, until in the fulness of time it should float, white winged, out on the Pacific, carrying light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. None of us believe that Kingdom to be divided against it- self. It cannot mean one thing to the Anglo-Saxon and another to the Indian. Battle, murder and sudden death, homelessness, cold and starvation cannot be the will of the one Father for some of His children, while He designs song and laughter, peace and plenty for others. We are learning pretty rapidly in these days that all men are brothers, and that we are our brothers' keepers ; that wealth and ease mean enlarged stewardship — tools to use, not gifts to enjoy; that opportunity is a call to service; that life is. not what we get out of it, but what we put into it. "No man liveth unto himself and no man dieth unto himself." "Some years ago there happened to be a famine in Russia, the people were dying of hunger, disease made them an easy prey, and influenza fastened upon them. It assumed a contagious and viru- lent form. Soon it swept over the boundary, and Germany, France, England, finally the United States, were overrun, and many lives were sacrificed to "la grippe." It was Carlyle who said that it made a great difference to the world whether the Indian was thrash- ing his squaw or not in his tepee, for if the Indian were thrashing his squaw, he was not hunting the beaver, and if he was not hunt- ing the beaver, the fur was growing scarce, and because the fur was growing scarce, the price rose in London, the Metropolis of the world."