FAN FAVORITE: California Gold Rush | Battlelines | 3

Before the influx of prospectors and the subsequent population boom triggered by the Gold Rush, the land that is now California was home to Native American tribes who had established their own forms of society and traditions.

Miwok & Nisenan Tribes Lived In Villages, Relying On Hunting, Fishing, Foraging For Acorns

The regions east of Sacramento were mainly populated by the Nisenan tribe in the north and the Miwok tribe in the south. These groups led subsistence lifestyles, residing in small, autonomous villages. They had a deep understanding of their natural environment which allowed them to effectively utilize local resources.

Both tribes were proficient in fishing the abundant waters of the local rivers, and they hunted a variety of animals, including deer, elk, and birds. Along with hunting, foraging for seeds, nuts, and berries was a significant part of their diet.

One of their most critical food sources was acorns from the numerous oak trees in their territory, which they collected and prepared into a form of porridge. This use of acorns as a staple showcases the tribes’ extensive knowledge of available food resources and their abilities to make sustainable use of their environment.

Miwok and Nisenan Mourning Customs: Tattooing and Head Shaving

While not directly mentioned in the content provided, it is known from historical records that both Miwok and Nisenan tribes had their own mourning customs such as tattooing and head shaving, which were integral parts of their cultural identity and traditions surrounding death and remembrance.

Colonizers Disrupted Native Californians' Lives With Diseases, Livestock, and Forced Labor

The relatively stable and established lives of the Miwok and Nisenan were upended with the arrival of Spanish colonizers in 1769. The Spanish began to establish coastal missions, an effort that was, in part, a campaign to convert indigenous people to Catholicism. Integral to this effort was the coerced labor from Native Californians, who were often forced to work under Spanish rule for meager remuneration or none at all.

Missions and Ranches Destroyed Nati ...

The discovery of gold in California in 1848 led to significant clashes between Native American communities and hostile white miners, resulting in mass displacement and deadly violence.

Gold Discovered In 1848 Led To Influx of Hostile White Miners Forcing Native People Off Lands

Native American communities such as the Pomo, Miwok, and Nisenan, who had lived in Northern California for millennia, faced an onslaught of white miners during the gold rush. Initially, some Native Californians took advantage of the gold rush, engaging in mining and setting up businesses. However, as competition increased, especially with the arrival of aggressive American miners from Oregon who had prior violent encounters with native tribes, Indigenous communities were violently displaced.

Gold, which held little cultural or economic value to Native Californians like the Miwok and Nisenan, suddenly became the source of their lands being seized by white miners. These miners were not only taking over the land but also relied on coerced native labor to mine their claims. The introduction of gold to the local economy transformed the region, with white miners arriving in droves and native people often being killed, forced into labor, or starved.

Incidents Like Nisenan Women's Rape and Native Men's Killings Sparked Cycles of Retaliation Between Natives and Miners

In April 1849, an incident occurred near Sutter's Mill where Oregon miners raped several Nisenan women and killed the Nisenan men who tried to defend them. This violence sparked brutal cycles of retaliation. The Nisenan responded by killing five Oregonians at the middle fork of the American River. This act was then avenged by a group of Oregonians who entered a Nisenan village and murdered 30 individuals.

Gold Competition Led To Settlers Displacing and Attacking Native Californians, Causing Massacres and Village Destruction

The California gold rush not only fueled economic competition, but it also led to the displacement and severe mistreatment of Native Californians by settlers and miners. The Kelsey brothers, for instance, enforced slave-like conditions on detained Pomo and Wapo tribe members. They forced them to labor, paid them with minimal rations, and would inflict cruel punishments for rule infractions. Andrew Kelsey and his partner Charles Stone also committed acts of rape against Pomo women, while Benjamin Kelsey coerced Pomo men to work in gold fields, ultimately abandoning them, leading to their death from malaria or starvation.

Acts of violence were ubi ...

1849 California Constitutional Convention Debated Native American Voting Rights, Decided to Disenfranchise Them

In September 1849, regional delegates gathered in Monterey, California to draft a constitution and petition for statehood, and Native American rights became a central issue. The debate on Native American suffrage saw the delegates divided, with some recognizing Native Californians as original inhabitants deserving of governmental participation, while others, such as Oliver Wozancraft, doubted their understanding of American governance. The agenda resulted in a constitutional amendment proposed to disenfranchise all adult men except for Indians, Africans, and their descendants, which was deadlocked until Chairman Kimball Dimmick placed the deciding vote against Native suffrage. Another proposal suggested enfranchisement for land-owning Native Americans under American law, but it too was rejected, eventually leaving such decisions to an improbable two-thirds majority vote in the state legislature.

Proponents Claimed Native Californian Origins; Opponents Argued They Misunderstood American Governance

Proponents of Native suffrage underlined that the Native Americans were the land’s original inhabitants and pointed out precedents like Wisconsin which had granted the vote to its large Native population. However, opponents contended that Native people misunderstood the American system and were unprepared to vote, leading to their disenfranchisement.

1851 Relocation Treaties for Native Californians Never Ratified

In 1850, President Millard Fillmore sent negotiators to California to sign treaties with indigenous groups, with the aim to end violence and relocate Native Americans to reservations. The treaties promised annual supplies and the right to hunt and forage within reservations, addressing ongoing violence and dispossession enacted by settlers. N ...

In discussing the tragic history of Native Californians, the podcast highlights the extreme violence and genocidal policies that significantly reduced their population during and after the Gold Rush.

U.S. Government and Vigilante Attacks on Native Californians Resulted In 15,000 Deaths

During the expansion of white settlers in California, the U.S. government, through its army soldiers, vigilante groups, and militias, engaged in acts of violence against Native Americans. Soldiers of the first Dragoons and other vigilantes committed atrocities on Native villages, chasing down and killing men, women, and children. These "slaughters" and assaults often garnered adulation, rather than punishment, for the perpetrators. President Fillmore established fewer reservations than promised, lacking land ownership rights or federal protections for Native Americans on them. The legacy of these conflicts resulted in the estimated death of fifteen thousand Native Americans in California.

California Legalized Enslavement of Native People, Removing Their Rights and Autonomy

After the U.S. took control of California, it continued the Mexican policy of making indigenous people work on ranches and then further suppressed Native rights with laws passed by the California assembly in 1850. Native Californians faced extreme legal disadvantages, being presumed guilty until proven innocent and barred from testifying against whites in court. The Kelsey brothers are noted to have worked local Pomo and Wapo tribes in slave-like conditions on their ranch, restricting their movement with curfews and economic hardships. Moreover, the Act for the Government and Protection of Indians allowed for a state-sponsored system of temporary slavery, which lasted until 1863.

Catastrophic Decline: Native Population Plummets From 150,000 to 30,000 by Mid-1850s due to Violence, Disease, and Destruction

The native population in California plummeted from 150,000 to 30,000 due to a mix of violence, disease, and the destruction of their way of life by settlers hungry for gold. State-funded militias and federal government policies pushed Native Americans from their lands onto reservations. Governor Peter Burnett's declaration of a "war of extermina ...