Customer Reviews

Indians, Franciscans, and Spanish Colonization: The Impact of the Mission System on California Indians

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It is a pity that there isn't a book summarizing the case against the Mission Myth for younger readers, but guided by their parents, fourth grade students bound to do their history project could profit from the understandings this book shares. Jackson and Castillo present a challenging summary of evidence that shows the devastating effect that the Franciscan-led colonization of California had on its native peoples. The book is controversial because it undermines the case for the canonization of Junipero Serra by pointing out the moral contradictions inherent in the foundation of the missions. Older students (advanced high school and college) will profit by reference to this work.

This work critically examines the impact of the Mission system on the California Indians. The author interprets mission records about death rates, grain production, livestock and construction to provide insights about Indian life on California missions. The author explores the question: what did the mission system offer that attracted the Indians? The author rejects the simplistic version, taught to California fourth graders, that Indians accepted mission life in exchange for a steady food supply. This book makes a strong case for the role that coercion played in bringing Indians to the mission. The book provides details of Indian resistance to the missionary efforts in the form of revolt, flight, and murder.

As a kid in Californa Public schools I learned that the Mission Period of our history was this romantic and heroic thing; but the truth is that the Mission era is better described as a horrible failure. Not the least aspect of which was the near extinction of the Californian Indians. This book describes in a scholarly way, based on statistical analysis of Mission records, and related historical documents; the details of what exactly happened: and the picture ain't pretty.

The authors, while showing some significant data collection effort in their research, appear devoid of a solid economic grounding to understanding the nature of both mission economics, but more importantly, California Native American economics, property rights, and institutional framework at the same time. The key fact of understanding the relationship between the two systems, and thus who actually ended up on the Mission (versus staying the the Native villages) is missing from the book -- with the authors clearly showing their political correct bias. Read it for the data, not the conclusions.

I admit, that the authors show careful research and a good deal of work. However, they ruin any historical credibility that they might have. They constantly use terminology that states their peronsal opinions, thereby causing this text to not be truly factual/historical. Opinions have no place in fact or good history!