Thoughts From Dr. Joe:Indian Givers

From their pulpits of stone the music of mission bells played heavily and with a melody so sweet their music fell upon my ears. Crafted by artisans from the Netherlands the bells from Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa beckoned the faithful to morning mass.

The bells are the voice of the mission and were an important part of mission life. They announced reveille, Mass, breakfast, the start of work, lunch, siesta, afternoon work, dinner, and signaled a time to retire.

Early mission life has dissipated but I sensed a dark reality still exists defying preconceived assumptions that early Spanish influence on native peoples was of a benevolent nature. With each rhythmic cadence of the bells I saw a different story .

California mission history is a component of fourth grade curriculum and pivotal in understanding California history. I was pleased that my daughter Sabine chose Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. San Luis is adjacent to Cambria and that’s where my favorite store, The Soldier Gallery, is located.

We followed El Camino Real blazed by Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan missionary. Seven hundred miles long, El Camino Real, stretching from San Diego to Sonoma, linked California’s 21 missions. Traveling by horse, they were spaced spaced approximately one day’s journey apart. We made our journey from La Cañada to San Luis Obispo in four hours.

The California missions are indeed serene and each will have their own unique charm. However, if those adobe walls could talk they would tell a dreary tale. Historians continue to debate the question of the impact of the missions on the California Indians. However, most scholars believe that the missions’ influence upon Native peoples was catastrophic.

The Indians of California were forced to adapt to the mission system in one way or another. Many were lured by gifts and daily sustenance; others fled their native lands attempting to continue their own way of life. They were compelled to live at the missions and were treated severely by Spanish soldiers. The missions were a main reason for the decimation of native peoples. They were killed by unknown and unfamiliar diseases, starved, beaten, subjected to an alien discipline, forced to work in unbearable conditions, killed or assimilated in to the Spanish culture so much so that it is hard to find a true Native Californian today. During the mission period, the Native population from San Diego to San Francisco fell from an estimated 72,000 to 18,000 — a decline of more than 75 percent.

Thousands of California Indians are buried in mission cemeteries. I have walked these gardens of stone and often pondered the fate of the first Californians.

My thoughts meandered as I followed my family around the mission grounds of San Luis Obispo. Taking copious notes and pictures, our girls were eager to see the nooks and crannies of this beautiful edifice. Although Kaitzer and I gave them a small dose of reality, they were undaunted by the experience.

I wasn’t there to glory in the greatness of God nor the power and contributions of the Spanish empire. Frankly, in light of what I knew about Father Serra, I was not impressed.

I was there to honor the native peoples whose toil and suffering built these beautiful structures from San Diego de Alcala to San Francisco Solano. They were ‘Indian givers’ and what they gave transformed both the old and new worlds, making tremendous contributions to European and American civilizations.

They mined the gold and silver that created the beautiful cathedrals of Europe. The infusion of this gold and silver into the economy of the Old World created huge amounts of wealth and an explosion of economic activity. Their knowledge of agriculture and medicinal herbs helped sustain European settlements. The potato and other American foods — corn, beans, tomatoes, peppers and squash — would become the mainstay of European agriculture and food consumption. Locke and Rousseau, philosophers of the Enlightenment, were influenced by the concepts of power and government held by the native people of the Americas. The Indians gave much more than I can possibly recount.

The mission stood stately and radiant in the afternoon sun. The girls had found the gift shop and my thoughts came full circle, resting upon the Indian Givers who gave us this rich history.

Dr. Joe is a practicing counselor specializing in helping middle and high school students transition to college. He is a professor of education at Glendale College. Reach him at captinjoey@yahoo.com or write him in care of the Valley Sun, P.O. Box 38, La Cañada, CA 91012.