Humanities Homework Help

Please reply for peer at least 250 words.

Lina,

In the “Educating Elementary School Children About California Missions and the Perpetuation Of Genocide” article, the goals of the California missions is stated as “The mission was created under a “feudal manorial labor system,” and Indians were intended to be “absorbed into Spanish colonial society at the lowest level” and essentially converted into Christians. The article “Lying to Children About the California Missions and the Indians” explains the purpose of the origin of the missionaries by explaining how it was in 1769, after missionizing much of Mexico, the Spaniards began went to the west coast of North America to loot and claim resources before other European nations could. This led to both the Franciscan priests and Spanish soldiers abusing the Indigenous peoples in the form of forced labor by making 21 missions along today’s coastal California. They were forced to labor for Spain for “the good of the Spanish crown and its citizens.” This article further explains different forms of Indigenous peoples resistance such as refusing to be baptized such as the record of 2 years of no baptism as recorded at Mission San Diego. Other forms of resistance included continuing to practice their own religion and speaking their own languages although missionaries banned the use of traditional language. Lastly, oral reports of abuse were shared between Indigenous tribes to narrate the truth of what occurred at these missions and to dismantle the colonizer narrative which hurt Indigenous peoples and erased the truth of their pasts.

2) In our textbook, Manifest destiny is defined as “U.S. extent and power, its destiny, with an implication that the continent had previously been “terra nullius”, a land without people. We learned that the extension of the U.S. from sea to shining sea was the intention and design of the country’s founders and that “Free land” is what attracted european settlers to expand their desires. Manifest destiny later took the form of the Monroe doctrine which assisted with the the dominating of former Spanish colonial territories in the Americas. Europeans believed that the Monroe doctrine involves the winning of “the land” from alien, and indeed evil, forces. In the textbook chapter, “Sea to Shining Sea” we learned about how “sea to shining sea” Populist poet Walt Whitman, supported colonization of Mexico to benefit US expansion and was explicitly racist. Our textbook states, “sentiments reflected establishment US origin myth that had the frontier settlers replacing the Native peoples as historical destiny, adding his own theoretical twist of what would later be called social darwinism” US historical narrative of a “natural” westward expansion continued to be the taught narrative because “those who still hold the narrative remain captives of the ideology of “manifest destiny… normalized successive invasions and occupations of Indigenous nations and Mexico as not being colonialist or imperialist, rather simply ordained progress” and therefore, Mexico was seen as the next Indian nation with its people to be eradicated and ethnically cleansed.

3)Deborah Miranda’s argument in “Lying to Children about the California Missions and the Indians” article were stated as “Intense pressure is put upon students (and their parents) to create a “Mission Project” that glorifies the era and glosses over both Spanish and Mexican exploitation of Indians, as well as enslavement of those same Indians during U.S. rule.” as well as “the Mission Unit is all too often a lesson in imperialism, racism, and Manifest Destiny rather than actually educational or a jumping-off point for critical thinking ‘or accurate history.” Essentially, create Indigenous Peoples as victims while noting little if their past and ongoing resistance. What stood out to me is the 2008 trip to SF’s mission dolores and interacting with the 4th grader who decided to do a video instead at the mission itself rather than create a diorama like the other children. The reaction of the 4th grader stood out to me as well as the response from the writer because as a Palestinian, i am often told that our existence is a form of resistance since the goal of colonization is eradication of Indigenous peoples which includes not sharing their truth and acknowledging their livelihood. Like any western curriculum, the history of any Indigenous peoples is commonly told from an orientalist point of view and that is what is taught to children at a young age. The writer responding and sharing that she is actually a Californian Native was probably a really memorable experience for the 4th grader and for the writer.

4) My memories about grade school are very limited due to trauma experienced, but from what I remember, we were never taught about Indigenous people who were unhappy with the missions. When we were instructed to build our diarama and recommended to go to visit the missions too (I am from the Bay Area, so we would be told to go to Carmel), we were never taught about the true history of the California missions. We would create diagrams with different parts of the mission, farm area and pick up materials from the arts and crafts store where the little plastic people were only white male or females who would work in the missionaries which completely erased the truth. The way missions are taught is problematic is how it romanticizes Spanish domination and hides the truth of what happened at the Missions because it is not historically accurately told from a Native voice. Lim’s article on “Educating Elementary School Children About California Missions and Genocide” explains how polarization is Stage 5 of the cycle of genocide which is carried out in 8 stages. Lim says, “here the two groups are driven further apart through propaganda, laws, and social interaction. Examples of this can be highlighted throughout the mission system and well into the twentieth century. We can look from physical segregation in mission quarters to indentured servitude in the 1860s to demonstrate this phase.” In the article Lim advocate for a solution of it being taught for upper school students and correctly from a Native point of view. She expresses how she struggles with a real solution under the same system but sums up her belief by saying, “The answer is simple: tell the truth to anyone who will listen. It is time we all shared the responsibility of correcting the record. We owe it to our ancestors and our children.”

5) Two things that stood out to me is the part in the “What the ‘California Dream’ Means to Indigenous Peoples’ article is about how “the federal government had given the state of California more than US$1 million to reimburse militia expenditures for expeditions to find and kill California Indian people” as well as California as a state’s complicity in colonization when “state legislators passed laws that stripped California Indians of their power to protect themselves, their land, their culture or their livelihoods.” Honestly speaking, if I could quote the entire article I would because the entire article was eye opening as someone who has only known California to be home but has never learned the truth about its history. I truly believe that each person should have to learn the truth about the state they are living in and to stand by and support the Indigenous peoples who continue to experience the effect of land theft, genocide, forced cultural assimilation and more atrocities caused by imperialist forces. In response to the second questions, the article explains how California Indians visualize for them a place where complete decolonization is at its core. This includes land back to the tribes, determination, and complete autonomy.

6) Bob Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier” is a song which includes historical allusions such as what we read in our textbook about how in the 1860s after the civil war had ended, there were U.S. regiments that were all Black called “Buffalo soldiers” and had white commanders who also served in multiple Western military campaigns. “Buffalo Soldiers” were Recently emancipated African Americans who became soldiers after the Civil War. They were tasked with killing the buffalo with intent to weaken the Plains Indians’ forces and gain more lands for American settlement. One of the lyrics said, “fighting on arrival, fighting for survival” alluding to how the soldiers were made up of slaves who would fight against the oppressed, and were oppressed peoples at the same time.

7) I think the next module will move us forward in time to our current times today such as ongoing occupations and the impacts of past and current colonization. In addition, module 6 may give us an opportunity to think about what a future U.S. would look like and how this would impact Indigenous Peoples. In the last module we learned about Andrew Jackson’s presidency, the Indian Removal of 1830, and the Trail of Tears. We learned how Thomas Jefferson was actually the “architect” for Indian Removal, but it was later actually carried out during Andrew Jackson’s presidency. We reviewed both Jackson’s Inaugural addresses as well as the Letter to Cherokee where he it seem as though removal was the only choice and the “right’ one too that was best for both settlers and the Indigenous peoples. This week we moved forward in time to the California Gold Rush in 1849 as well as learning about Spanish colonization, residential schools, and the creation of Missions in California, and how they impacted and continue to impact California Indians through harmful historical erasure teaching in 4th grade classrooms California Mission project in public schools. To me, some of the most important lessons learned so far was about how to correctly refer to Indigenous peoples, learning about their past and ongoing resistance, learning about residential schools, and learning about the past and ongoing effects of colonization. Taking this course was not a choice I made to with a goal of fulfilling a university requirement, but instead it meant so much more. As a Palestinian student and community organizer, taking this course has expanded on my knowledge to understand how the struggles as Indigenous peoples to each of our lands. This course has further allowed me to not only recognize the deep connections, but also similarities between the experiences of our peoples such as settler colonialism, genocide and attempted genocide, destruction and exploitation of our land and resources, denial of our identity and rights. I look forward to the day where we all get our land back and are liberated from colonialism and white supremacy.