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“California’s history is marked by horrific and systemic violence against Native Americans. On this edition of Your Call, we’ll speak with Bay Area Native Corrina Gould and historian Benjamin Madley about the genocide of California Indians and how the state should acknowledge it.
In his book American Genocide, Madley details the murders and institutionalized killings of Native communities in California in the latter half of the 19th century. Vigilantes, military members, and others drove the Native population in California down from around 150,000 to about 30,000 between 1846 and 1870. How should California recognize the war of extermination waged against its Native communities?”
– KALW, How should California reconcile its genocidal past?.
““Gold! Gold from the American River!” Samuel Brannan walked up and down the streets of San Francisco, holding up a bottle of pure gold dust. His triumphant announcement, and the discovery of gold at nearby Sutter’s Mill in 1848, ushered in a new era for California—one in which millions of settlers rushed to the little-known frontier in a wild race for riches.
But though gold spelled prosperity and power for the white settlers who arrived in California in 1849 and after, it meant disaster for the state’s peaceful indigenous population.
In just 20 years, 80 percent of California’s Native Americans were wiped out. And though some died because of the seizure of their land or diseases caught from new settlers, between 9,000 and 16,000 were murdered in cold blood—the victims of a policy of genocide sponsored by the state of California and gleefully assisted by its newest citizens.”
– History.com, California’s Little-Known Genocide.
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Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), Indian Country 52 #20 – California Genocide.
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
