Back الإبادة الجماعية في كاليفورنيا Arabic Genocidio de California Spanish Kaliforniako genozidioa Basque نسل‌کشی کالیفرنیا Persian רצח העם בקליפורניה HE Genocid u Kaliforniji Croatian Genosida California ID California genocide SIMPLE Калифорнијски геноцид Serbian Folkmordet i Kalifornien Swedish

California genocide

For the conflicts during the settling of California by the United States, see California Indian Wars. For the system of forced labor for Indigenous people during the California genocide, see Forced labor in California.

California genocide
Part of the California Indian Wars and Native American genocide in the United States
"Protecting The Settlers", illustration by J. R. Browne in The Indians Of California, 1864
LocationCalifornia
Date1846–1873
TargetIndigenous Californians
Attack type
Genocide, ethnic cleansing, human hunting, slavery, rape, Indian removal
DeathsNo more than 2,000 (per Anderson)[1]
4,300 (per Cook)[2]
4,500 (per California Secretary of State)[3]
9,492–16,094 (per Madley)[4]
100,000+ (per Castillo/California Native American Heritage Commission)[5]
Injured10,000–27,000[6][7] taken as forced laborers by white settlers; 4,000–7,000 of them children[7]
PerpetratorsUnited States Army, California Militia, American pioneers

The California genocide was a series of genocidal massacres of the indigenous peoples of California by United States soldiers and settlers during the 19th century. It began following the American conquest of California in the Mexican–American War and the subsequent influx of U.S. settlers to the region as a result of the California gold rush. Between 1846 and 1873, it is estimated that U.S. colonizers killed between 9,492 and 16,094 indigenous Californians; up to several thousand were also starved or worked to death.[4] Forced labor, kidnapping, rape, child separation and forced displacement were widespread during the genocide, and were encouraged, tolerated, and even carried out by American officials and military commanders.[8]

The 1925 book Handbook of the Indians of California estimated that California's indigenous population decreased roughly 150,000 in 1848 to 30,000 in 1870 and 16,000 by 1900. This decline was caused by a mixture of disease, low birth rates, starvation and the genocide.[9][10][11] Between 10,000[6] and 27,000[7] were also subject to forced labor by U.S. settlers, with California officials repeatedly passing legislation to dispossessing indigenous people.[12]

Since the 2000s, historians have characterized the period immediately following the conquest of California as one in which U.S. miners, farmers, and ranchers on the American frontier engaged in the systematic genocide of indigenous Californians. In 2019, the governor of California Gavin Newsom described the events as "genocide," adding, "...that's the way it needs to be described in the history books." He also apologized for the "violence, discrimination and exploitation sanctioned by state government throughout its history".[13] In a 2019 executive order, Newsom announced the formation of a "Truth and Healing Council" to better understand the genocide and inform future generations of what occurred.[14]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Nazaryan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Magliari2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference nisev was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Madley 2016, pp. 11, 351.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference castdward was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Pritzker, Barry (2000). A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford University Press. p. 114.
  7. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference slavecount was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Adhikari, Mohamed (July 25, 2022). Destroying to Replace: Settler Genocides of Indigenous Peoples. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company. pp. 72–115. ISBN 978-1647920548. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  9. ^ Madley 2016, p. 458.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference Krell, Dorothy 1979 p. 316 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "California Genocide". Indian Country Diaries. PBS. September 2006. Archived from the original on May 6, 2007.
  12. ^ Lindsay 2012, pp. 2, 3.
  13. ^ Cowan, Jill (June 19, 2019). "'It's Called Genocide': Newsom Apologizes to the State's Native Americans". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  14. ^ "Governor Newsom Issues Apology to Native Americans for State's Historical Wrongdoings, Establishes Truth and Healing Council". California Governor. June 18, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2023.

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