Mission San Francisco de Asis was founded in San Francisco on the 29th of June, 1776 and was named after Saint Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan order and also San Francisco's namesake. The mission has more commonly become known as Mission Dolores, and is still serves as an active church today. The mission served not only as a house of worship, however, but also as a place of education and a centre for the agricultural community.
Upon examining the Mission's official website one can witness the positive vibe which is undeniably eluded; one can see the positive work of the mission within the local community and marvel at the pictures of the ornate decorations. There is, however, an alternate history of the mission which remains notably absent from the site, however it is a history which is gradually coming more and more into the public focus: the Native American story.
The California Missions and Native Americans are linked right from the start. It was natives who were recruited to build the Missions, something which has resulted in the creation of interesting artwork, in which native motifs are intertwined with Christian symbolism. The Missions also served to convert Native Americans to Christianity, a policy which which initially began as voluntary, however by the 1880's the recruitment became highly aggressive. This new policy led to the violent disruption of Native American societies, with Indians having elements of their culture forcibly destroyed, whilst also being made to adopt the Christian way of life.
Many Native Americans appear to hold a deep resentment of the mission system, something that has come into the public eye recently due to the Catholic desire to canonise the founder of the mission system, something which greatly conflicts with the Native American viewpoint
which declares that he should be condemned for his brutality. The public perception of Mission Dolores is also starting to be altered as a consequence of the appoinment of the first Native American curator at the site. He is, however, also a devout Catholic and thus serves to bridge the gap between the two histories, whilst also ensuring that the public perception of the Mission is altered, so that the atrocities committed are not simply glazed over.
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I remember visiting many of California's missions when I was younger. I have been to missions in Carmel, Sonoma, San Jose, San Diego... and the only mention of Native Americans I can remember is that they built and worked on Missions and that they converted to Catholicism. There is no mention of Native American culture being actively outlawed, and the Native Americans were generally portrayed as willing participants or beneficiaries rather than victims of the mission system.
I recently learned that some Native American girls participated in active resistance by not wearing bloomers under their skirts and trying to let on to their matrons that they were. That way they could walk around and appear to be conforming when in truth they knew that they were breaking the rules.
I often wonder if the mission museums teach a more inclusive history these days, but from what you say of their website it doesn't seem like they do. :-(
K, very nice work on the entangled history of the Native Americans and the missions. The details about Indian resistance movements against the canonization of the church founders is particularly interesting, I think. I often feel that in SF's claim to multicultural roots, it's so quick to pay homage to its Spanish heritage, but often at the expense of the Native peoples - this was probably a bigger problem a few decades ago, but as we can see, parts of the story are still not being told. You and J raise interesting issues about how to circulate history. How do you teach all the histories to little kids, or to travelers, visitors, even city residents? All histories, and their entanglements, I think we'd all agree, need to come forth. But what's the best way to communicate this to the public? This is a huge question, but I think a practical one...especially since we're all learning so much ourselves about San Francisco lately!
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