The internet is filled with things. Here is one of them.
Wikipedia's List of the Indian Wars in California's history is horrifying2024 Oct 31
I grew up here in California, going to school in the regular public education system. It's been a long time, but I do not remember covering in much (or any) depth the Native Americans who lived in this state prior the wars and genocide which killed them off. Indians weren't completely forgotten -- our curriculum did at least acknowledge that the Indians were killed off, but we were told it was primarily through disease and the word "genocide" definitely was not used. I used to think "how nice it is to live in a place where there's never been a major war."
That was pretty naive of me, right? A recent quick glance through this list of California Indian Wars on Wikipedia left me noticing a stark trend, one which I feel should have been taught to us:
White Americans move into California Indian lands and push them out so they can take those lands over for agriculture and mining.
California Indians make what peace they can with their new white neighbors. It's not great, but it's not so bad. But one white neighbor in particular hates that Indians exist at all, and despite the relative peace, goes about raping and murdering Indians.
The Indians get tired of being raped and murdered, and kill that asshole.
The white townspeople hear of this, and don't care that the white man in question was an asshole and that the Indian's lethal revenge was justified. They only see race, and can abide no Indian killing any white man, so they step up the revenge and go and murder and burn entire Indian villages in reprisal.
Repeat the massacres until there's almost no Indians left.
So many of the entries on the list follow this pattern, it's shocking. (Maybe not shocking if you're Indian and grew up knowing this.)
I grew up here in California, going to school in the regular public education system. It's been a long time, but I do not remember covering in much (or any) depth the Native Americans who lived in this state prior the wars and genocide which killed them off. Indians weren't completely forgotten -- our curriculum did at least acknowledge that the Indians were killed off, but we were told it was primarily through disease and the word "genocide" definitely was not used. I used to think "how nice it is to live in a place where there's never been a major war."
That was pretty naive of me, right? A recent quick glance through this list of California Indian Wars on Wikipedia left me noticing a stark trend, one which I feel should have been taught to us: