Living in the Land of Plenty; California and the American Indian

While the myth of the “California Dream” has been as persistent as it has been persuasive to the modern dreams of America, it's certainly not the first or only time that the region has been thought of as a paradise, or land of plenty. In fact, as argued in California: An Interpretive History, its most original immigrants, the Indians, saw it as much more. And, in fact, the idealness of the land, later to be known as “the sunshine state” was, at its heart, the true ideal of paradise.

It's hypothesized that the first immigrants to the area arrived nearly some 15,000 years ago; the ancestors of who we have come to know as Californian Indians. Over the course of that time, the various peoples that had come to inhabit the land, spread out into nearly all its vast, and different regions. In turn, each of these peoples developed off shoots of language and custom that would grow into unique aspects of that particular sub-culture. And as they grew into these surroundings, and into their specific cultural division, they learned to cultivate the natural resources of that area.

This wasn't, at first, well understood. early anthropologists categorized Indian populations into either

hunter-gathers or agriculturists; either they followed the seasonal migrations and harvested what simply bloomed, or they planted haphazardly, often into mud deposits that were created by seasonal rains. However, according to the reading, modern study has revealed that Indians promoted bio-diversity through crop rotation, weeding and pruning of fields and stock crops, and even some level of animal and insect husbandry. Geographer William Preston even noted that California was “one of the most altered pre-colonial landscapes in the Americas.”

From the numerous of well-manicured plots of tobacco, elderberry shrubs, and other various trees near villages, it's easy to see that the Indians of California had come to manage the abundant natural resources of the land. Acorn, probably one of the most abundant food sources in the area; which could be made into bread, or a form of porridge. Where not as available, as in desert regions, mesquite pods often took their place. Fish and game were reliable and plentiful throughout a good portion of the year, and meats could be smoked, or dried, to last through the winter season. At the coasts, shellfish would become the mainstay of an Indian's diet.

Location, of course, was everything. What was available in a particular area, and how the people learned to depend on what was there, tended to determine where a people settled, and about how large a settlement would be. For the most part, these settlements would range from as few as one hundred in a reasonably decent area, to as many as five hundred in areas where plants, animals, and other raw resources, like wood, were more plentiful. Usually consisting of allied families, these numbers were maintained to keep in balance with existing resources.

Managing of these resources came from as much an understanding of the land, as it did from a reverence for the land. Historian Edward Castillo notes that “the religious beliefs and traditions of the Indians of California teach that the blessing of the rich land and mild climate are gifts from the creator.” He goes on to point out that this reverence is expressed “by carefully managing the land for future generations and by living in harmony with the natural environment.”

Often, as it is in the case of Neolithic peoples in a tradition of oral history and storytelling, tales would be passed down, through the generations, warning of the dangers of excess; greed and waste could lead to disaster and ruin of the very world. In trying to keep to this sense of balance, Indians would work to attune themselves to the land. They could track game from the mere sound of herds and single animals, and were very familiar with the telltale signs of the coming of the seasons. In their traditions they even believed they could communicate and influence their environment through speech and dreams. In this they worked to make themselves one with the land.

It's a fairly easy conclusion to draw from the success of this methodology; this philosophy, just from looking at the sheer numbers of Indians believed to be living in the regions of California. While numbers bounce around, generously, it's reasonably believed that between 300,00 and 3250,000 Indians lived within the boundaries of modern day California in 1769, when the first of the Spanish settlements began to be founded. In fact it is estimated that California supported a much more vast Indian population than any other are of the Americas North of present day Mexico. And all this accomplished without the use of metallurgy; as the Californian Indian was one of the last hold outs of the Stone Age – where use of stone tools and weapons still were the prevailing technology. The continued use of which was due as much to the region's isolation as it was that they had achieved such balance with their surroundings that development in that direction was nearly nonexistent.

With great reverence for the land, and its resources, the Indians of California thrived by careful utilization of the available resources particular to a region they were settled into. Geographically speaking, this came down to six major areas; Southern, Central, Northwestern, Northeastern, Great

Basin, and the Colorado River. Here, in these regions, they made the best use of what they had on hand, from acorn, to fruit trees and shrubs, and, of course, wild game. By attuning themselves to the various signs of nature, they were able to read, and plan for, coming seasons and manage their resources. One of the ways they did this was by carefully limiting the population of their village settlements; usually made up of kindred families. By living within this harmonious balance with the land, they came to view it as a gift from the creator; deserving of its respect and acre for future generations.

This, then, could be seen as their “California Dream”; to live prosperously in the plentiful and lush Californian climate, where they could live, thrive, and work to continue their balanced way of life for the countless generations to come. And, while the modern notion of the “get rich quick” myth of the state still survives – mostly in great deal to the perpetuated media imagine, it could be as much said that this is also at the heart of the modern Californian; to find reward for honest work, to live in balance with his community, and to provide for his family, and their family to come.