HSS Framework for "Missions, Ranchos, and the Mexican War for Independence" (Ch. 7, pp. 74-77)

HSS Standard: Students describe the social, political, cultural, and economic life and interactions among people of California from the pre-Columbian societies to the Spanish mission and Mexican rancho periods. (4.2)

California Common Core State Standards

• Why did Spain establish missions? And how did they gain control?

• How were people's lives affected by missions?

• How did the region change because of the mission system?

• What impact did the encounter between indigenous people and European explorers have upon Native peoples, Spanish missionaries and military, the Spanish / Mexican settler population, and California's natural environment?

• How did the lives of California Indians change during the mission period? How did they stay the same?

Idea 1: Write a letter to your local, state, and federal representatives to question a monument that heroizes the atrocities of the European colonists. e.g. Statue of Junipero Serra in Washington D.C. See: The Case for Replacing the Statue of Junipero Serra in the Statuary Hall of Our Nation's Capital by Gary Robinson (author of Lands of Our Ancestors), Tribal Eye Productions, and this request, " see if any teachers could make this a history [civics] project with contemporary relevance by having students write letters to the state legislative rep from your area and the governor's office."

Idea 2: Students participate in a gesture of reconciliation between the local mission and the local indigenous nation of the region. E. g. What would it take for the Kumeyaay to participate in the Festival of Bells at Mission de Alcala, San Diego? How can students play a role in getting these two parties to engage with one another? Who would they need to interview? Meet? Write letters to? Get together? Perhaps, you can begin with these two perspectives below:

• • • Indigenous perspective on mission history: Marcus Lopez and Mark Day: Serra canonization by Pope Francis renews native Californians’ pain

    • Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala perspective on mission history: Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala: History

• The History Project at UC Davis lesson -- Impact of the California Missions on Native Americans

• Promoted by the National Indian Education Association, learn to Map Your Indigenous Community through this tutorial: https://vimeo.com/116772603. See it in action in Los Angeles, https://mila.ss.ucla.edu/.

• Montana Office of Public Instruction's Indian Educator for All K-12 Curriculum Guide

• CSU Sacramento California Indian History Curriculum Coalition

• Indian Country Today

1998 History-Social Science Content Standards (Note: the mission project was never a CA HSS Standard)

1. Discuss the major nations of California Indians, including their geographic distribution, economic activities, legends, and religious beliefs; and describe how they depended on, adapted to, and modified the physical environment by cultivation of land and use of sea resources.

2. Identify the early land and sea routes to, and European settlements in, California with a focus on the exploration of the North Pacific (e.g., by Captain James Cook, Vitus Bering, Juan Cabrillo), noting especially the importance of mountains, deserts, ocean currents, and wind patterns.

3. Describe the Spanish exploration and colonization of California, including the relationships among soldiers, missionaries, and Indians (e.g., Juan Crespi, Junipero Serra, Gaspar de Portola).

4. Describe the mapping of, geographic basis of, and economic factors in the placement and function of the Spanish missions; and understand how the mission system expanded the influence of Spain and Catholicism throughout New Spain and Latin America.

5. Describe the daily lives of the people, native and nonnative, who occupied the presidios, missions, ranchos, and pueblos.

6. Discuss the role of the Franciscans in changing the economy of California from a hunter-gatherer economy to an agricultural economy.

7. Describe the effects of the Mexican War for Independence on Alta California, including its effects on the territorial boundaries of North America.

8. Discuss the period of Mexican rule in California and its attributes, including land grants, secularization of the missions, and the rise of the rancho economy.