About US

This project was originally part of the Critical Missions Studies funded by the University of California Office of the President in 2019. Our work continues today as a partnership between the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Native and non-Native scholars, the History & Civics Project at UC Santa Cruz, and educators across the Central Coast region.

Our work has included working with the tribe’s archival records, collecting oral histories with Amah Mutsun Tribal Band members, and conducting historical and ethnographic research on local missions. We are now using this material and working with teachers to create social studies curriculum that emphasizes Indigenous perspectives, challenges the dominant colonial narrative, and transforms the teaching of the California missions and the mission era.

Our goal is to explore Amah Mutsun perspectives of and experiences at Mission San Juan Bautista and Mission Santa Cruz missions. This is the untold story of our area and our people. These curricula will disrupt the colonial narrative while highlighting that Native communities exist, that we care deeply about our heritage, and that it’s important for all Californians to understand this heritage.