The Continuing Sordid History of the Treatment of the Esselen Indians

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The Continuing Sordid History of the Treatment of the Esselen Indians

Originally this article appeared in The Monterey County Post, October 1996,
and is reproduced with kind permission
Es-wa'ti...Xinkone Inux Hu-ya-mis-in-pi-si-in-unse
(Esselen native language translated)
Go--Walk on the Road of the Medicine Lodge
"Long ago, it was said that Eagle, Hummingbird, and Coyote watched from the mountain tops the water recede after the great flood. Eagle, the Chief, sent Coyote to look below, and asked him what was there. Coyote said that there were many, many people who were dead. Coyote went forward and seized some earth and from it came his wife. The children from the union of these super-natural beings became many and the first Indian people of central coastal California.
The land provided a rich natural environment for all of the animal birds, fish and people to live in harmony within their shared universe.
Their universe was irrevocably altered by the advent of Hispano- European Empire in 1769, and continued to be devastated by the later American conquest of California. Of the estimated 1.5 million people who inhabited California in 1769, less than 20,000 would be identified by the turn of the century.
During the 1870's came a religious movement combining both aboriginal and Euro-American beliefs. The Kuksu and Big Heads were once again called upon to bring order to an ever collapsing and insane universe. This religious movement was called by some the 'Ghost Dancer or Sound House' (Medicine Lodge) religion because it was believed that the dead would rise, all disease, famine and suffering would end, and all non-lndians and non-believers would be swallowed up by the earth.
In spite of the past two hundred and forty years of 'European Civilization' devastation, broken promises and genocide, we continue to walk on this road. The Inux or Road serves as the only path toward reestablishing balance to our universe. This path links both the upper spirit world with the earthly world that we live in today.
(This story was shared by two elders in 1902, Jacinta Gonzales and Maria Viviana Soto, of the surviving Ohlone/ Costanoan-Esselen peoples who once lived on and owned all of the lands surrounding the greater Monterey Bay region. Artist: Loretta Escobar Wyer, Chairwoman - Ohlone/ Costanoan-Esselen Nation, Concept Contributors: Rosemary Camabra, Chairwoman, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, and Alan Leventhal, Ethnohistorian, College of Social Sciences, SJSU.)
The Esselen Nation of Monterey County
Contributed by Sandy Baldinger
The Beginning
The Esselen Indians were here first, thousands of them lived from Big Sur to Moss Landing, from the beaches of Carmel to the plains of Soledad, wintered in the caves of Cachagua, and summered in the meadows of Castroville. Complex chiefdoms were organized within villages and communities.
The land was rich, the men and woman hunted together, farmed,fished, and took only the natural resources they needed to sustain their livelihood. The Esselens were peaceful and lived in harmony with the different clans of the Esselen Nation. Esselen means from the rock, and each tribe would greet each other with the gI come from the rock, meaning they were one family, one nation, one tribe. The differences clans intermarried and shared the same familial culture.
The Disappearance
In 1848, over 150,000 Indians lived in Northern California. Then the "Gold Rush" brought the Europeans, the explorers, the settlers, and a different way of life.
By the 1920s, only 20,000 Indians remained (Indian Field Service Report to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 6/23/1927). Now there are approximately 250 known Esselen Indians residing in Monterey County. Genocide - disease - starvation - how can that many Indians disappear in such a short period of time?
The Missions
The Spanish Catholic padres formed many missions in Northern California, and their purpose was to "save the souls" of the Indians. The Spanish authorities also had another mission - to take the land from the Indians.
Spanish land grant regulations stipulated that Spanish men were to marry Indian women in order to obtain a land grant (Spanish Land Grant Record, Land Notes & Papers, Marriage Regulations 1774) it was a simple difference of philosophy and culture.
Europeans believed in "owning" land, "selling, and buying" land. The Esselens believed that the land was theirs only to occupy - to take care of and to nurture.
The Esselens also believed the land they occupied was their family's share of the community. Thus, if you married into the family, you shared the land. The Spanish men would marry the Indian women, apply for a land grant to the King of Spain for the family's land. Any children borne of the marriage were baptized in the Catholic mission and became Spanish citizens. Only the padres referred to the children as "half-breeds, the rest of the citizenry considered them, and their Indian mother, as Spanish. Extensive records were kept by the missions, and the Spanish officials of the intermarriages, the offspring, and the relations. (Over 140 years later, these very records are needed to establish the Esselen Nation as a federally recognized tribe.)
The Esselen Nation
For example, in the late 1700s, Father Junipero Serra of the Mission San Carlos Borromeo in Carmel arranged a marriage between 46-year old Manuel Butron, and Esselen Indian, 15-year old Margarite Domingez. The husband then applied to Spain for a land grant based upon his marriage to the young Indian maiden, and received what is now a large portion of Carmel Valley! (Spanish Land Grant Records, Vol 1, pgs 177-180, Missions and Missionaries of California, James H Barry Company 1913, Vol 3. pgs 640-643)
Under the Spanish rule, Indians could not legally be evicted from their land, and if so, provisions would have to be made for the landless Indians. (Hildago Treaty 1849) This meant the Indians had no choice but to seek shelter at the missions. There they were forced to build the missions, raise crops, fish, hunt, raise cattle, make tallow, cook, clean, and to supply the Catholics with food and bounty. In return, they were sheltered, fed, and somewhat protected from harm. Indians were being murdered and slaughtered at an alarming rate, and if they wanted to leave they ; missions, they were hunted down and forced to return. The Esselens fled to the caves in Cachagua and survived in the rugged terrain. Then the Tassajuar area became known as the "Clan of the Ancients," because the Indians sought refuge in the wilderness, and were never found by the Spanish.
The United States & The Esselens
The United States took over California in 1846, and the Esselen Indians suffered a worse fate than before. In 1850, they were required to register with government agencies, surrender their lands, and believe in lineage or marriages. Most of the Esselens were terrified of the white man. Few escaped the brutality of the white man in search for land - and in search for gold.
During the Gold Rush era, treaties between the Indians and the government became hidden, secreted by the government. Reservation lands promised to the Esselens were never granted, services were never provided; and many of the Indians starved to death or were murdered. (Ranchos of Monterev County, Donald M Howard. Esq. 1978 pg 26; 1928 BIA Application #8123, #10946)
In the mid 1800s, Helen Hunt Jackson, a Bureau of Indian Affairs Matron, wrote of the fear of the Indians. They were afraid of death by the white man, their land being taken away, and the slavery of their children.
In 1928, the United States ordered all of the Indians to register again, and each Indian that did so was assigned a number - a numbering system that continues today. The government forms were complex, confusing and without their completion, the Indians were denied any government or public service. (Lands Claim Act, 1928) ) (1919 Annual Narrative Statistical, Section 6, Report)
Did you know that Indians only had the right to vote since 1949?
Did you know that until 1970 Indians were not allowed to hire a private attorney to represent them in a court of law? "Pitt River Tribe v U. S. Government" is such an example. The tribe sued the government for failure to honor the treaties providing land and services to them. The Federal Court refused to allow the tribe's attorney to participate in court, and ordered the U. S. Attorney General to represent the tribe. In essence, the case became the government versus the government!
Did you know that the Civil Rights Act does not cover Indians? There is a separate Indian Civil Rights Act on the books - and it is not the same.
Did you know that there are separate and complex laws that govern Indians? Every other person in the United States operates under the same federal laws - with the exception of the Indians. Code of Federal Regulations, Indians, 25, (revised as of April 1, 1991), Codification of documents and general applicability and future effects with ancillaries is one of the governing documents. The Bureau of Indian Affairs governs the Indians.
Did you know that only 40 tribes in California are officially recognized by the United States Government?
Did you know the Esselen Nation is trying to be officially recognized? In order to receive services or the reservation promised to them in 1848, the Esselens are now being ordered to prove that they are indeed an Indian tribe. To do so, the Esselens have to request copies of documents that the U.S. has in its archives, and then submit them back to the proper Government agency, BAR (Bureau of Acknowledgment Research). The government is making them spend money to provide them with their own records! This procedure is costly, time-consuming, and exhausting. Why are they now submitting for official tribal recognition? Years of research and perhaps millions of dollars spent for what?
The Esselen Future
The future of the Esselen Indian nation rests with this generation, most in their 40s-50s and 60s. It is the last generation that can make the government enforce the promises under the treaties; reservation land and government services. It is the last generation that would have the Indian blood quota required by the government to obtain services. It is important because a federally recognized tribe has the same rights as any State in the United States! Rights to land, water, health services, and the rights we take for granted every day as non-lndians.
It is the first generation of Esselen Indians that can put aside their fear of the white man's government. Loretta Escobar Wyer, Chairwoman of The Esselen Indian Nation, explained, "The way we live is who we are as Indian people." She told of the private nature of the Esselens in today's society, the family cohesiveness, the cultural differences that still exist.
"Men and woman work together as partners - it is a work ethic. Women are respected as equals. They direct the hunts, help butcher the game, raise the children, work in the fields. Women recommend and nominate the chiefs, and work as men. Men, work beside the women, sharing with all the tasks. It is a culture difference that is sacred. Families are very important, and any Esselen is considered to be family."
The land promised to the Esselens was Big Sur - something similar will do.
In the meantime, the Esselens formed an alliance with the Hoopa Tribe to ask for government buildings at Fort Ord. The buildings would be used for drug rehabilitation for Indian and local non-lndian youths. (Ironically, the US government allotted $1.5 million for Indian youth rehabilitation, but had no buildings to service the program.)
The alliance with the Hoopa Tribe was necessary since the Hoopas of Northern California are a recognized tribe. If their request is granted by the Department of Defense, it will be the first time Indian children and young adults can be rehabilitated in their native state of California. Indian youths now have to go to the Plains states for treatment facilities.
Hopefully, the land and buildings at Fort Ord will be utilized for the Indians. It's not much to give after taking so much away. In the meantime, Loretta and the Council of Esselen Indian Nation will continue their quest for federal recognition of their culture, their history, and their rights.
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"the action adventure fantasy feature film 'Warrior' ... about the son of a divine force ... is a story of a young man's quest to find his true identity set against the twin backdrops of Native American folklore and the treacherous Mexican drug trade and a portrayal of the classic confrontation between "good and evil" ... filmed in the exotic jungles of Costa Azul and the urban grit of Puerto Vallarta in the State of Jalisco, Mexico .. with action, adventure, romance, comedy, a multi-ethnic cast, a major studio movie music score and spectacular cinematography..."