Widespread killing of Native Americans (1846–1873)
For the conflicts during the settling of California by the United States, see California Indian Wars. For the system of forced labor for Indigenous people during the California genocide, see Forced labor in California.
California genocide
Part of the California Indian Wars and Native American genocide in the United States
"Protecting The Settlers", illustration by J. R. Browne in The Indians Of California, 1864
Location
California
Date
1846–1873
Target
Indigenous Californians
Attack type
Genocide, ethnic cleansing, human hunting, slavery, rape, Indian removal
Deaths
No more than 2,000 (per Anderson)[1] 4,300 (per Cook)[2] 4,500 (per California Secretary of State)[3] 9,492–16,094 (per Madley)[4] 100,000+ (per Castillo/California Native American Heritage Commission)[5]
Injured
10,000–27,000[6][7] taken as forced laborers by white settlers; 4,000–7,000 of them children[7]
Perpetrators
United States Army, California State Militia, White American settlers
The California genocide was a series of systematized killings of thousands of Indigenous peoples of California by United States government agents and private citizens in the 19th century. It began following the American Conquest of California from Mexico, and the influx of settlers due to the California Gold Rush, which accelerated the decline of the Indigenous population of California. Between 1846 and 1873, it is estimated that non-Natives killed between 9,492 and 16,094 California Natives. In addition, between several hundred and several thousand California Natives were starved or worked to death.[4] Acts of enslavement, kidnapping, rape, child separation and forced displacement were widespread. These acts were encouraged, tolerated, and carried out by state authorities and militias.[8]
The 1925 book Handbook of the Indians of California estimated that the Indigenous population of California decreased from perhaps as many as 150,000 in 1848 to 30,000 in 1870 and fell further to 16,000 in 1900. The decline was caused by disease, low birth rates, starvation, killings, and massacres. California Natives, particularly during the Gold Rush, were targeted in killings.[9][10][11] Between 10,000[6] and 27,000[7] were also taken as forced labor by settlers. The state of California used its institutions to favor white settlers' rights over Indigenous rights, dispossessing natives.[12]
Since the 2000s several American academics and activist organizations, both Native American and European American, have characterized the period immediately following the U.S. Conquest of California as one in which the state and federal governments waged genocide against the Native Americans in the territory. In 2019, California's governor Gavin Newsom stated, "It's called genocide. That's what it was, a genocide. No other way to describe it. And that's the way it needs to be described in the history books." and apologized for the "violence, discrimination and exploitation sanctioned by state government throughout its history"[13] and called for a research group to be formed to better understand the topic and inform future generations.[14]
^Cite error: The named reference Nazaryan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Magliari2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference nisev was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abCite error: The named reference dmad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference castdward was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abPritzker, Barry. 2000, A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford University Press, p. 114
^ abcCite error: The named reference slavecount was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Adhikari, Mohamed (July 25, 2022). Destroying to Replace: Settler Genocides of Indigenous Peoples. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company. pp. 72–115. ISBN 978-1647920548. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
^Madley, Benjamin (2016). An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846–1873.
^Cite error: The named reference Krell, Dorothy 1979 p. 316 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"California Genocide". Indian Country Diaries. PBS. September 2006. Archived from the original on May 6, 2007.
^Lindsay, Brendan C. (2012). Murder State: California's Native American Genocide 1846–1873. United States: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 2, 3. ISBN 978-0-8032-6966-8.
^Cowan, Jill (June 19, 2019). "'It's Called Genocide': Newsom Apologizes to the State's Native Americans". The New York Times. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
^"Governor Newsom Issues Apology to Native Americans for State's Historical Wrongdoings, Establishes Truth and Healing Council". California Governor. June 18, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2023.
and 29 Related for: California genocide information
The Californiagenocide was a series of systematized killings of thousands of Indigenous peoples of California by United States government agents and private...
American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873 is a 2017 non-fiction book about the Californiagenocide by history...
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day (Armenian: Մեծ Եղեռնի զոհերի հիշատակի օր Mets Yegherrni zoheri hishataki or) or Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a public...
missions that instituted an immense rate of death and cultural genocide. Following California statehood, a state-sanctioned policy of elimination was carried...
Genocide recognition politics are efforts to have a certain event (re)interpreted as a "genocide" or officially designated as such. Such efforts may occur...
the depopulation of indigenous peoples in the Californiagenocide. The western portion of Alta California was then organized and admitted as the 31st state...
This list of genocides includes estimates of all deaths which were directly or indirectly caused by genocides that are recognised in significant scholarship...
19th century there was a genocide by United States government and private citizens, which is known as the Californiagenocide. After the Portolá expedition...
Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people in whole or in part. In 1948, the United Nations Genocide Convention defined genocide as any of five...
The Herero and Nama genocide (formerly, also 'Herero and Namaqua genocide') was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment which was...
The genocide of Indigenous Australians refers to the systematic and deliberate actions taken primarily by European settlers, particularly during the 18th...
The State of Israel has been accused of carrying out or inciting genocide against Palestinians during the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. This accusation...
The Darfur genocide is the systematic killing of ethnic Darfuri people which has occurred during the War in Darfur and the ongoing War in Sudan (2023–present)...
The genocide of Indigenous peoples, colonial genocide, or settler genocide is the intentional elimination of Indigenous peoples as a part of the process...
Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group. The term was coined in...
colonial and post-colonial policies. Historical events such as the Californiagenocide, American Indian Wars, and the forced removal of the Navajos reflected...
Denial of genocides of Indigenous peoples consists of a claim that has denied any of the multiple genocides and atrocity crimes, which have been committed...
Americans (a more complete list of those incidents is set forth in the Californiagenocide article), Asian immigrants, members of a religious group, and individuals...
The Armenian Genocide Martyrs Monument, better known as Montebello Genocide Memorial, is a monument in Montebello, California in the Los Angeles metropolitan...
Utilitarian genocide is one of five forms of genocide categorized and defined in 1975 by genocide scholar Vahakn Dadrian. Utilitarian genocide is distinctly...
The Circassian genocide, or Tsitsekun, was the Russian Empire's systematic mass murder, ethnic cleansing, and expulsion of 95–97% of the Circassian population...
destroyed during the Californiagenocide in the latter half of the 19th century. The Central and Southern Yana continue to live in California as members of Redding...
minorities in Xinjiang that is often characterized as persecution or as genocide. Beginning in 2014, the Chinese government, under the administration of...
Europeans in California, disease and violence—termed the CaliforniaGenocide—reduced the population to as low as 25,000. During and after the California Gold...
regarding the genocide of Indigenous Americans notions such as "structural genocide" have been presented to discuss the Californiagenocide for example...
The State of Israel has been accused of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the Israel–Hamas war. Various scholars, and the United Nations...
Calloway near what is now Blythe, California. CaliforniaGenocide American Indian Wars Compiled laws of the State of California: containing all the acts of...
Global Information