Part 8 Native American Info

"Gold, Greed & Genocide"

Over 150,000 Native Americans lived sustainably in California prior to the gold rush. They had existed for many centuries, supporting themselves mostly by hunting, gathering and fishing.
This life changed drastically in 1848 when James Marshall discovered the yellow metal in the American River at Coloma, in Northern California.

By 1870, there was an estimated native population of only 31,000 Californian Indians left.
Over 60 percent of these indigenous people died from disease introduced by hundreds of thousands of so-called 49ers.
However, local tribes were also systematically chased off their lands, marched to missions and reservations, enslaved and brutally massacred.

In 1851, the California State government paid $1 million for scalping missions. You could still get $5 for a severed Indian head in Shasta in 1855, and twenty five cents for a scalp in Honey Lake in 1863.

Over 4,000 Native American children were sold - prices ranged from $60 for a boy to $200 for a girl.

The gold miners dug up 12 billion tons of earth - excavating river beds and blasting apart hillsides in their greed.
In addition, they used mercury to extract gold from the ore, losing 7,600 tons of the toxic chemical into local rivers and lakes. The amount of mercury required to violate federal health standards today would be equivalent to one gram in a small lake.

Although this gold rush ended in the late 19th century, a new gold rush began in the 1960s.
In California, Nevada and around the globe, multinational companies have begun to use giant earth movers and new technology using deadly cyanide to extract gold from Indigenous lands.

For More Information (or) to order a copy of the "Gold, Greed and Genocide" Video and Curriculum,
contact the IITC San Francisco Office,
(415) 641-4482,
e-mail iitc@igc.apc.org
Gold, Greed and Genocide web page: www.1849.org

We had no churches, no religious organizations, no sabbathday, no holidays, and yet we worshiped.
Sometimes the whole tribe would assemble and sing and pray.
The singer would occasionally put in such words as he wished instead of the usual tone sound.
Sometimes we prayed in silence; sometimes an aged person prayed for all of us.
At other times one would rise and speak to us of our duties to each other.
Our services were short.

Geronimo.....Apache Chief

Geronimo is said to have had magical powers.
He could see into the future, walk without creating footprints, and even hold off the dawn to protect his own.
This Apache Indian  Chief and  Warrior, and his band of followers defied federal authority for more than 25 years."

GERONIMO -- APACHE ARTIST JAMES L. VLASATY