THE MISSION INDIANS OF CALIFORNIA 



By J. P. HARRINGTON, 



Ethnologist. Bureau of American Ethnology 



The Presidio of Santa Barl^ara has heen founded only 155 years, 

 the Santa Barbara Mission, only 141 years. Yet this brief period 

 has seen two distinct forms of European civilization sweep over the 

 fertile lands of the valley of Santa Barbara, a Spanish and an Ameri- 

 can culture, each with its peculiar institutions, language, and details 

 of life. Only sierra and sea still have the a]ipearance which they 

 presented in Indian times, and in the valley perhaps a few oak trees 

 or hillside boulders which have escaped molestation ; but not a trace 

 is left above ground of the intricate native civilization, the Indian 

 mode of life, which seemed up to the beginning of this foreign period 

 so stable and natural and so conducive to health and longevity that 

 the native ]:)eople never dreamed that any other mode of living was 

 possible. 



For the purpose of obtaining further im])ortant information on the 

 ancient languages and customs of this region, the writer was sent to 

 the field at the close of October, 1927, and continued his field studies 

 until the end of the year, obtaining a large mass of information linguis- 

 tically correct and in part new, in part corroborative of information 

 obtained in previous years regarding the ancient culture. Working 

 with the ])oor last survivors, and these too young to know many things 

 except by hearsay difiicult of interpretation, the great task has been 

 correctly to supply the details of the former culture, and this is im- 

 ])ossible of accomplishment except through an exhaustive analysis of 

 the language. Much was learned however, from reliable Indian infor- 

 mants, of the native customs and mode of life of the Mission Indians 

 of former days. 



It was the ideal of these Indians to go about in the lightest costume 

 possible. Their children were in and out of the water all day long, 

 and the men and many of the women were expert swimmers. Children 

 and adults rarely if ever caught cold and attained an excellent mus- 

 cular development. They were a race of runners, swimmers, hunters, 

 and fishers. The only clothing prescribed was a petticoat for the 

 women. Warm blankets sewed or woven of skins were at hand for 

 those who cared to wear them. 



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