Collection: Directories and Documents > Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection

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Title: Culture Contact in Protohistoric California Collection Type: Directories and Documents Collection Name: Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection # of Pages: 33 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-09-03 13:53:50 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 03:11:58 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 03:11:58

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

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each about rather rope -. They, as in beaded ia kalai C), other bead lit: ‘They iped tightly , the cereyrming the men into ritual conle women iglish sailieir afflicace at the ionies. ~ rake’s Bay st fruit obmen were n Drake’s, .ot viewed and Ghost > Cermefio icrifices,”’ associated ‘ake, there itive group second day {ost obsere at native While this 2 Cermefo ‘ical differof Drake’s e first fruit of Cermeerestingly, he ‘‘sacrisupposedjed the naity (Quinn ible that by mal obserCULTURE CONTACT IN PROTOHISTORIC CALIFORNIA 133 vances of the first fruit ceremonies had come to a close for the season, and the rituals associated with it had abruptly ended. Finally, Heizer (1973:26) was puzzled that the Coast Miwok had initially reacted to Cermefio and his men with “‘great fright,’’ which he felt seemed odd if they had been in previous contact with the Drake voyagers. He suggested that this reaction may have been incited by a contagion associated with Drake. However, there is little evidence for such an epidemic (discussed below), and we believe the Coast Miwok may have been taken by surprise because the Spaniards arrived unexpectedly outside the ceremonial cycle of the Kuksu and Ghost Dance rituals. MATERIAL REMAINS OF ENCOUNTERS The recorded observations of the voyagers discussed above indicate that cultural contacts often commenced with the exchange of food and goods between natives and foreign visitors. The voyagers typically offered material items as tokens of their peaceful intentions, as ways of fostering further connections with other members of native entourages, and as a means of placating hostile groups. While the motives of the native peoples were not always clear, it appears that they initiated exchange relations with the voyagers as a common practice when meeting strangers and as a means of cultivating social relations. The Cabrillo-Ferrelo chronicles recorded five places where the Spanish exchanged goods with native peoples (Quinn 1979a:453-457). The goods included presents and clothing (at La Posesion), presents and shirts (at San Miguel), beads and other articles (at San Salvador La Vitoria), presents (at the Pueblo of Las Canoas), and ‘‘many’’ presents (on the Santa Barbara mainland). There were four places listed where the natives reportedly gave goods to the Spaniards, including fish (north of the Pueblo of Las Canoas), fresh sardines (on the Santa Barbara mainland), water and wood (at the Pueblo of Las Sardinas), and water and fish (at Cape Galera). There were five separate recorded incidences (June 18, 21, 23 or 24, 26, and sometime between June 27 and July 23, 1579) when Drake and his men offered goods to the Coast Miwok at Nova Albion (Quinn 1979b:470-476).The goods included a hat, shirts, linen cloth, ‘‘divers things’’ (not taken), a token to the ‘‘king,’’ mussels, and seals. There were four separate observations of Coast Miwok gift-giving (June 18, 21, 23 or 24, and 26, 1579), when natives presented to the voyagers a bundle of black feathers, baskets or bags with the herb ‘‘tobah’’ (mentioned three times), feathers (mentioned twice), net caps, arrow quivers, skins, fish, seeds, a root known as “‘petah,’’ and baskets, as well as the “‘crown’’ and “‘chaines’’ given to Drake. Native peoples of Morro Bay did not actually exchange goods with de Unamuno and his men (Wagner 1929:143-149). The voyagers found two deerskin bundles in their exploration of the interior and replaced them with two handkerchiefs as gifts to the local natives (on October 18, 1587). Crew members later offered biscuits, cloth, and other items as unsuccessful peace tokens when first confronted by armed, agitated locals (on October 19, 1587). The Cermefio chronicles recorded the exchange of European and Asian goods to the Coast Miwok in the vicinity of Drake’s Bay during the first two days of their encounters (November 6 and 7, 1595) (Wagner 1929:158-160). The goods included cotton cloth (mentioned three times), silk things (mentioned twice), a red cap, taffeta cloth, and taffeta sashes. When they were returning to Mexico in the launch (December 12 to December 14, 1595), Cermejio and his men exchanged the following materials: cotton cloth (mentioned twice), taffeta, and pieces of silk (mentioned twice). The Coast Miwok presented the Spaniards with goods on at least three occasions (November 7, November 30, and December 2, 1595), including seeds, acorns (mentioned three times), hazelnuts, thistles, and pos-