Sara L. Gonzalez

The Study of Indigenous Political Economies and Colonialism in Native California: Implications for Contemporary Tribal Groups and Federal Recognition

Abstract This article advocates for a comparative approach to archaeological studies of colonialism that considers how Native American societies with divergent political economies may have influenced various kinds of processes and outcomes in their encounters with European colonists. Three dimensions of indigenous political economies (polity size, polity structure, and landscape management practices) are identified as critical variables in colonial research. The importance of considering these dimensions is exemplified in a case study from California, which shows how small-sized polities, weak to moderate political hierarchies, and regionally oriented pyrodiversity economies played significant roles in the kinds of colonial relationships that unfolded. The case study illustrates how the colonial experiences of Native Californians differed from those of other tribal groups that confronted similar kinds of colonial programs involving Franciscan missionaries elsewhere in North America. The article stresses that the archaeology of colonialism is not simply an arcane academic exercise but, rather, has real-life relevancy for people who remain haunted by the legacies of colonialism, such as those petitioning for federal recognition in California.

THE STUDY OF SUSTAINED COLONIALISM: AN EXAMPLE FROM THE KASHAYA POMO HOMELAND IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

This article advocates for archaeological investigation of sustained colonialism that examines the implications of Native American negotiations with multiple waves of foreigners over the course of many decades, if not centuries. The study of native confrontations with successive groups of intruders, who often represented a diverse range of colonial programs and interests, involves analyses of not only indigenous encounters with first-wave colonists but also their entanglements with later colonists, particularly settler colonists. This will provide the necessary diachronic approach to consider the cumulative effects and implications of multiple colonial intrusions on specific tribes and how tribal negotiations with earlier colonial enterprises may have influenced and shaped their responses to later settler colonists. This article presents a case study of one such approach for the study of sustained colonialism that examines native entanglements with mercantile and settler colonists in northern California. Este artículo aboga por una investigación arqueológica del colonialismo prolongado que examina las implicaciones de las negociaciones de grupos de indígenas norteamericanos con múltiples olas de extranjeros sobre el curso de muchas décadas, y hasta siglos. El estudio de las confrontaciones de los indígenas con grupos sucesivos de intrusos, quienes a menudo representaban una distribución diversa de programas e intereses coloniales, incluye no solo los análisis de los encuentros de los indígenas con los primeros colonos, sino también sus enredos con colonos posteriores, particularmente colonos pobladores. Esto proporcionará el enfoque diacrónico necesario para considerar los efectos e implicaciones acumulativos de múltiples intrusiones coloniales en tribus específicas, y las maneras en que las negociaciones tribales con empresas coloniales anteriores pudieron haber influenciado y formado sus reacciones hacia los colonos pobladores posteriores. Este artículo presenta un caso de estudio de tal enfoque para el estudio del colonialismo prolongado que examina los enredos de los indígenas con colonos mercantiles y pobladores en California del norte.