California through Native Eyes: Reclaiming History

by William J. Bauer Jr.

Most California histories begin with the arrival of the Spanish missionaries in the late eighteenth century and conveniently skip to the Gold Rush of 1849. Noticeably absent from these stories are the perspectives and experiences of the people who lived on the land long before European settlers arrived. Historian William Bauer seeks to correct that oversight through an innovative approach that tells California history strictly through Native perspectives. Using oral histories of Concow, Pomo, and Paiute workers, taken as part of a New Deal federal works project, Bauer reveals how Native peoples have experienced and interpreted the history of the land we now call California. Combining these oral histories with creation myths and other oral traditions, he demonstrates the importance of sacred landscapes and animals and other nonhuman actors to the formation of place and identity. He also examines tribal stories of ancestors who prophesied the coming of white settlers and uses their recollections of the California Indian Wars to push back against popular narratives that seek to downplay Native resistance. The result both challenges the "California story" and enriches it with new voices and important points of view, serving as a model for understanding Native historical perspectives in other regions.

Genres: History, Indigenous, Nonfiction, American History, Native American, School, Westerns

184 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2016

Reviews

[Sunny Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oral histories and counter narratives
3.5

[Billy Marino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of books this semester and so far this one sits comfortably on top of my list of favorites with only one other. Sure, again, I may be biased, but this book seems like essential reading for most. It's not always easy to be given an old story with a new perspective and be able to comprehend it, but this work is accessible and intriguing at every turn and backed with the academic rigor one hopes to find in a piece of scholarship.

[David Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb example of Indigenous historiography. Bauer does an excellent of job of subverting the colonial narrative on California history with the oral histories and personal experiences that he uncovered in a wealth of Pomo, Concow, and Paiute stories held in the University of California's Bancroft Library. One of the storytellers, Charles Wright, was Bauer's great-grandfather, who shared his stories, as did others, for a Depression Era WPA funded project on Indian stories. Through these Indigenous narratives, Bauer introduces his reader to how the Pomo, Concow, and Paiute understood the creation of the land, the first people, and the customs they maintained as discrete peoples and nations. The arrival of the settlers appears in this context of this cosmography, in which the renaming of Indigenous landmarks and sacred places is an an aggressive act of expropriation. Furthermore, as the whites settled on Indian land, the traditional storytellers recount violent episodes of forced removal and environmental deprivation. At the same time, Pomo, Concow, and Paiute healing traditions evoke a sense of resilience that enables the people to persist. In the end, Bauer provides historians a much-needed way of reenvisioning and reinterpretating the so-called founding of the "Golden State." Indeed, Bauer has much to teach us all when it comes to writing Indigenous history.

[Elyse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought this would be more of a broad overview but was pleasantly surprised by its specificity. Now I really want to explore more of the kinds of oral history public works projects that this book uses as its main primary sources.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bauer utilized his academic skills to document, assimilate, and organize his presentation of the perspectives which the stories of Pomo, Paiute, and to a lesser extent Concow nations reflected about their world before and after the arrival of the Spanish missionaries and soldiers in the 16th century. How they tried to cope with the invasion of the American gold prospectors, the miners and ranchers, and the US Army’s efforts to forcibly displace, if not physically eradicate them in the mid to late 19th century was also well articulated. References were made to the sources he relied on in the narrative text itself as well as in 21 pages of notes at the end of the Native Eyes. A 12 page bibliography allows readers to pursue those primary and secondary sources in more depth. And a 5 page index is provided for those who wish to review a particular topic or individual after having completed the book.

The author did some things which enhanced my engagement. First, his prose was largely direct, declarative, and thus readily readable. Second, he provided 3 detailed maps at the beginning of Native Eyes. Although I have lived in California for more than 50 years, the maps were helpful because I was not that familiar with that area of the state. Third, there were 10 pages of photos of some of the people and places discussed. Fourth, he provided timely quotations which underscored the points he was making. While some of the quotes were lengthy, these allowed me to really grasp how the stories were articulated. Taken together all of these things made it easy to visualize who, where, or what he was describing.

At times, Bauer also made use of the native vocabulary the interviewees used in their stories. As these terms were always translated they provided a tangible sense of how their world view differed significantly from the EuroAmericans who took over their homeland.

I have one modest criticism of Native Eyes: some of the analyses the author provided later in the book were redundant to those from prior sections. Some prudent editing could have prevented this from happening.

I recommend this book for anyone wishing to learn how as of the mid 1930’s when these people were interviewed some of the members of 3 Native American nations experienced, adapted to, and still tried to resist the cultural and physical genocide inflicted on them in inland Northern California from the mid 19th up through the time they were sharing their stories. On the one hand, it is distressing to read some of this. On the other hand, one can come away informed about a very different perspective and with respect, if not admiration, for the determination these people have demonstrated over the last 150+ years.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bauer has crafted a clear and accessible account of how Indigenous Californians have used (and continue to use) oral traditions to refute settler narratives and tell their own version of California's past and present. He uses explicit examples of oral traditions from tribes scattered throughout California (including Concow, Pomo, and Paiute) to demonstrate similarities in how Indigenous Californians understand the creation of this landscape, its relationship to Native tribes, the arrival of settlers, the genocide perpetrated against California's Native people, and the persistence of these Native people and ways of life. Bauer's writing here is incredibly clear and easy to understand, even though he grapples with a host of complex academic and political topics. This is a spectacularly written book, I loved every chapter, and I highly recommend it to both academics interested in Native American studies and lay people alike. 

[Nick D · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author revisits the oral histories of Concow, Pomo, and Paiute people that were recorded during the New Deal era in Northern CA and provides some historical analysis.

Overall I found it a bit difficult to read and it may have benefited from more section headings or a easier to follow narrative thread.

One thing I noted was the centrality of place and geography in the stories - something that I think is overlooked today.

Wasn't too interested in the creation stories, but I did enjoy learning about the perspectives from war and subsequent genocide that occurred in the 18 and 1900s.

[Sarah Reith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A serious exploration of the subversive power and the living art of storytelling. Really stunning. I hope he continues to bring this history and its contemporary significance to light.

[Betsy]

saw at vromans

[Mills College Library]

979.40049 B3448 2016