CALIFORNIA
LSI
CALIFORNIA
sionary. When a young man wished to marry he
approached the missionary, who would direct him to
make the selection, and if the girl consented the pair
were married with solemn ceremonies at .Mass after
the banns had been published. A hut in the village
was then assigned where they lived, subject to the
regulations of the community.
Besides this, through extreme kindness, the na- tives were won by means of presents in the shape of food, clothing, and trinkets of which the Indians were very fond. The principal points of the Chris- tian Faith were explained in the simplest manner possible, through interpreters, at first, and later on in their own and the Spanish languages by the mis- sionary. Inasmuch as the Indians of every mission had a different language, and frequently several dia- lects were spoken among the neophytes of a single mission, it was an exceedingly burdensome task for the missionary to make himself understood by all in the native idiom. Nevertheless, some of the Fathers became expert linguists, and several of them com- posed vocabularies which are still extant. To insure a regular attendance and to prevent backsliding the Indians were induced to leave their desert or mom it a in hovels and make their homes with the missionaries. For those that came separate huts were erected in more or less regular order. Once baptized, the neophytes were not permit ted to leave the mission for the purpose of going back to their pagan homes for any length of time without permission from the missionary. The license frequently would extend over two and three weeks for the men only. In the mission village under the shadow of the church the neophyte fami- lies dwelt with their children, except the marriage- able girls who had to take up their quarters at the mission proper. Morning and evening prayers were said in common at the church, and all attended Mass. after which there was breakfast, followed by a few- hours of labour. The noonday meal was again taken together, whereupon in the hot season there would be a rest more or less long followed by work until the Angelas, when supper was taken. The evening was devoted to all kinds of amusements consisting of music and play; the Spanish dance was general. Every mission had its band. Thus the inventory of 1835 enumerates the following musical instruments in use at Mission Santa Barbara which was typical of all: four flutes, three clarinets, two horns or trumpets, two bass violas, one chinesco, one bass drum, two kettledrums, sixteen violins, four new violins, and three triangles. There were uniforms for all the members of the band. These Indians also did the singing at the high Mass and on other oc- casions. While the missionaries exercised independ- ent control, which was the case to the end of 1834, the neophyte community was like one great family at the head of which stood the padre, under which title the missionary was universally known. To him the Indians looked for everything concerning their bodies as well as their souls. He was their guide and protector; nor would they ever have suffered had not the beneficent Spanish laws been replaced by the selfishness and cupidity of the Mexican and Cali- fornian politicians, who did away with the mission system which the well-known non-Catholic writer, Charles F. Lummis, declares "was t he most just, humane, and equitable system ever devised for the treatment of an aboriginal people". Peace and con- tentment reigned to such a degree that the Protestant historian, Alexander Forbes, who lived in California at the time, testifies that "the best and most unequiv- ocal proof of the good conduct of the Fathers is to be found in the unbounded affection and devotion invariably shown towards them by their Indian sub- jects. They venerate them not merely as friends and fathers, but with a degree of devotion approaching adoration." ("California," London, 1839.)
Each great mission family was composed of many
hundreds, sometimes of two and three thousand
natives, good, bad, and indifferent. Excesses were
necessarily to be expected, especially in the neigh-
bourhood of white people. To prevent disorders the
missionaries, with the approval of the viceregal gov-
ernment, drew up what may be called police regula-
tions, for the transgressions of which various punish-
ments were meted out, of a kind which would impress
the dull and rude nature of the Indians. The mis-
sionary dictated the punishment which was ever
tempered with mercy. When simple reproof availed
nothing, the whip was applied. This was the only
correction, besides fasting, which affected the low-
class natives of the Pacific Coast. This manner of
punishing had been introduced by the Jesuit founder
of the Lower California missions, Father Juan Maria
Salvatierra, about seventy years before, as the only
means to make the rude creatures grasp the wicked-
ness of a deed. The number of lashes to be ad-
ministered was governed by law, and might never
exceed twenty-five for one offence, nor more than
once a day. The chastisement was not applied by
the missionary, but by an Indian chief or other native
official, nor was
it si i readily in-
flicted as malev-
olent and igno-
rant writers would
have the world
believe. The
stories of cruelty
prevalent among
closet historians
were either manu-
factured or exag-
gerated out of all
semblance to I he
t ru t h by the
enemies of the
friars, because the
latter stood be-
tween white cu-
pidity and Indian
helplessness, \t
times the culprit
would be locked
up I ut that was
a penalty he courted, as it relieved him from work, for which t he Indian had an innate aversion. If the offence was of a serious nature, or a crime against the natural or the civil laws, the delin- quent had to be turned over to the military au- thorities. Inasmuch as the missionary considered himself, as regards the neophytes, in loco parentis, and was so recognized by Spanish law, he acted in that capacity. It was this fatherly treatment that gained for him the veneration of the converts which "approached adoration".
Throughout the mission period the missionaries aimed to make their establishments self-supporting, with a view to independence of government assist- ance, and to wean the natives from indolence, so that they might adopt civilized ways and learn to main- tain themselves by the fruit of their labour. The friars succeeded so well that from the year 1811, when all government aid ceased, as well for the mis- sions as for the soldiers, on account of the revolution- ary situation in Mexico, the California establishments maintained not only themselves, but also the whole military and civil government on the coast down to the end of 1834, when the Franciscans were deprived of control. From the beginning of a mission the Fathers insisted that all should work according to their capacity, cither on the farm or at the work- shops, during six or seven hours a day. The product Was stored in the granaries or warerooms for the
