CALIFORNIA MISSION INDIANS Postcard 1800s 1900s

This antique hand-colored postcard of three Native American elder women, presumably California Mission Indians, was postmarked 1912.

The historical postcard is titled "Old Indian Women at Mission San Luis Rey, California."

CALIFORNIA MISSIONS

The early SPANISH MISSIONS and later CALIFORNIA MISSIONS were founded on Christianity and used as fiduciaries to enslave and assimilate the Kumeyaay Indians, the aboriginal Native peoples of what became California, and their ancestral lands into 'civilized' society.

There is no doubt many California Indians found salvation through the Christian religion and protection under the mission systems, but thousands more Native resisters throughout the mission periods had paid for their freedom and self respect with their lives.

As documented in “The Missions of California: A Legacy of Genocide” by Rupert Costo1 also Rupert Costo2, the California Missions were a brutal, degrading experience for many Native American Indians.

Please see the KUMEYAAY.INFO CALIFORNIA INDIAN RESEARCH DEPARTMENT.