California Genocide: A Historiography of Settler Innocence.

Publication Date

Fall 2021

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Wičazo Ša Review

Volume

36

Issue

2

First Page

1

Last Page

24

Abstract

California's history of anti-Indigenous violence from its admission into the United States in 1850 to the end of the nineteenth century represents an acceleration of the settler-colonial violence experienced in the rest of the nation over centuries. In this article, the settler-colonial impetus for anti-Indigenous violence, which remains unaddressed in the historiography of genocide in California, is examined at the state, regional, and tribal levels. The absence of a settler-colonial analytic moves the historiography away from interrogating genocide and anti-Indigenous violence to arguments that support "settler innocence" and lends credibility to those who argue that what occurred in California and the entirety of the American continents was merely an unavoidable clash of cultures. The historiography analysis shows a need for future scholarly inquiry and case studies that apply settler-colonial theory to provide context and illuminate the framework that championed these atrocities. Ignoring the settler-colonial origins, foundations, and persistence of genocide in California permits and legitimizes the denial of the crimes that took place.

Keywords

California, Genocide, Native American, Settler Innocence

Department

Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

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