Mission Indians was a term used to refer to the

Indigenous peoples of California Indigenous peoples of California, commonly known as Indigenous Californians or Native Californians, are a diverse group of nations and peoples that are indigenous to the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and afte ...

who lived or grew up in the Spanish mission system in California. Today the term is used to refer to their descendants and to specific, contemporary tribal nations in California.

History

Spanish explorers arrived on California's coasts as early as the mid-16th century. In 1769, the first Spanish

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

mission was built in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. Local tribes were relocated and conscripted into forced labor on the mission, stretching from San Diego to

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Disease, starvation, excessive physical labor, and torture decimated these tribes.Pritzker, 114 Many were baptized as

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

by the

missionaries at the missions. Mission Indians were from many regional Native American tribes; their members were often relocated together in new mixed groups, and the Spanish named the Indian groups after the responsible mission. For instance, the Payomkowishum were renamed '' Luiseños'', after the Mission San Luis Rey; the Acjachemem were renamed the ''

Juaneño The Acjachemen () are an Indigenous people of California. Published maps often identify their ancestral lands as extending from the beach to the mountains, south from what is now known as Aliso Creek in Orange County to Las Pulgas Canyon in t ...

s'', after the

Mission San Juan Capistrano Mission San Juan Capistrano () is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in San Juan Capistrano, California, San Juan Capistrano, Orange County, California, Orange County, California. Founded November 1, 1776 in colonial ''The Califo ...

and the Kizh or Kisiannos renamed the ''

Gabrieleño The Kizh or Kit’c ( ) are an Indigenous people of California, the historically and ethnographically documented lineal descendants of the Mission Indians of San Gabriel. They belong to a group commonly known by the Spanish name Gabrieleño. Th ...

'', after the

Mission San Gabriel Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...

. The Catholic priests forbade the Indians from practicing their native culture, resulting in the disruption of many tribes' linguistic, spiritual, and cultural practices. With no acquired

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

to the exposure of European diseases (as well as sudden cultural upheaval and lifestyle demands), the population of Mission Indians suffered high mortality and dramatic decreases, especially in the coastal regions; the population was reduced by 90 percent, between 1769 and 1848. Despite the missionaries' attempts to convert the Indigenous peoples of the missions, often referred to in mission records as "neophytes", they indicated that their attempts at conversion were often unsuccessful. For example, in 1803, twenty-eight years into the mission period, Friar

Fermín de Lasuén Fermín or Fermin may refer to: * Fermin Fermin (also Firmin, from Latin language, Latin ''Firminus''; Spanish language, Spanish ''Fermín'') was a holy man and martyr, traditionally venerated as the co-patron saint of Navarre, Spain. He was born ...

wrote:

Generally the neophytes have not yet enough affection for Christianity and civilization. Most of them are excessively fond of the mountains, the beach, and of barbarous freedom and independence, so that some show of military force is necessary, lest they by force of arms deny the Faith and law which they have professed.

Abuse persisted after Mexico assumed control of the California missions in 1834. Mexico

secularized In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

the missions and transferred (or sold) the lands to other non-Native administrators or owners. Many of the Mission Indians worked on the newly established ranchos, with little improvement in their living conditions. Around 1906, Alfred L. Kroeber and Constance G. Du Bois, of the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, first applied the term "Mission Indians" to southern California Native Americans, as an

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

and

anthropological Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behaviour, wh ...

label to include those at

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa () is a Spanish mission founded September 1, 1772 by Father Junípero Serra in San Luis Obispo, California. The mission was named after San Luis, obispo de Talosa (Saint Louis, bishop of Toulouse, France). Th ...

and south.

Reservations

On January 12, 1891, the US Congress passed the ''"An Act for the Relief of the Mission Indians in the State of California"''. This would further sanction the original grants of the Mexican government to the natives in southern California, and sought to protect their rights, while giving railroad corporations a primary interest. In 1927, the Sacramento

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

Superintendent Lafayette A. Dorrington was instructed by Assistant Commissioner E. B. Merritt, in Washington D.C., to list the tribes in California from whom Congress had not yet purchased land, and for those lands to be used as reservations. As part of the 1928 the ''California Indian Jurisdictional Act'' enrollment, Native Americans were asked to identify their "Tribe or Band". The majority of applicants supplied the name of the mission that they knew their ancestors were associated with. The enrollment was part of a plan to provide reservation lands promised, but never fulfilled by 18 non-ratified treaties made in 1851–1852. Because of the enrollment applications, and the native American's association with a specific geographical location (often associated with the Catholic missions), the bands of natives became known as the "mission band" of people associated with a Spanish mission. Some bands also occupy trust lands—

Indian Reservations An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

—identified under the Mission Indian Agency. The ''Mission Indian Act'' of 1891 formed the administrative

unit which governs

, Riverside,

San Bernardino San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

, and Santa Barbara Counties. There is one

Chumash Chumash may refer to: *Chumash (Judaism), a Hebrew word for the Pentateuch, used in Judaism *Chumash people, a Native American people of southern California *Chumashan languages, Indigenous languages of California See also

* Pentateuch (dis ...

reservation in the last county, and more than thirty reservations in the others.

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

, Ventura and Orange Counties do not contain any tribal trust lands. However, resident organizations that self-identify as Native American tribes, including self-identified

Tongva The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous peoples of California, Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Channel Islands of California, Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . In the precolonial era, the peop ...

in the first and

Acjachemen The Acjachemen () are an Indigenous people of California. Published maps often identify their ancestral lands as extending from the beach to the mountains, south from what is now known as Aliso Creek (Orange County), Aliso Creek in Orange County, ...

in the last county (as well as Coastal Chumash in Santa Barbara County) continue seeking federal tribal recognition by the

. There are no state-recognized tribes in California. Eleven of the southern California reservations were included under the early 20th-century allotment programs, which broke up communal tribal holding, to assign property to individual households, with individual heads of household and tribal members identified lists such as the

Dawes Rolls The Dawes Rolls (or Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, or Dawes Commission of Final Rolls) were created by the United States Dawes Commission. The commission was authorized by United States Congress in 1893 to exe ...

. The most important reservations include: the Agua Caliente Reservation in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

, which occupies alternate sections (approx. 640 acres each) with former railroad grant lands that form much of the city; the Morongo Reservation in the

San Gorgonio Pass The San Gorgonio Pass, or Banning Pass, is a elevation Gap (landform), gap on the rim of the Great Basin between the San Bernardino Mountains to the north and the San Jacinto Mountains to the south. The pass was formed by the San Andreas Faul ...

area; and the Pala Reservation which includes San Antonio de Pala Asistencia (Pala Mission) of the Mission San Luis Rey de Francia in Pala. These and the tribal governments of fifteen other reservations operate casinos today. The total acreage of the mission group of reservations constitutes approximately .

Southern California locations

These tribes were associated with the following missions, asisténcias, and estáncias: *

, in

* Mission La Purísima Concepción, northeast of

Lompoc Lompoc ( ; Chumashan ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast, its population was 43,834 as of July 2021. Lompoc has been inhabited for thousands of years by the Chumash people, who called t ...

Mission Santa Inés Mission Santa Inés (sometimes spelled Santa Ynez) was a Spanish mission in present-day Solvang, California, United States, and named after St. Agnes of Rome. Founded on September 17, 1804, by Father Estévan Tapís of the Franciscan order, t ...

, in Solvang *

Mission Santa Barbara Mission Santa Barbara () is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in Santa Barbara, California, United States. Often referred to as the 'Queen of the Missions', it was founded by Padre Fermín Lasuén for the Franciscan order on Decem ...

, in Santa Barbara *

Mission San Buenaventura Mission San Buenaventura (, Ventureño language, Ventureño: ), formally known as the Mission Basilica of San Buenaventura, is a parish (Catholic Church), Catholic parish and basilica in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Archdiocese ...

, in Ventura *

Mission San Fernando Rey de España Mission San Fernando Rey de España is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission in the Mission Hills, Los Angeles, Mission Hills community of Los Angeles, California. The mission was founded on September 8, 1797 at the site of Achooyko ...

, in Mission Hills (Los Angeles) *

Mission San Gabriel Arcángel Mission San Gabriel Arcángel () is a Californian mission and historic landmark in San Gabriel, California. It was founded by the Spanish Empire on the Nativity of Mary September 8, 1771, as the fourth of what would become twenty-one Spanish mi ...

, in San Gabriel *

, in San Juan Capistrano * Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, in

Oceanside Oceanside may refer to: Places United States *Oceanside, California ** Oceanside Transit Center *Oceanside, New York Oceanside is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the southern part of the town of Hempst ...

Mission San Diego de Alcalá Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcalá (, lit. The Mission of Saint Didacus of Acalá) was the second Franciscan founded mission in the Californias (after San Fernando de Velicata), a province of New Spain. Located in present-day San Diego, C ...

, in

* Santa Ysabel Asistencia, founded in 1818 in Santa Ysabel * San Antonio de Pala Asistencia (Pala Mission), founded in 1816 in eastern

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its border with Mexico. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634; it is the second-most populous ...

* San Bernardino de Sena Estancia, founded in 1819 in Redlands * Santa Ana Estancia, founded in 1817 in

Costa Mesa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge o ...

* Las Flores Estancia (Las Flores Asistencia), founded in 1823 in

Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by ...

Northern California missions

In northern California, specific tribes are associated geographically with certain missions. * Mission Dolores in

(Muwekma

Ohlone The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...

) * Mission San Jose in Fremont (Muwekma

) * Mission Santa Clara in Santa Clara/San Jose (Muwekma

) * Mission Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz ( band of Costanoan

) * Mission San Juan Bautista in San Juan Bautista (Amah-Mutsun Band of Costanoan

) *

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo Mission San Carlos Borromeo del Río Carmelo (English language, English: The Mission of Saint Charles Borromeo of the Carmel River), first built in 1797, is one of the Conservation and restoration of immovable cultural property, most authentica ...

in Carmel/Monterey ( Esselen nation) *

Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad (), commonly known as Mission Soledad, is a Spanish mission located in Soledad, California. The mission was founded by the Franciscan order on October 9, 1791, to convert the Native Americans living in th ...

in Soledad ( Esselen nation) *

Mission San Antonio de Padua Mission San Antonio de Padua is a Spanish missions in California, Spanish mission established by the Franciscan order in present-day Monterey County, California, Monterey County, California, near the present-day town of Jolon, California, Jolon. ...

in Jolon. ( Esselen nation and Salinan nation)

Mission tribes

Current mission Indian tribes include the following in southern California: * Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians (

Cahuilla The Cahuilla, also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. ...

) * Augustine Band of Mission Indians (

) * Barona Band of Mission Indians (

Kumeyaay The Kumeyaay, also known as 'Iipai-Tiipai or by the historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Uni ...

/ Diegueño) * Barbareño/Ventureño Band of Mission Indians (Barbareño/Ventureño Chumash) *

Cabazon Band of Mission Indians The Cabazon Band of Cahuilla Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Cahuilla Indians, located in Riverside County, California.Pritzker, 120 They were formerly known as the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. Reservation The Cabazon Indian Res ...

(

) * Cahuilla Band of Mission Indians (

) * Campo Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) * Capitan Grande Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) * Cuyapaipe Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) * Giant Rock Band (unrecognized) of Morongo Serrano-

. * Inaja and Cosmit Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) * Jamul Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) *

* Laguna Band of Mission Indians of the Laguna Reservation * La Jolla Band of Mission Indians (

Luiseño The Luiseño or Payómkawichum are an Indigenous people of California who, at the time of the first contacts with the Spanish in the 16th century, inhabited the coastal area of southern California, ranging from the present-day southern part of ...

) * La Posta Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) * Las Palmas Band (unrecognized) of Cahuilla. * Los Coyotes Band of Mission Indians (

and

Cupeño The Cupeño (or Kuupangaxwichem) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe of Southern California. They traditionally lived about inland and north of the modern day Mexico–United States border in the Peninsular Rang ...

) * Manzanita Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) *

Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians The Mesa Grande Band of Diegueño Mission Indians of the Mesa Grande Reservation is a federally recognized tribe of Iipay Indians,Pritzker, 146-7 who are sometimes known as Mission Indians. Reservation The Mesa Grande Reservation () is a feder ...

(

/ Diegueño)
Mission Creek Band of Mission Indians
– Mission Creek Reservation of

. * Morongo Band of Mission Indians (

, Serrano and

) * Pala Band of Mission Indians (

and

) * Pauma Band of Mission Indians (

) * Pechanga Band of Mission Indians (

) * Ramona Band or Village of Mission Indians (

) * San Cayetano Band (unrecognized) of Cahuilla. * San Manuel Band of Mission Indians (Serrano) * San Miguel Arcangel, descendants of Mission San Miguel Indians in San Miguel, California. * San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) * Santa Rosa Band of Mission Indians (

) * Santa Ynez Band of Mission Indians (

* Pentateuch (dis ...

) * Santa Ysabel Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) * Soboba Band of Mission Indians (

) * Sycuan Band of Mission Indians (

/ Diegueño) * Temecula Band (unrecognized) of Mission Indians (

and Serrano). * Torres-Martinez Band of Mission Indians (

) * Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians (

Chemehuevi The Chemehuevi ( ) are an indigenous people of the Great Basin. They are the southernmost branch of Southern Paiute. Today, Chemehuevi people are enrolled in the following federally recognized tribes: * Colorado River Indian Tribes * Cheme ...

with some Cahuilla and Luiseño descent) Current Mission Indian

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

north of the present day ones listed above, in the

Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary Structural basin, basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an wikt:anomalous, anomalous group of east–west trending chains of mountai ...

, Central Coast,

Salinas Valley The Salinas Valley (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Valle de Salinas'') is one of the major valleys and most productive Agriculture, agricultural regions in California. It is located west of the San Joaquin Valley and south of San Francisco Bay and ...

Monterey Bay Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by about 75 miles (120 km), accessible via California S ...

, and

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

s, also were identified with the local mission of their Indian Reductions in those regions.

Notes

References

* Du Bois, Constance Goddard. 1904–1906. "Mythology of the Mission Indians", ''The Journal of the American Folk-Lore Society'', Vol. XVII, No. LXVI. p. 185–8 904 Vol. XIX. No. LXXII pp. 52–60 and LXXIII. pp. 145–64. 1906. ("the mythology of the

and Diegueño Indians of Southern California") * Kroeber, Alfred. 1906. "Two Myths of the Mission Indians of California", ''Journal of the American Folk-Lore Society'', Vol. XIX, No. LXXV pp. 309–21. * Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .

External links

Indians of the California Missions: Territories, Affiliations and Descendants
at the California Frontier Project
Handbook of the Indians of California
in the Claremont Colleges Digital Library
Matrimonial Investigation Records of the San Gabriel Mission
in the Claremont Colleges Digital Library

by Alfred L. Kroeber (1906)
"Mythology of the Mission Indians"
by Constance Goddard DuBois (1906) {{Authority control Spanish missions in California Native American history of California New Spain