Pablo Tac (c. 1822–1841) was a

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 ...

(''Quechnajuichom'' also spelled "Qéchngawichum") Indian and indigenous scholar who provided a rare contemporary Native American perspective on the institutions and early history of

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

. He created the first writing system for Luiseño,Haas, p. 3 and his work is the "only primary source of

Luiseño language The Luiseño language is a Uto-Aztecan language of California spoken by the Luiseño, a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who at the time of first contact with the Spanish in the 16th century inhabited the coastal ar ...

written by a Luiseño until the twentieth century."

Life

Tac was born of Luiseño parents at

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia Mission San Luis Rey de Francia () is a former Spanish mission in San Luis Rey, a neighborhood in Oceanside, California. This Mission lent its name to the Luiseño tribe of Mission Indians. At its prime, Mission San Luis Rey's structures an ...

and attended the Mission school. A promising student, he (along with another boy) was singled out by the

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 ...

missionary, Father Antonio Peyrí, to accompany Peyrí when he left California in 1832. "On January 15, 1834, Father Peyrí, Pablo, and Agapito left San Fernando College exico Cityand in February boarded a ship for Europe. They travelled via New York and France, arriving in Barcelona, Spain, on June 21. The 'New' World was coming to meet the 'Old' World." Tac arrived in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

in September 1834 and was enrolled in the college of Propaganda Fide, studying

Latin grammar Latin is a heavily inflected language with largely free word order. Nouns are inflected for number and case; pronouns and adjectives (including participles) are inflected for number, case, and gender; and verbs are inflected for person, numbe ...

. He went on to study

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

, and

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

in preparation for missionary work, but he died in 1841. Luiseno drawing early 1800s

Works

As a student, Tac wrote a Luiseño grammar and dictionary for the linguist Giuseppe Mezzofanti, and notably included a history as part of his manuscript. He created a way of writing Luiseño that drew on Latin and Spanish. It is unlike the modern way of writing Luiseño. Tac also wrote an essay on the "Conversion of the San Luiseños of Alta California." The latter includes information on aboriginal lifeways (including dances and games) and the history and organization of the Mission, along with two drawings by Tac. Tac authored an early account of life at Mission San Luis Rey entitled ''Indian Life and Customs at Mission San Luis Rey: A Record of California Mission Life by Pablo Tac, An Indian Neophyte'' (written ''circa'' 1835, edited and translated by Minna Hewes and Gordon Hewes in 1958). In the book, Tac lamented the rapid decline of his people:

''In Quechla not long ago there were 5,000 souls, with all their neighboring lands. Through a sickness that came to California 2,000 souls died, and 3,000 were left''."

Tac went on to describe the preferential treatment the ''padres'' received:

''In the mission of San Luis Rey de Francia the Fernandino /nowiki>sic">sic.html" ;"title="/nowiki>sic">/nowiki>sic/nowiki> father is like a king. He has his pages, alcaldes, majordomos, musicians, soldiers, gardens, ranchos, livestock...''."

Tac also noted that his people initially attempted to bar the Spaniards from their southern California homelands. When the foreign invaders approached,

"''...the chief stood up...and met them''," demanding, "''...what are you looking for? Leave our country!''"

Commemorations

For the 2005 Venice Biennale, Luiseño artist James Luna created an artwork dedicated to the memory of Pablo Tac. The piece, titled ''Emendatio'', included three installations, ''Spinning Woman'', ''Apparitions: Past and Present'', and ''The Chapel for Pablo Tac'', as well as a personal performance in Venice, ''Renewal''. It was sponsored by the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

. On June 7, 2012, a hall at Mission San Luis Rey was named in honor of Pablo Tac. In July 2019, author Christian Clifford presented the workshop "Pablo Tac: Indian from the far shores of California" in Ohio at the 80th annual Tekakwitha Conference, a Catholic Native American organization. On June 8, 2021, the Oceanside Unified School District Board of Education announced that it will consider renaming San Luis Rey and Garrison Elementary Schools (combined during the 2019/2020 school year) one of the SLR Renaming Citizens Advisory Committee top three name recommendations of Dolores Huerta, Pablo Tac, or John Lewis Elementary School. After brief presentations on the three proposed names, the OUSDBOE voted 5-0 to rename the combined schools after Pablo Tac.Oceanside Unified School District Board of Education

Notes

References

* * * * McFadden, David Revere and Ellen Napiura Taubman. ''Changing Hands: Art without Reservation 2: Contemporary Native North American Art from the West, Northwest and Pacific.'' New York: Museum of Arts and Design, 2005. . * Nottage, James H., ed. ''Diversity and Dialogue.'' Seattle:

University of Washington Press The University of Washington Press is an American academic publishing house. The organization is a division of the University of Washington, based in Seattle. Although the division functions autonomously, it has worked to assist the university' ...

, 2008. . * Oceanside Unified School District Board of Education
Item Details: Consideration to Rename San Luis Rey Elementary School"
June 8, 2021. * Redacción ACI Prensa
Estos nativos de América del Norte podrían ser declarados mártires y santos
aciprensa, Aug. 13, 2019. * Sisson, Pau

''San Diego Union Tribune'', June 9, 2012. * Smith, Peter Jesserer
"Unveiling Potential Saints for the Americas"
''National Catholic Register'', Aug. 12, 2019. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tac, Pablo 1820s births 1841 deaths Luiseño people People of Alta California Mexican illustrators People from Oceanside, California Date of birth unknown

Life

Works

Commemorations

See also

Notes

References