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Genocide And The Indians Of California, 1769-1873, Margaret A. Field

Graduate Masters Theses

This study is an effort to determine whether the phenomenon of genocide, as defined in the UN Convention on Genocide of 1948, played a distinguishable role in the sharp decline of the California Indian population during the period 1769 to 1873. Through examination of such resources as memoirs, newspaper accounts of the time, anthropological and demographic studies, government documents, and works on genocide theory, it considers key issues of intent and action on the part of the Spanish, Mexicans, and Americans who arrived in California during the period.

The evidence indicates that genocide of indigenous peoples occurred in California in …