Ron,

This sounds very much like the failure (or success) of the encomienda in
Peru. I'd like to talk to you further about this.

John Dendy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ron May" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, June 13, 2004 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: Colono label & the extinction of the Chumash


> Actually, I would prefer to avoid population statistics. Many scholars
have
> scoured the Mission records in California for data on baptism, birth and
death
> rates. The problem is that no one did a census to see who else was out
there.
> The Spanish never learned the native populations settlement systems, hence
the
> statistics will always be in question. My understanding of the local
> Yuman-speaking Ipaay was that they settled in various places by seasons
and gradually
> broke off into family or work units to relocate along kinship use-rights
> areas. A family caught in birth records for the village of Nipaguay, for
example,
> might end up in the high mountains for summer and high desert for winter.
> Depending on kinship lines, they could also visit relatives along the
Lower
> Colorado River or in the Sierra Juarez of Mexico. This system would make
it hard for
> U.S. Census records to be accurate. Nonetheless, people working those
records
> have estimated the effect of encomienda in California, along with European
> introduced disease, had devastating effects on native populations.
>
> There is ample evidence the native people were not willing participants in
> the mission system, even though many learned to adapt. As well, people who
had
> low ranking in native society could do well by rising to supervisorial
levels
> in the Roman Catholic Church and actually leave written records for us to
read.
> I feel the native people who were freed by Mexican decree in 1934 simply
> stripped-off the cotton clothing and went back to the inland villages and
resumed
> their seasonal tranhumance in remote mountains and deserts far away from
> Spanish/Mexican populations. Disease continued to take a toll on the
families
> through the 19th century and the groups of people examined by
anthropologists in
> the 1890s and early 20th century were a very small population compared to
those
> who were here before Spanish incursion into the area.
>
> Back to the archaeology questions, I would ask what effects disruption of
> settlement systems had upon the material culture? Is the crude, thick,
brown
> pottery found at Spanish settlements and Roman Catholic mission sites a
material
> expression of the impact to their culture? Or, was it simply un-trained
> Spaniards trying to create pots to replace the dwindling supplies brought
on by
> internal economic and global problems back in Spain and Mexico? For a
number of
> years, I examined collections of crude brown pottery from California
missions
> with emphasis on construction technique. There is no doubt that
coil-paddle-anvil
> type pottery got thicker at missions outside native pottery-production
areas.
> Some pottery had very organic animal dung temper and you have to wonder if
> the potters deliberately did a poor job for some reason? The coil-scrape
pottery
> was crudest of all, but as I mentioned yesterday, I do not subscribe to
> Anita's hypothesis that Owens Valley Brown Ware influenced pottery
production in
> the Spanish system. I have studied collections of Owens Valley Brown Ware.
> However, in any mission pottery collection, there will be finely made
wheel-thrown
> terracotta pottery and small quantities of nicely made coil-paddle-anvil
> pottery which I feel came in trade shipments from San Blas, Mexico, right
along
> with Mexican Majolica and olive jars.
>
> What Anita did provide in her abbreviated email yesterday is the exciting
new
> research into trace element analysis of pottery clays. Proving the same
clay
> trace elements from one region or mission to another, however, does not
prove
> anything with regard to how this happened. Russell Skorowneck's discovery
that
> pottery from the 1796 Spanish Army canon battery at San Diego shared
pottery
> with the same trace elements as that found at Mission San Luis Rey might
> substantiate my hypothesis that Yuman-speaking potters from San Diego were
taken by
> Roman Catholic priests or Spanish soldiers north to Mission San Luis Rey
to
> trade pots or teach pottery-making. It also could mean that the natural
> distribution of trace elements from clay seams does not differ
substantially over a
> 70-mile distance. Nothing in trace element analysis addresses the cultural
> origin of plain, terracotta pottery recovered at Spanish presidios and
Roman
> Catholic mission sites.
>
> I think the use of an eastern term like colonoware would be foolish for
> California. There is no use of the term in the accepted literature. If it
comes to
> a vote among professionals, I vote against it.
>
> Ron May
> Legacy 106, Inc.