Native Americans push schools to include their story in California history classes

In the colonies the war was called the French and Indian War. Both the French and the British colonists were helped by their Indian allies. An ally is a friend in a war. The British army and British colonists were helped by the Iroquois Indians.

Yup. That should be a part of the history that is taught. The biggest problem with teaching any 'history' of American Indians is that prior to the European invasion, there was little to no actual written history on the continent. Makes it hard to go into any deeper pre-columbian history, as what is retained was generally oral histories, little of which was recorded even by colonists, and much of that was somewhat romanticized.

Now, if they'd like to go into what is actually known about pre-columbian times, that would be fine, but I would object to romanticized 'noble savage' nonsense. The native tribes were every bit as violent, warlike, and territorial as every other human society on the planet. The fact that they never made any significant technological progress in their entire history (lacking even such basics as the wheel, and writing), was a major contributing factor to the ability of a more technologically advanced society to fully and unconditionally conquer them.

There did appear to be some tech of sorts in central and south america, but ultimately, they were still largely outclassed by their European foes.

American Indians weren’t even considered CITIZENS, until 1924! And even then, some states would not let them vote til 1957!

You know, that sounds really horrible and all that, but it overlooks the fact that American Indians insisted on retaining the sovereignty of their 'nations', even after they were a thoroughly conquered people, and we allowed them to maintain that fiction. I certainly object to citizens of other nations having a say in our government. I believe the legal fictions of their 'sovereignty' needs to be relegated to the dustbin of history. Either they are Americans or they aren't.

I understand your point, but it’s part of the issue of the treaties that were broken, as well as the desire to maintain their history, traditions, and what’s left of the land they were allowed to keep/moved to unwillingly. As far as loyalty, Indians who participate in the military serve proudly, and veterans are held in high honor, with ceremonies honoring members in what they call their Warrior Societies. Most are patriotic Americans, and though they weren’t required to participate in WWI, as they were not yet given citizenship, they served in large numbers.

Wait a minute. If you are as old as I am, your great-grandmother lived in the latter half of the 19th Century. Chattel slavery had already been ended. If your Great-Grandmother was a Paiute/Shoshone she wasn’t originally from the San Francisco Bay area; at that time the Utes/Paiutes/Shoshone lived well to the East, in the Great Basin of Utah, Nevada, and contiguous areas. Some bands might have lived in the Mohave; that would be in California, but a long way from the Bay Area. She might have been taken from her family/people (by whom? Under what circumstances?) but “placed in servitude”? Again, by whom? What would have been the terms of this servitude? Who were the Berryessa Family?

If you will pardon my saying so, your account sounds like a family tradition originated by a young woman who didn’t have a clear idea what was happening to her, or why, only that she was no longer with her family and instead was in a household of strangers who treated her like a servant. The plot of Cinderella, but without the Prince or the glass slipper. Or like one of the stories of the kids from the “Orphan Trains.”

Part of my own family’s oral tradition concerns my Irish Grandmother. She was from an upper-middle class family in Belfast. For reasons we don’t like to talk about, she emigrated to the US, where she found employment as a maid in a hotel. At one point, her mail got mixed up with a guest’s. She was summoned to the guest’s room; the other woman turned out to be *her own step-sister* from Belfast. Neither of them would acknowlege by word or gesture that they knew and were related to each other. They exchanged the misdirected letters, and parted without further contacts. EVER. Relationships between household and domestic staff were harsh sometimes, in those days. And could be confusing and confounding.

My point in mentioning my great grandmother's personal experience was to argue against a previous poster's claim that slavery and forced servitude of natives was a myth. It did happen. My grandmother of born in 1896, and as a young girl experienced the lingering legacy of bigotry and racial prejudice that earlier natives suffered heavily under.

What geography her people originated from is hard to determine, due to the fact that natives didn't receive a lot of consideration and were not important in the eyes of the Spanish or the American settlers.

"My point in mentioning my great grandmother's personal experience was to argue against a previous poster's claim that slavery and forced servitude of natives was a myth."

I am that previous poster and MY point was that the Spaniards did not practice institutional slavery as the posted article asserted. There is no question that individual Spaniards and others of that period occasionally captured or "bought" (even from other Indians!) some unfortunate like your great-grandmother and treated them like a slave (and because the victim was a Native American they were more likely to get away with it), but that happens in almost every culture even our American culture (you hear about it even today in the news). It is still rampant in many parts of the world. But there was no institutional slavery in Spanish California. Slavery was against Spanish law (which didn't prevent nefarious individuals from practicing it, just like today) and the missionaries wouldn't permit it when it was in their power to stop it.

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