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fished and paddled canoes, including out to the Channel Islands. Further south, the nomad-
ic Kumeyaay tribe hunted, foraged and fished near present-day San Diego.
Despite pockets of armed resistance and violent revolts, many indigenous tribespeople
were made to construct Spanish missions and presidios in the late 18th and early 19th cen-
turies. Within 100 years after Spanish colonists first arrived in 1769, California's indigen-
ous population had plummeted by 80% to just 20,000 people due to foreign diseases, con-
scripted labor, violence, hunger and culture shock.
Native Californians were further dispossessed of tribal lands during the Mexican coloni-
al and early American periods. It wasn't until the 20th century - when the US government
began recognizing some tribes as sovereign nations, granting Native Americans citizenship
and voting rights in 1924 - that California's indigenous population began to rebound.
Political activism, including the 'Red Power' protests of the American Indian Move-
ment (AIM) starting in the late 1960s, led to a cultural renaissance and secured some tribes
economic assistance from state and federal agencies. Deprived of their traditional land
base and means of livelihood centuries ago, many California tribes have turned to casino
gaming to relieve unemployment and poverty on their reservations.
Find out about the traditions and lifestyles of California's Native American tribes in the
readable natural history guide California Indians and Their Environment by Kent Lightfoot
and Otis Parrish.
A New World for Europeans
Following the conquest of Mexico in the early 16th century, Spain turned its attention to-
ward exploring the edges of a new empire, fueled by curiosity, lust for power and, above
all, greed. In 1542 the Spanish crown engaged Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese ex-
plorer and retired conquistador, to lead an expedition up the West Coast to find the fabled
golden land beyond Mexico.
When Cabrillo sailed into what is now San Diego Bay in 1542, he and his crew became
the first Europeans to see mainland California. Staring back at them from shore were the
Kumeyaay. Cabrillo's ships sat out a storm in the harbor, then sailed northward. They
made a stop at the Channel Islands where Cabrillo broke a leg, fell ill, died and was buried
on what is now San Miguel Island. The expedition continued as far as Oregon, but re-
turned with no evidence of a city of gold.
 
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