The first inhabitants of California developed very diverse and complex cultures that flourished over the course of many thousands of years due to their sustained, reciprocal relationships with the plants, animals, fire, water, soil and other features of their environment. Native Californians knew which plants provided nourishment, which had medicinal purposes, and which could be used to make baskets, instruments, and structures. Across much of California, Native people hunted animals such as deer, elk, and rabbits, and those who lived near the ocean, lakes, and rivers fished and hunted marine life. Many Native Californian people relied on acorns as an important part of their diet. These nuts could be stored for long periods and processed into a mush or cooked into a bread. The term hunter-gatherer does not adequately represent Native people’s sophisticated knowledge of the environment, nor does it communicate the varied techniques used by Native Californians to harvest the land. Indigenous horticulture included pruning, weeding, thinning, burning, and sowing the seeds of desirable wild plants to encourage additional growth of preferred plants.This knowledge and these relationships with the land supported Native Californian communities to develop the largest indigenous population north of modern-day Mexico.

Native Californian people, especially those who lived along the coast, were profoundly impacted by the consistent presence of Spanish settlers, soldiers, missionaries, and government officials beginning in 1769. For centuries, the Spanish relied on Native laborers to do most of the work throughout Spain’s colonies in the Caribbean and in Central and South America, which kept labor costs extremely low and made colonies financially lucrative. The Spanish worked to establish a self-sufficient system of settlements to protect Spain’s land claim against other European empires that began to show interest in Alta California (generally, the region known today as California). 

Despite variations among sites, Spanish missions and settlements generally had overwhelmingly negative impacts on Native people in California. Native people in California did not have immunity to European diseases. Sustained contact with the Spanish directly led to the severe decline of Native Californian populations. Scholars estimate that nearly half of the indigenous population in California died between the late 1770s and 1830. Part of this population devastation can also be attributed to the changing supplies of food available in the wake of the Spanish invasion. The Spanish introduced animals that fed on grasses and other plants. These animals competed for some of the same foods that were important parts of Native people’s diets. These European animals also competed with native animals like deer, which was an Indigenous meat source. This competition led to hunger, malnutrition, and starvation for many Native people who witnessed the quick depletion of their natural foods. 

Native people responded to Spanish intrusion in a variety of ways, including moving further inland to avoid interacting with the Spanish, actively resisting through revolts and rebellions, fleeing the missions, adapting to changes in their economies, and finding ways to maintain their cultures, languages, and traditions. One of these traditional practices was cultural burning. Native Californians had long used fire to maintain open grasslands that attract game animals, to facilitate the acorn and berry harvests, to encourage new plant growth for basketry, to keep undergrowth clear to ease hunting and travel, and to decrease the amount of vegetation that could catch fire from lightning. But in 1793, the Spanish governor of Alta California, frustrated by the potential damage to Spanish livestock pasture that these intentional fires posed, created a law prohibiting the setting of such fires. Native people who continued this traditional land management technique were sometimes punished. Many communities outside the influence of the missions continued to practice burns. However, in 1848, news spread world-wide that there was gold to be found in California, and yet another invasion of this region began to unfold that permanently impacted the lives, traditions, and practices of California’s first peoples.

The California Gold Rush was a defining, disruptive event that changed the state in ways that are still evident today. Those rushing to California from other parts of the United States viewed Native people as barriers to settlement in California, and many used violence to remove Native people from desirable land. The intentional violence against Native Californians was so extreme that it constituted a genocide. Officials at local, state, and federal levels financially supported the genocide of California Indian peoples. State and local laws further facilitated the attempted extermination of Native Californian communities and cultures from 1850 to the 1870s. The Indian Indenture Act of 1850 forced many Indians – mostly Indian youth – into servitude for landowners. The Gold Rush also caused irreparable environmental destruction, largely through the introduction of hydraulic mining in the 1850s, which clogged and polluted rivers throughout the state, and through the destruction of many forests to extract building materials. The impact of violence, disease, and environmental changes on Indigenous people was so extreme that the population of Native Californians declined from approximately 150,000 in 1848 to less than 17,000 people by 1900.

Interconnected with this loss of human life is the environmental devastation that ensued when Americans claimed California. This story is not unique to California, of course, and is evident in nearly every part of the globe, as industrialized agriculture, clear-cut forestry, mining, and the extraction, production, and consumption of fossil fuel-based energy sources all transform our Earth. What follows is a brief explanation of how these practices are contributing to climate change (from https://www.howglobalwarmingworks.org/400-words.html): when Earth absorbs sunlight, which is mostly visible light, it heats up. Like the sun, Earth emits energy––but because it is cooler than the sun, Earth emits lower-energy infrared wavelengths. Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (methane, carbon dioxide, etc.) let visible light pass through, but absorb infrared light––causing the atmosphere to heat up. The warmer atmosphere emits more infrared light, which tends to be re-absorbed––perhaps many times––before the energy eventually returns to space. The extra time this energy hangs around has helped keep Earth warm enough to support life as we know it. However, beginning with the Industrial Revolution (around the year 1750), atmospheric carbon dioxide began to increase. Today, this increase means there is 40% more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and 150% more methane compared to before 1750. Such increases cause extra infrared light absorption, further heating Earth above its typical temperature range (even as energy from the sun stays basically the same). In other words, energy that gets to Earth has an even harder time leaving it, causing Earth’s average temperature to increase–– producing global climate change. 

Students learning about climate change can be understandably disturbed about what the environmental changes mean for their future. They have likely already experienced the droughts, fires, heavy storms, and at times dangerously high temperatures that are becoming increasingly common. In order to lessen students’ anxiety, this lesson focuses on solutions, and how Indigenous knowledge and practices can help us move toward healing our relationships with the Earth.

Finally, we must keep in mind that teaching about the colonial history and ongoing struggles of Indigenous peoples requires cultural sensitivity and a deep understanding of the emotional weight these topics carry. Learning about the genocide, forced assimilation, and cultural erasure that Indigenous communities have faced can evoke strong emotional responses from students. It is important to foster a safe and respectful learning environment where students feel comfortable discussing sensitive topics. Recognize that some students may have personal connections to the history of colonization or Indigenous struggles, which may elicit emotional reactions. Prepare to support students through these responses with empathy, providing opportunities for reflection and dialogue. It is also vital to emphasize Indigenous resilience and ongoing efforts to reclaim cultural practices and language, offering a balanced perspective that highlights both the pain of historical trauma and the hope of recovery and renewal.