4.2.1

Discuss the major nations of California Indians, including their geographic distribution, economic activities, legends, and religious beliefs; and describe how they depended on, adapted to, and modified the physical environment by cultivation of land and use of sea resources.

California Missions, the Environment, and the Economy

Why did Spain establish missions? And how did they gain control? What impact did this encounter have upon Native peoples, Spanish missionaries and military, the Spanish/Mexican settler population, and California’s natural environment? Download Primary Source Set: California Missions, the Environment, and the Economy

This lesson introduces students to some of the lifeways of Native Californian communities before the arrival of newcomers (Europeans and Americans).

California Indians & the Mission System

Based on the provided sources, was life on the missions more positive or negative for the California Indians?  Download Lesson Set: Missions

This task is part of a larger unit on the Spanish colonization of California and the mission system. This historical investigation is structured as a performance task to provide teachers an opportunity to teach the skills and habits of mind necessary to complete a performance task “on demand” at the end of the year.

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