SerraStatue_SanRafael_IMG_3894-1
Indigenous People's Day - October 12, 2020
Mission San Rafael Arcángel
San Rafael, California
On Indigenous People's Day, local native Coast Miwoks and allies rallied in front of the statue of Junípero Serra at Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church in Marin County, CA, calling for the removal of the statue and acknowledgment of Serra's brutal legacy. After numerous impassioned speeches, the statue was covered with red paint and ropes were used to pull the statue down. Similar actions had been taken across the state and country in recent months in a push to end the practice of glorifying brutal colonizers and proponents of slavery.
Serra was a Spanish Franciscan priest who is credited with establishing and overseeing the California Mission system that brutally enslaved the thriving native populations that had inhabited the land for thousands of years. The Spanish missions not only stole indigenous lands but sought to erase native languages and cultures. During this period (l769-1834), 37,000 California natives died at missions as a result of disease, starvation, overwork or mistreatment. Despite this history, statues honoring Junípero Serra have been erected all over California, and over considerable protest, Pope Francis conferred sainthood on Serra on September 23, 2015.
Following the toppling of this statue, 5 people were charged with felony vandalism at the request of the church (which also unsuccessfully sought a charge of 'hate crime'). 4 women identify as indigenous and 2 as baptized in the Catholic church.
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From the rally:
Lucina Vidauri, Coast Miwok descendent, spoke at the rally, “Serra’s life mission was to convert the California natives. The entire [California Mission] system was designed to convert native populations. That meant imprisonment, enslavement and murder. And this guy was the leader of it all. Indigenous customs and traditions were banned from this very mission. [...] They were not allowed to speak their language, they were not allowed to speak their traditions, they were not allowed to do their traditional ways. They were made ‘civilized’. Right here in this church. There was a lot of tragedy.”
Dean Houghlin, Coast Miwok descendent and chair of the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin: “Why does this colonization and this genocide continue with this statue that represents the enslavement, the murder, the child abuse, the desecration of our ancestor’s bones, the desecration of our land. [...] So I ask you again to please stand with us, with me and my relatives, my family, the descendants of the people that were enslaved here and that actually built this mission. [...] To change this so it doesn’t continue. So that we can heal. So all of us can have a sense of possibility. A sense of compassion for each other. This is not the Coast Miwok tradition to dishonor life.”
SerraStatue_SanRafael_IMG_3894-1
Indigenous People's Day - October 12, 2020
Mission San Rafael Arcángel
San Rafael, California
On Indigenous People's Day, local native Coast Miwoks and allies rallied in front of the statue of Junípero Serra at Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church in Marin County, CA, calling for the removal of the statue and acknowledgment of Serra's brutal legacy. After numerous impassioned speeches, the statue was covered with red paint and ropes were used to pull the statue down. Similar actions had been taken across the state and country in recent months in a push to end the practice of glorifying brutal colonizers and proponents of slavery.
Serra was a Spanish Franciscan priest who is credited with establishing and overseeing the California Mission system that brutally enslaved the thriving native populations that had inhabited the land for thousands of years. The Spanish missions not only stole indigenous lands but sought to erase native languages and cultures. During this period (l769-1834), 37,000 California natives died at missions as a result of disease, starvation, overwork or mistreatment. Despite this history, statues honoring Junípero Serra have been erected all over California, and over considerable protest, Pope Francis conferred sainthood on Serra on September 23, 2015.
Following the toppling of this statue, 5 people were charged with felony vandalism at the request of the church (which also unsuccessfully sought a charge of 'hate crime'). 4 women identify as indigenous and 2 as baptized in the Catholic church.
----
From the rally:
Lucina Vidauri, Coast Miwok descendent, spoke at the rally, “Serra’s life mission was to convert the California natives. The entire [California Mission] system was designed to convert native populations. That meant imprisonment, enslavement and murder. And this guy was the leader of it all. Indigenous customs and traditions were banned from this very mission. [...] They were not allowed to speak their language, they were not allowed to speak their traditions, they were not allowed to do their traditional ways. They were made ‘civilized’. Right here in this church. There was a lot of tragedy.”
Dean Houghlin, Coast Miwok descendent and chair of the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin: “Why does this colonization and this genocide continue with this statue that represents the enslavement, the murder, the child abuse, the desecration of our ancestor’s bones, the desecration of our land. [...] So I ask you again to please stand with us, with me and my relatives, my family, the descendants of the people that were enslaved here and that actually built this mission. [...] To change this so it doesn’t continue. So that we can heal. So all of us can have a sense of possibility. A sense of compassion for each other. This is not the Coast Miwok tradition to dishonor life.”