California governor apologizes to Native
Americans, cites 'genocide'
Send a link to a friend
[June 19, 2019]
By Alex Dobuzinskis
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California Governor
Gavin Newsom on Tuesday apologized to Native Americans for violence and
other wrongdoings they suffered during the state's history and called
their mistreatment genocide.
The Democratic governor, in an executive order, called for the creation
of a Truth and Healing Council to produce a report before the end of
2024 on the historical relationship between the state and Native
Americans.
Newsom delivered the apology during an appearance with tribal leaders at
the California Indian Heritage Center near Sacramento, the state
capital.
"It's called a genocide, that's what it was, a genocide," Newsom said,
citing the $1.3 million in state funding authorized in the 1850s to
subsidize militia campaigns against Native Americans. "No other way to
describe it, and that's the way it needs to be described in the history
books."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Jun/19/images/ads/current/farmers_bank_sda_prom_050614.png)
Tribal leaders who appeared with Newsom on Tuesday thanked him for the
apology.
"It's healing to hear your words, but actions will speak for themselves
and I do look forward to hearing more and seeing more of you," Erica
Pinto, chairwoman of Jamul Indian Village in San Diego County, said.
"WAR OF EXTERMINATION"
In discussing the history of California's treatment of Native Americans,
Newsom cited an 1851 address to the state legislature by California's
first governor, Peter Burnett.
"That a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the races
until the Indian race becomes extinct must be expected," Burnett said
then.
[to top of second column]
|
![](../images/061919pics/news_f3.jpg)
California's Governor Gavin Newsom speaks during the California
Democratic Convention in San Francisco, California, U.S. June 1,
2019. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
The state of California had never previously formally apologized for
its role in wrongdoing against Native Americans, according to the
governor's office.
Newsom's predecessor, Democrat Jerry Brown, did endorse a 2016 book
by historian Benjamin Madley, of the University of California, Los
Angeles, titled "An American Genocide: The United States and the
California Indian Catastrophe, 1846-1873." The book detailed how
California's indigenous population fell from as many as 150,000
people to about 30,000.
Madley estimated that between 1846 and 1873, up to 16,000 Native
Americans were killed in California. Disease, dislocation and
starvation also took their toll, Madley wrote.
The U.S. Congress in 2009 passed a resolution, tucked into an
appropriations bill, that apologized to Native Americans for
violence, maltreatment and neglect inflicted by U.S. citizens.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Bill Tarrant and Leslie
Adler)
[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2019/Jun/19/images/ads/current/lincolntheatre_sda_031016.png) |