I visited the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. There were three main categories of California history: Native American settlement, the mission era, and sections of significant paintings to represent California history. These exhibits illustrate California's beginnings and how our modern state initially formed, from the first Native American citizens to colonization through missions. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay During the period of Native American settlement, pottery, jewelry, tools, and baskets were displayed to build a picture of the lifestyle led by Native Americans. While a multitude of Indian tribes inhabited the state (including some of the Mano Palute, Pomo, and Yokut), Southern California was particularly special in that it was home to several tribes including the Chumash and Gabrielino. The Bower Museum displays various baskets made by California Indians. These baskets were used to collect food and water (with the basket woven quite tightly), cooking, storing, and used for ceremonial purposes. Each basket illustrated a unique pattern to symbolize themes of health, vitality, love, prosperity and so on. One of these baskets depicted what we recognize as swastika signs. The museum keeper who was with us explained to us that for the natives this particular sign represented various things, from the process of lighting the fire to the rays of the sun. It is interesting to note how a sign that today represents hatred, prejudice and death, a few hundred years ago meant the exact opposite. In Frontier Tales: The Narrative Construction of Cultural Borders in Twentieth-Century California by Kerwin Klein, tribal informant and chief Francisco Patencio of the Cahuilla tribe states that all families had a specific sign. Found on ollas, baskets, on everything they made, it was the family hallmark, even the tribal mark. These signs did not mean the language, no. Language may change, but the sign never marks” (Klein 481). Native Americans relied heavily on symbols to convey messages of love, ownership, family, friendship, nature, and so on. These baskets could represent what was of utmost importance to a family or tribe. Shells played a vital role in Native American culture. The Bowers Museum contained many shells, from enormous abalone shells used for ceremonial purposes to small shells used for hair decoration to shells designated as currency. One such example of hair accessories are the butterfly-shaped ornaments which the museum says come from the Channel Island culture in the years 250-1600 AD. Abalone shells also served more than just ceremonial purposes, small pieces of shells of abalone served as fish hooks with their sparkling and shiny qualities. In addition to the standard shells that could be found, the museum quotes Hugo Reid as saying that Native Americans used “thick, rounded shells, smaller in diameter than a five-cent piece. They had a hole in the center and were strung on long strings” (Bowers Museum). The primary uses of these shells were currency, and Native Americans handled distinct shells (also marked by string and holes) to trade goods. The wide spectrum of uses of these shells indicated how Native Americans made the most of their surroundings and natural materials. I found that the Native American section sheds significant light on the earliest evidence we have about California civilizations. Native Americans once upon a timethey dominated all of the United States, and because they were original citizens, it is critical to study and recognize their cultures and practices and understand how these ultimately shaped and influenced our culture and lives today (particularly the California Indians). By visiting the museum, I gained a rough understanding of how Native Americans overcame challenging obstacles and the various tools they used. Some examples of these include shells used for money, jewelry, and ceremonial purposes. As accurate as the museum's materials and treasures are, Anthony Andreas of the Caliente tribe reminds Klein and us that "culture, it's not a material thing, it's more spiritual" and as he beats his chest he says "it's here" (Klein 490 ). Native people had material possessions, but the focus of their culture was on the bonds and emotions one felt about their culture. The frontier movement in California quickly transitioned into the era of missionary settlement. Communities and religion took root throughout California and slowly forced Native Americans to leave the areas or move into the missions themselves. Colonists founded businesses and as a result the economy began to develop and social classes began to develop. One such example of settlers was the Pico family. Among the first settlers in the Los Angeles area, the Pico family gained power and positions through marriage. The museum labeled Pio as the last governor of California who was "a colorful figure with enormous land holdings and a penchant for gambling" (Bowers Museum). He fought for Mexican independence and also for California to become more liberal. Pico fought against the American invaders and became very involved in politics, and by the 1840s he had made a name (and fortune) for himself. The museum's biography of Pico contains intriguing tidbits such as the fact that Pico owned California's first major hotel, located in the Los Angeles area. Maria Casas reviews Pio Pico: The Last Governor of Mexican California by Carlos Manuel Salomon. The article states that while his political positions and penchant for economic dealings ensured Pico's wealth and fame, his gambling addiction led to his bankruptcy as he bet against another man to race horses (since Pico believed he owned the fastest horse in the country). Betting countless animals and goods, Pico lost the race and slowly went bankrupt and lost his fortune. However, Pico and his family are still an iconic symbol of the mission and settlement eras as he colonized the land and fought in the war to keep California free from America's clutches. Pio Pico's half-brother, Juan Forster, arrived in California in 1833. Immediately enamored of the new, mixed California culture, Forster changed his name from John to Juan and even applied for Mexican citizenship. He married Pio's sister, Ysidora, and eventually moved his family to San Juan Capistrano. The Bowers Museum's biography of Forster states that Pio Pico gifted his brother-in-law Rancho Mission Viejo plus Portnero de las Pinos and Forster himself purchased the San Juan Capistrano mission from an auction, using the abandoned mission as his home. However, ironically, Forster chose to assist the Americans in the Mexican-American War and supplied the troops and eventually joined them. Forster helped American forces avoid an ambush and contributed to Mexico's retreat and California's surrender. Interestingly, Forster committed himself to Mexican culture but did not extend his loyalty to his adopted culture or his in-laws (who were Mexican) during the war, but chose to help the Americans and their efforts. Perhaps for a man like Forster it wasn'ta question of loyalty but of being involved in a new and exciting civilization. After all, America was still very modern by most standards and offered many exotic and exciting opportunities. Robert H. Jackson outlines the statistics and facts behind the missions in his work, “The Dynamic of Indian Demographic Collapse in the San Francisco Bay Missions, Alta California, 1776-1840.” According to Jackson, most of the workers were usually men of aged between fifteen and forty-nine. He notes that “there were also increasing incidents and active resistance in missions, large-scale flights, and armed conflicts… The Spanish-Mexican colonization effort in Alta California found itself in a phase of stalemate as a result of growing resistance from a growing number of Indian groups” (Jackson 144) He goes on to study life expectancy and mortality rates at the missions, finding that life expectancy was higher at the located missions. in San Diego, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and San Francisco with an average life expectancy of around thirty years (Jackson 150) comes down to better treatment and living conditions for Native Americans and others inhabitants of the missions. These missions, even though their memories are filled with disease, death, and slavery, are still essential to study as they serve as a bridge, transforming California from a time and place dominated by Native Americans to civilization and settlement. The painting galleries featured several similar paintings boasting bright colors, loose shapes, and nature. These paintings were created to depict the idyllic lifestyle that California was famous for, beautiful landscapes that had it all: beaches, ocean, mountains, plains and hills, and even deserts. Lifestyles in California were boosted by hope resulting from the Gold Rush and a new state and economy. The people in California were adventurous, courageous and determined and these were shown in the paintings. The paintings also depicted how California was the perfect environment for the booming agricultural industry. Iconic paintings I saw included Frank Coburn's Ideal California Day. The painting is described as “the quintessential image of the healthy California lifestyle” characterized by flowers and bright colors. Coburn's art captured the essence of how lush and bountiful California was, perhaps enticing newcomers to come to California. Carl Oscar Borg's 1930 Guardian of the Trail, ironically, described the lifestyle of the native peoples and the landscape in a very different way than one would have encountered such a scene in California. The Bowers Museum notes that these paintings, along with romantic novels such as Ramona, ignited citizens' passion for the rancho lifestyle and Native Americans. Fannie Duvall's Confirmation class highlighted the Anglo-Saxon community of San Juan Capistrano as well as the mission area. The painting illustrated young girls dressed in white dresses outside a mission. Duvall describes how mission lifestyles were not all work and no play, but could easily contain a family lifestyle. While religion played a huge role in any missionary lifestyle, this also encouraged families to get involved and could even benefit the minds of young children. In essence, this landscape showed how living on a mission was for everyone, not for religious leaders and men. To capture the pristine beauty of California, painters largely preferred the open-air style of painting. According to the museum, this style involved painting the California landscape so that it appeared untouched and free from modern life..