The Smallest Nations · Episode 3 of 8 · 35 min
A War of Extermination
A sensitive episode told in a documentary register. During the Gold Rush California funded militias to hunt Native people and legalized their forced labor, while the Native population collapsed from roughly 150,000. In 2019 the State of California formally called it genocide. The record includes Governor Burnett's 1851 words, the militia funding, Benjamin Madley's documentation, and the state's apology.
Who's who
- Peter Hardeman BurnettFirst elected civilian governor, who predicted a war of extermination in 1851
- Benjamin Madley+1 more episodeUCLA historian and author of An American Genocide
- Gavin Newsom+11 more episodesGovernor who apologized and called it genocide in 2019
Where it happens
- Clear Lake, CaliforniaSite of the 1850 Bloody Island massacre of Pomo people
- Humboldt Bay (Indian Island), CaliforniaSite of the 1860 massacre of Wiyot people
- Round Valley, California+1 more episodeYuki campaigns of 1856-1859
Timeline
- April 22, 1850Legislature legalizes indenture of Native children and forced labor.
- May 15, 1850Bloody Island massacre at Clear Lake.
- January 6, 1851Burnett predicts 'a war of extermination.'
- February 26, 1860Indian Island massacre in Humboldt Bay.
- 1873Close of the Modoc War marks the conventional end of the period.
- June 18, 2019Newsom issues a formal apology and creates the Truth and Healing Council.
Still debated
The 'genocide' label is used by the state and most current scholarship, but is debated on legal versus descriptive grounds and on how centrally directed the killing was. Madley's counts of 9,492 to 16,092 killings are minimums built from surviving records.
Connected episodes in other series
Was It Genocide? Putting the American Record on TrialAs Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 13Also features Benjamin Madley, Gavin Newsom
Whose Mother Lode: The Treaties Gold BrokeFree and Open: The 1872 Mining Law · Episode 8Also features Gavin Newsom
What ReturnsFire Returns to My Backyard · Episode 10Also features Gavin Newsom
How Indigenous People Resisted the Spanish Missions — Pueblo Revolt to SerraMissionaries: From Alaska to Patagonia · Episode 3Also features Gavin Newsom