The last of three commemorative mission bells in Santa Cruz was removed August 28, 2021 from where it has stood since 1906. This act of healing signals concerted efforts by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band to remove these symbols celebrating the colonial past and the brutal missionization of California. The Critical Missions Project aims to similarly remove the “Mission Project” from the fourth grade curriculum in the region.
Critical Missions Project at UC Santa Cruz
This Critical Missions Project sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Humanities Lab aims to center Amah Mutsun stories and Indigenous perspectives in local school curricula and lessons addressing the California Missions. Part of the larger Critical Missions Studies initiative, this is a collaborative project led by Professors Judith Scott and Renya Ramirez and bringing together Amah Mutsun Tribal Band members, UCSC native scholars and researchers, the History & Civics Project, and regional teachers. We focus on multiple levers of change to challenge dominant colonial narratives and current practices in teaching missions and the mission era. One of those levers is learning from Amah Mutsun Tribal members.
About the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
- Learn about how to protect sacred Amah Mutsun lands and view accompanying classroom curriculum about the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band at Protect Juristac.
- Explore The Amah Mutsun Land Trust’s website.
- Watch the Amah Mutsun Land Trust Fire Symposium Webinar broadcast in November 2020.
- Listen to an episode of UC Santa Cruz American Indian Resource Center’s Amah Mutsun 2020 Speaker Series, “Critical Missions Studies Research: Telling the Truth,” here.
- California Burning: Episode 2-Native Intelligence, Chairman Valentin Lopez participates in this conversation.
- View the Summer of 2020 Critical Missions Studies Toppling Missions and Monuments Conference videos available here.
What are we doing?
Developing Resources
- Collecting past and present stories from the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band regarding the missions through archival work and oral interviews.
- Writing stories to infuse children’s literature with indigenous perspectives. Look out for Dr. Judy Scott’s first book, When the Mission Bells Rang, available soon.
- Compiling useful teaching materials, for example, see this list of Recommended Indigenous Children’s Picture Book compiled by Judy and Donna Scott.
- Creating lessons, for example see this Opening up the textbook lesson focused on the question: What relationship did the California Indians have with the land?
Convening Teachers
- Hosting an upcoming professional development session for teachers interested in re
placing the California mission project and other educators who similarly want to infuse their curriculum with indigenous perspectives. This is tentatively planned for September 25. More details and registration coming soon.
- Surveying teachers to find out more about needed supports and resources.
- Developing and piloting curricula to produce free materials and resources.
Please email Emily Howe at ejhowe@ucsc.edu if you would like to be added to our growing list of educators interested in working with this Project.
Curating Resources
For starters, check out some scholarship informed by indigenous knowledge and an interest in transforming the teaching of the California mission period.
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- Ramirez, R. & Lopez, V. Valentin Lopez. (2020). Healing, and Decolonization: Contesting Mission Bells, El Camino Real, and California Governor Newsom. Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture, 2(3). pp. 91-98.
- Keenan, H.B. (2021). The mission project: Teaching history and avoiding the past in California elementary schools. Harvard Educational Review.
- Rizzo-Martinez, M. (2020). “If They Do Not Fulfill What They Have Promised, I Will Accuse Them”: Locating Indigenous Women and Their Influence in the California Missions. The Western Historical Quarterly, 51, 291-313.
- Meyers-Lim, N. (2014/15). Educating Elementary School Children About California Missions and the Perpetuation of Genocide. News from Native California.
- Miranda, D. (2012). Bad Indian. Heyday Books.
- Castillo, E. (2015). Cross of Thorns: The Enslavement of California’s Indians by the Spanish Missions. Fresno, CA: Craven Street Books.
- For adults who want to learn more about the mission bells as instruments of colonialism, listen to this podcast produced by historian Martin Rizzo-Martinez & educator Daniel Stonebloom.
Challenging Colonialism is a podcast produced by historian Martin Rizzo-Martinez and educator Daniel Stonebloom. Our collaboration includes:
- Dr. Judy Scott, Professor of Education, UC Santa Cruz
- Dr. Renya Ramirez, Professor of Anthropology, UC Santa Cruz
- Dr. Daisy Martin, Director, The History & Civics Project at UC Santa Cruz
- Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band,
- Alexii Sigona, UC Berkeley Doctoral Candidate
- Carolyn Rodriguez, UCLA Doctoral Candidate
- Charley Brooks, UCSC Doctoral Candidate
- Dr. Rob Cuthrell, Research Associate for the AMTB
- Rick Flores, Director of Horticulture & Steward of the Amah Mutsun Relearning Program at the UCSC Arboretum
More resources and information available soon!