Indians of California: The Changing Image.
By James
Rawls. Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1984. Maps. Illustrations.
Bibliography. Index. 293 Pages. $9.95 Paperback.
The University of Oklahoma Press has just published a
paperback edition of James Rawls' Indians of California, which originally
came out in 1984. The book is a major contribution to the history of
Indian-white relations in California, and it is good that it is now available in
a more affordable for-mat. The book traces the white Californians' negative
stereotypes of the area's Indians, and the resulting negative treatment of the
native peoples. Rawls shows how the first Anglos originally viewed the Hispanic
missionaries as people who abused and exploited the Indians, but that the
Anglos later changed their views of both the Spanish and the Indians and
proceeded to themselves exploit the Indians in cruel ways, with bounty hunters
and de facto slavery. This book should be consulted by anyone working on
any topic pertaining to California Indian-white relations.
