only two things--rejecting all attempts by the United States to impose constitutional forms of government on the nations and preserving their traditions as best they could. Groups, such as strong Christian segments, that did not adhere to traditional ways were not incorporated into the larger group and any deviation from the old ways merely resulted in further fragmentation of the nations. The sole exception to the refusal to institutionalize change was the use of the religious revitalization begun by Handsome Lake to ease the transition from "an independent, horticultural, hunting, and trade society to a dependent agricultural reservation community" (Champagne 33).
The Southern California Indians had a very different experience of colonialism under the Spanish, the Mexicans and the United States. The large number of bands occupying the region had never established any cooperative effort even at the relatively weak level achieved by the Iroquois Confederacy. Like Native Americans everywhere the Southern California groups were gradually forced t
...