Students participated by placing yellow flags with the symbol of Cal State Puvungna in the flag and each flag represented California during the gold rush and the impact it had on the Native American population on Nov. 4.
Students planted yellow flags bearing the Cal State Puvungna symbol to honor California’s Gold Rush history and acknowledge its lasting impact on Native American communities on Nov 4.
The yellow flags read, “CAL STATE PUVUNGNA / TWAA’AA MOHIINO TEHOOVETMO.” The flags from left to right show the California indigenous population from 1848-1900.
Eleanor Nelson, 20, President of American Indian Student Council and student assistant lead for the Puvungna Cultural resource center educated participants on the history of the California gold rush.
“They [the yellow flags] represent California Indian people in three different time periods… It shows the drastic effects of the California gold rush as well as other California policies that have aimed to exterminate California Indian people, the very little time California had in its creation,” Nelson said.
The history of the Gold Rush and the Native American population is a lost fragment of history that is not talked about enough.
Mia Nuñez, a student at Long Beach State spoke at the event as a guest speaker emphasized the need to remember the lost history of the genocide of the indigenous population in California.
The violence, disease, forced relocation, and cultural destruction that indigenous peoples endured during this time had a lasting impact on their communities. Many tribes were completely wiped out, while others were forced to relocate and assimilate into a dominant culture that marginalized them.
“Not only in death but in identity…our voices are still not heard,” Nuñez said.
In 2019 Gavin Newsom issued a formal apology to the Native American tribes of the atrocities committed by the state government and recently in 2024, the Biden administration issued its own apology for forcing Native American children into forced American assimilation in boarding schools.
Before the Gold Rush, California's Native American population was estimated at over 150,000. By the year 1900, that number would be 30,000-20,000, though the numbers could be higher according to the international Indian treaty council.
Many factors fueled the decline of the indigenous population, including disease, mass murder, and state and federal sponsored ethnic cleansing.
The United Nations interpretation for what constitutes a genocide says, “There must be a proven intent on the part of the perpetrators to physically destroy a national, ethical, racial or religious group.”
Local militias in California were sponsored by the government to kill Native Americans during the mid 19th century. This led the population to plummet drastically and displaced them in the process. The California state government paid $1 million to scalp the heads off Native Americans during this time.
Women were especially vulnerable to sexual violence and abuse. These atrocities occurred with little accountability, as the government either turned a blind eye or actively supported settler actions.
California would pass a law called An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians, which gave the authority of the government to separate children from Native American families to be indentured servants for white citizens.
“It seems the U.S hardly recognized this as any kind of an influential event,” Nuñez said.
Written by: Justin Enriquez
