Outside of the Reach of the Mission Bell: Tongva Ritual Practice on San Clemente Island

Author(s): Elisabeth A. Rareshide

Year: 2018

Summary

The Mission Period in Alta California (AD 1769-1834) radically changed the lives of indigenous people such as the Tongva. Many Tongva people joined the Spanish missions, but some practiced rituals connected to the Chinigchinich religion on San Clemente Island. Patterns of consumption of native and foreign material culture may reveal new layers of meaning in persistent ritual practices. With a variety of ritual features, the Lemon Tank artifact collection from San Clemente Island provides a rich source of data on Tongva ritual practices. Historical and ethnographic research connects some of these ritual features to the Chinigchinich religion. By using needle-drilled shell beads to determine which ritual features from Lemon Tank securely date to the historic period, this paper explores the development of Tongva ritual practices during the colonial period.

Cite this Record

Outside of the Reach of the Mission Bell: Tongva Ritual Practice on San Clemente Island. Elisabeth A. Rareshide. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, New Orleans, Louisiana. 2018 ( tDAR id: 441589)

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Keywords

Temporal Keywords
1769-1834

Spatial Coverage

min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 785