Education
The U.S Education and Christianity were introduced to the California Indians. The Indians were forced to convert to Christianity and denounce their religion by the colonies. Colonial education was meant to empower the Natives and make them more productive for their good. Additionally, education was a means of trying to convert their religion. California missions were set up and were aimed at Catholicizing and assimilating the Native people. The schools deliberately disregarded the history of the California Indians and instead focused on the invented history of America.
Imperialism
Imperialism involved imposing U.S policies in attempts to influence the Indian policies for the benefit of controlling the economy and the culture of the California Indians. The U.S government used violence to force the Native Americans to yield to their rules and ways of life. The white settlers did so by invading, subduing, and developing any place they could.
Oppression
Throughout the story, Miranda explores the experiences of the Native Americans at the hands of their oppressors. She takes us through the troubled past of the California Indians during the mission period before they were ultimately destroyed. Miranda additionally relates her life experiences to those of fellow Native Americans.
Racism
Racism is expressed through the manner in which the Native Americans were oppressed based on their culture and beliefs. Their culture was considered backward and they were discriminated against for their beliefs. A useful example is when the Native Americans were a lot of times raped by the non-Native men. The intense violence was an effort to assimilate them into civilization and to the U.S ways of living.
Racial Identity
Miranda expresses the issue of racial identity through the case of “bad Indians”. The “bad Indians” are the ones that left their culture and beliefs and were assimilated into the oppressor’s way of life betraying their identity. The “bad Indians” from the oppressor’s point of view were those that resisted and dejected their rules. Miranda’s memoir is an evocative story of oppression, devastation, and survival. Native Americans eventually lost their language, culture, and identity.
