The term "Mission Indians" designates the Shoshonean and Yuman-speaking peoples inhabiting the region of Southern California nestled between the prominent mountain ranges and the Pacific coastline. Our comprehension of their rich mythological tapestry stems from two distinct and valuable sources. The first, a historical beacon, is the concise yet insightful account penned by the missionary Boscana a century ago. Boscana documented the beliefs of two specific indigenous groups residing near the Mission San Juan Capistrano, providing a vital glimpse into their spiritual world. The second source comprises a collection of articles, products of recent scholarship, published in this journal, offering contemporary perspectives and analyses.
The mythology of the Mission Indians holds significant ethnographic interest, primarily due to its unique character when compared to the mythologies prevalent among other indigenous groups in California. While exhibiting certain intriguing resemblances to the traditions of Native American communities in Arizona and New Mexico, it simultaneously possesses a distinctiveness that sets it apart. This is particularly noteworthy because, despite the considerable cultural variations observed in Southern California – for instance, between the inhabitants of the Santa Barbara Islands and those of the Colorado River valley – the cultural practices of the Mission Indians were not as radically specialized or divergent from the broader Californian cultural landscape.
In terms of overall societal development and social structures, the Mission Indians did not demonstrate stark differences from the indigenous populations inhabiting the central and northern regions of California. Ethnographically, they shared closer affinities with these groups than with the Pueblo peoples or the less sedentary tribes of the Southwest.
Across much of California, the creation myth stands as the most significant narrative. These myths typically feature one or more creators, who may be human or animal figures. These creators are responsible for shaping the world, crafting its mountains and waters, establishing the sun and moon, bringing forth plants, animals, and humankind, and often bestowing upon humanity its fundamental religious institutions.
The concept of a "culture-hero," an individual who introduces culture to humans but is not responsible for the natural world’s existence or operation, is notably absent or weakly represented. Beyond the creation narrative, Californian myths largely consist of stories recounting the adventures and experiences of individuals, be they human or animal. A common tale involves deer children whose mother is killed by a bear, leading them to seek revenge by killing the bear’s offspring, followed by a perilous escape and eventual salvation. These types of narratives constitute the core of Californian mythology beyond the creation stories. Notably, migration legends are conspicuously absent.
In contrast, Southern California traditions present a different cosmological perspective. A distinct departure from the rest of California is that there is no singular creator figure. Instead, heaven and earth are often conceived as the primordial beings, or at least the earliest concrete entities, responsible for generating the principal elements of nature: plants, animals, and humankind, through a process of simple generation.
The people, within these mythological narratives, move as a cohesive group under the leadership of a prominent hero, often perceived as semi-divine. It is only after a period of time that the group fragments or is divided into distinct tribes, often by the hero himself. This hero eventually falls ill, often attributed to shamanistic practices employed by his enemies, particularly the frog. After anticipating his demise, he ultimately dies.
The customs, particularly the religious practices, of the tribe recounting the tradition are established either by this hero or by a subsequent leader. In many of the more elaborate accounts, two such leaders are identified, such as Ouiot and Chinigchinich among the Shoshoneans of San Juan Capistrano, and Matevilye and Mastamho among the Yuman Mohave.
Alongside this narrative of origins, there seems to have been a migration tradition, detailing the movements and experiences of the people, or various groups of people. This type of tradition is extensively developed among the Mohave. While not explicitly documented among the Mission Indians, evidence within Boscana’s accounts suggests the existence of a similar, albeit possibly more concise, tradition among these tribes. This is a key component of understanding the [Two Myths of the Mission Indians of California].
The non-creation myths of the Southern California Indians also differ significantly from those found in the northern parts of the state. While often simple in structure and similar to northern tales recounting the adventures of a hero or a pair of heroes, these southern myths are remarkably elaborate, extending to great lengths, and almost invariably assume a ceremonial or ritualistic character absent in the shorter, purely traditional stories of the north.
An integral part of these traditions is a vast collection of songs, which form an essential component of how these myths are maintained and transmitted across generations. These myths, in their lived form, consist primarily of these song cycles. Such a collection of songs, accompanied by varying degrees of ritualism, naturally constitutes a ceremony. In fact, nearly all ceremonies in Southern California consist of these singing performances.
This illustrates a significantly closer association between myth and ceremony in Southern California than in the northern regions. The relationship extends beyond the myth merely underlying or explaining the ceremony’s performance; the ceremony itself is essentially a myth recounted through song.
The two become intertwined, creating a composite or intermediate form that can be aptly described as both a myth and a ceremony. While the lyrics of the songs alone may not fully convey the story’s narrative to those unfamiliar with it, the underlying narrative is always present. An individual acquainted with the song cycle can readily recount the myth in its entirety. Excellent published examples of these myth-ceremonies can be found in the Chaup traditions of the Diegueño, meticulously collected by Miss Du Bois.
The Southwestern influences on this mythology, specifically its connections to tribes directly to the east, are readily apparent. In both Navaho and Pueblo traditions, the concept of a true creation is absent. Humankind emerges from the earth as a wandering group or tribe. While the generation by heaven and earth may be mentioned, the overall narrative of origins, invariably lengthy, is essentially a mythical history of the people. The migration legend is partially integrated into this pseudo-history, where humankind and the tribe are virtually synonymous, and partially appears as traditions of clan migrations.
While there is no pivotal leader of the people in Southwestern myths, the hero who emerges later and endows the people with at least a portion of their ceremonies, before ultimately departing, shares some similarities with Chinigchinich and Mastamho. The elaborate rituals of the Southwest differ considerably from the simpler singing ceremonies of Southern California. However, both, through actions, songs, and symbolic paraphernalia, consistently reference a myth.
These rituals are likely more than mere dramatic representations of myths, but their characterization as such highlights their profound similarity to the myth-ceremonies of Southern California. In Northern and Central California, as well as in the Plains regions, the situation is fundamentally different. Ceremonial origin myths exist, but these typically serve as explanations for the existence of a ceremony that, in its essence and most of its details, developed independently and is not inherently associated with any mythical tradition. Among these groups, mythology and ceremony may occasionally intersect, but they largely follow separate paths. In contrast, in Southern California and the Southwest, each contains the essential elements of the other.
Understanding [Two Myths of the Mission Indians of California] is crucial to appreciating the diverse cultural landscape of California’s indigenous populations. Further study into the topic of [Two Myths of the Mission Indians of California] will continue to add to the academic literature.