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“Gold, Greed and Genocide”: The
True Story of the California Gold Rush
Gold, Greed & Genocide
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Over
150,000 Native Americans lived sustainably in California prior to
the gold rush. They had existed for many centuries, supporting
themselves mostly by hunting, gathering and fishing. This life
changed drastically in 1848 when James Marshall discovered the
yellow metal in the American River at Coloma, in Northern
California.
By
1870, there was an estimated native population of only 31,000
Californian Indians left. Over 60 percent of these indigenous
people died from disease introduced by hundreds of thousands of
so-called 49ers. However, local tribes were also systematically
chased off their lands, marched to missions and reservations,
enslaved and brutally massacred.
In
1851, the California State government paid $1 million for scalping
missions. You could still get $5 for a severed Indian head in
Shasta in 1855, and twenty five cents for a scalp in Honey Lake in
1863.
Over 4,000 Native American children were sold - prices ranged from
$60 for a boy to $200 for a girl. |
The gold
miners dug up 12 billion tons of earth - excavating river beds and
blasting apart hillsides in their greed. In addition, they used
mercury to extract gold from the ore, losing 7,600 tons of the toxic
chemical into local rivers and lakes. The amount of mercury required
to violate federal health standards today would be equivalent to one
gram in a small lake.
Although this gold rush ended in the late 19th century, a new gold
rush began in the 1960s. In California, Nevada and around the globe,
multinational companies have begun to use giant earth movers and new
technology using deadly cyanide to extract gold from indigenous
lands.
About
the artist: Denise Davis, whose family is from the Maidu tribe of
the Sierra foothills, lives in Chico, California. The design that
frames this painting is a traditional Maidu basket pattern. It was
Maidu land on which gold was originally discovered at the place we
now know as Sutter's Mill.
The
painting was commissioned by Project Underground in 1999 based on
the book Gold, Greed & Genocide. Copies of this book and information
about the impact of gold mining on Native American lands may be
obtained from:
| For More Information or to order a copy of the
"Gold, Greed and Genocide" Video and Curriculum, contact the IITC
San Francisco Office, (415) 641-4482, e-mail
iitc@igc.apc.org
Gold, Greed and Genocide web page click here:
www.1849.org |
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2008
International Indian Treaty Conference, Guatemala
SYMPOSIUM ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE UN DECLARATION ON THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES” Monday April 21st, 2008, during UNPFII7
(PDF 555K)
Opening Statement of the Indigenous
Caucus, 11th Meeting of Negotiations in the Quest
for Points of Consensus, Organization of American
States April 14th, 2008
Declaración de Apertura del Conclave
de los Pueblos Indígenas XI Reunión de Negociaciones
para la Búsqueda de Puntos de Consensos Organización
de los Estados Americanos 14 de abril de 2008
Indigenous Peoples' Caucus, UN
Permanent Forum on April 19th & 20th , 2008 (PDF
90K)
Web link for Longest Walk 2
IITC Human Rights Forum” may 9th
2008, Southern Illinois University (PDF 244K)
NEW! IITC Power point: “Indigenous
Peoples’ Advocacy for a Rights and Culturally-based
Approach to Food Security”, April 3, 2008
(9.4 MB PowerPoint Presentation)
Treaty Conferences/2008 Guatemala,
“Provisional Conference Agenda” (PDF 28K)
The UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and the Right to Free,
Prior and Informed Consent: The Framework For a New
Mechanism for Reparations, Restitution and Redress,
submitted by the IITC to the UN Permanent Forum on
Indigenous Issues Seventh Session (UNPFII7) (PDF
80K)
NEW save the dates, 34th Anniversary
Treaty Conference, Chimaltenango Guatemala, June
19th – 22nd 2008 (PDF 448K)
Aparte las fechas, Asamblea Anual
XXXIV del Consejo Internacional de Tratados Indios
junio 19 a 22 de 2008, Chimaltenango, Guatemala (PDF
138K)
Report of the North America
Preparatory meeting for UNPFII7, Vancouver Canada,
February 22nd and 23rd 2008 (PDF 168K)
Hawaiian Land Rights decision by
Hawaiian Supreme Court, Nation of Hawaii calls upon
Legislature to "Cease and Desist", February 8, 2008
Indigenous Shadow Report to UN CERD
highlights Racism by United States, February 5th
2008
Peoples’ Shadow Report to the CERD on
the United States submitted by IITC January 2008
(PDF 400 KB)
New IITC Brochure
33rd annual Alcatraz Sunrise
Gathering, November 22nd 2007 (PDF 209K)
FINAL REPORT FROM THE INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES’ BORDER SUMMIT OF THE AMERICAS II SAN XAVIER
DISTRICT TOHONO O’ODHAM NATION NOVEMBER 7-10, 2007
Live Web Casts from the Indigenous
Peoples’ Border Summit II, San Xavier, Arizona
November 7 – 10, 2007
PUBLIC FORUM, Local Indigenous Environmental and
Sacred Sites Issues, Saturday, November 17 U of A
College of Law, Tucson AZ
Report of the Special Rapporteur on
the Right to Food to UN Human Rights Council and
General Assembly , May 2007 (see page 44 on
Indigenous Peoples in California and Alaska, USA)
PDF 243K
Alberta Chiefs of Treaty 6, 7 & 8
Express Disappointment Re: Canadian Federal
Government "Throne Speech", October 19th 2007 (PDF
50K)
AGROQUIMICOS: LA AMENAZA A NUESTRA
SALUD COMUNITARIA Y AL MEDIO AMBIENTE/ Pesticides:
The Threat to our Community Health and the
Environment, AHOME, SINALOA, Mexico, Octubre 26 - 28
2007, October 26 – 28, 2007 (PSD 52K)
IITC Training Manual for filing “Shadow Reports” for
the review of the United States by the UN Committee
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD), October 17th, 2007 (PDF 578K)
IITC Human Rights Training Novmeber
8th 2007, during the Indigenous Peoples’ Border
Rights Summitt II, San Xavier Arizona! (PDF 79K)
UN Declaration for the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples adopted by the UN General
Assembly September 13th, 2007!
UN Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples as adopted by the UN General
Assembly September 13th 2007 (PDF 56k)
Declaracion de las Naciones Unidas
sobre los derechos de los Pueblos Indigenas,
adoptada por la Asemblea General el 13 de septiembre
de 2007 (PDF 60K)
IITC Statement on the
Adoption of the Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, September 16th 2007
(PDF 200K)
US
Statement against the adoption of the Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, September 13th
2007 (PDF 53K)
CSD 15th session, 2007, April 30 - May 11, 2007
Link for the
COMMITTEE FOR THE ELIMINATION OF
RACIAL DISCRIMINATION,
Seventieth session,
19 February – 9 March 2007, Concluding
observations re: CANADA/
COMITÉ PARA LA ELIMINACIÓN DE LA
DISCRIMINACIÓN RACIAL, Septuagésimo
período de sesiones, 19 de febrero – 9 de marzo de
2007, Observaciones
finales sobre
CANADA
Appointment of
Indigenous UNPFII members (2008-2010) announced,
April 20, 2007
Treaty Council News Winter 2007 (PDF
1MB)
IITC Submission to the UN High
Commissioner on Human Rights for her study on the
Human Right to Water, April 15th, 2007 (PDF 136k)
Pesticides are Poison” booklet now
available online
Los Plaguicidas son Venenos” manual
ahora disponible en internet
UN Web page, Indigenous Peoples and
Treaties, the UN Treaty Study Expert Seminars
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