1848–1870s

California Gold Rush and destruction of Native communities

California; numerous Indigenous nations

Gold seekers and settlers killed, displaced, and exploited Indigenous people. Military and state policies assisted dispossession, while kidnapping, labor coercion, hunger, and disease deepened population loss.

Dates preserve the source’s precision. This entry is part of a selected historical record; its qualifications and sources are retained below.

Context / qualification

Population decline is not identical to a count of people directly murdered; estimates require attribution.

Sources

• Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (2014), chapter 7
• Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (2014), chapter 7
• Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States (2014), chapter 2

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