"The Windim Revolt of October 1789"

Maria Torres
Dr. Kristina Casper-Denman
California Indians
5 April 2005

The Windim Revolt of October 1789

(OOC Note: This is a research paper for an Anthropology class at Windim Community College. It received full marks)

The Windim Miwok are just a few members of the larger Federated Indians of Coastal Central California. The FICCC includes of bands of Miwok and Pomo, and disburses the federal funds granted to the groups. They have survived many hardships over the ages and have attempted to maintain their rich culture throughout.

Archaeological sites just outside of Windim (CA-MON-1267 and CA-MON-1270 specifically) have provided artifacts dating to 8,500 +/- 500, and included fish hooks, spears, shell beads, and obsidian tools. The obsidian tools have been source identified to the Lake Tahoe area, and strong indication of long distance trade. Though shell mounds and middens in the area are rare, one found along the coastline (and since destroyed by a development company) has shown evidence of a reliance on local fish and shellfish, as well as east facing burials that show evidence of an egalitarian society. There is evidence of warfare in some of the male remains, however this seems limited. The Miwok people were alliterate, like all of the California Indian groups, until contact was made by the Spanish during the Mission Period.

Chaplain Fletcher reported the first known European contact with the Miwok in 1579, aboard a ship owned by Sir Frances Drake. Until the late 1700’s contact with Europeans was intermittent. The 1770’s brought the Spanish priests, the Mission Period, and the downfall of traditional Miwok life. Father Junipero Serra himself founded the Mission Benicio, 30 miles outside of Windim. The priests then set about “saving” the souls of the “innocent heathens.” In other words, they used their advanced technology and extreme faith to force the Indians onto land which the priests held in “trust” for the Indians, teaching them agriculture and cattle ranching. It was at this point that the Windim Rancheria was created. Originally 100 acres dedicated to cattle herding, Windim Rancheria was the starting point for the infamous Windim Revolt of October 1789, in which a Miwok woman named Maria Sparrow Hawk incited a bloody and violent riot that lasted for almost a week. Wild stories of this woman abound, including that she had “eyes like a cat” and held an uncanny rapport with the local animals. Many people were slaughtered on both sides of the fight, and Mission San Benicio was burned to the ground with many of the priests and converted Miwok inside. The Spanish retaliated by crucifying any Indians they came across, regardless of their involvement in the revolt, and by burning the rancheria dormitories. By the end of the week, hundreds of people were dead, many more injured or driven mad by the spectacle. Troops sent from nearby missions corralled the surviving Indians and sent them to other missions, where they were punished for their involvement and subjugated to the same slavery they had been trying to escape. The woman reported to have started the revolt, Maria Sparrow Hawk is said to have been raped and mutilated by members of the troops before being handed over to the presiding priest, Father Pablo del Torro. Here the reports of her existence are confusing, as some accounts maintain that she lived for a few years as Father del Torro’s personal maid before committing suicide or alternately that she was executed by the Father himself with an iron sword borrowed from the captain of the troops.

The Windim Rancheria today is a sad and desolate place. There are two permanent structures on the Rancheria, a residence and a quasi community hall. The FICCC is comprised of hundreds of California Indians, however only 30 or so on the member list claim Windim Miwok ancestry. Of those thirty, only a handful live on the rancheria, in the residence or in trailer homes. The rest are scattered through the area.

The Windim Miwok today are trying to rebuild their cultural heritage, but a lack of funding and education mean that their situation is dire. Every generation they are loosing more and more of their cultural life ways and traditions. It seems as though the Windim Miwok people are still living with the echoes of that horrible week so long ago.