The S.B. Archaeological Society presents: Indigenous Persistence in Foodways

Presented by the Santa Barbara Archaeological Society

In this free public talk in Farrand Auditorium at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, UCSB Department of Anthropology graduate student Sarah Noe, M.A., will present her study investigating Indigenous persistence within Mission Santa Clara de Asìs in central California through the analysis of animal food remains.

The Spanish colonial mission system established within Alta California had a profound social and ecological impact on Indigenous peoples, altering traditional subsistence strategies and foodway patterns. Indigenous and colonial residents differentially acquired ingredients and prepared daily meals within the Alta California colonial mission system.

The assessment in Noe’s study demonstrates a sharp divergence between Indigenous and colonists’ daily diet, manifested in the continued use of wild food resources by Indigenous people as well as the maintenance of precolonial culinary practices in the preparation of cattle meat for daily stews. These findings complicate our understanding of foodways within the Spanish mission system and expand our understanding of Indigenous autonomy within conditions of colonialism.

For questions about Santa Barbara Archaeological Society of upcoming meetings, please email SBCAS President Glenn Russell, Ph.D. at glennrussell100@hotmail.com