A Dark History Hits Home: California's Governor Apologizes for the State's Native Genocide and Takes a First Step Toward Healing

In June 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom apologized to tribal leaders for the genocide his predecessors waged against California's Native peoples, the most comprehensive such admission to date at the state level. The apology broke through widespread public denial of this historical atrocity and prompted extensive media coverage. In California's case, vigilantes, state-sponsored and -funded militias, army campaigns, and abysmal reservation conditions cut an estimated population of 150,000 in 1846 to 15,000 by 1900. Remarkably, California's tribes, augmented by migration of Native Americans from other parts of the United States, have demonstrated great resilience and are now building their cultural presence in state and nation.