Handbook of the Indians of California

Originally published in 1925, this monograph is a representative work of Alfred L. Kroeber’s (1876-1960) contributions to American Indian ethnology. Kroeber’s handbook provides a comprehensive look at the Indians of California and offers a foundation for the ethnographical study of California’s Native American cultures.

Matrimonial Investigation Records of the San Gabriel Mission

The matrimonial investigation records, or diligencias matrimoniales, are part of a collection of California materials gathered by William F. McPherson, an Orange County rancher, scholar and collector. Predominantly though not exclusively the records of Mission San Gabriel (other California missions are also represented), these investigations of the period 1788-1861 consist of notarized interviews with couples requesting marriage in the Roman Catholic Church. There are 165 investigations in all, with 173 men and 170 women being interviewed.

Pueblo and Plains Indian Watercolors

The artworks in this collection were produced by artists from the Pueblo and Plains American Indian cultures in the early twentieth century. The works demonstrate a number of very fine examples of the broad aesthetic of American Indian Modern painting: they are representational, depicting flat figures with clear outlines and unadorned backgrounds. While primarily produced for outside audiences, the works are distinctly 'Native' in terms of their function as historical records of Indian life in the early twentieth century.