This volume makes available a remarkable body of writings, the only indigenous account of early nineteenth-century California. Written by Pablo Tac, this work on Luiseño language and culture offers a new approach to understanding California’s colonial history. Born and raised at Mission San Luis Rey, near San Diego, Pablo Tac became an international scholar. He traveled to Rome, where he studied Latin and other subjects, and produced these historical writings for the Vatican Librarian Cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti. In this multifaceted volume, Pablo Tac’s study is published in the original languages and in English translation. Lisbeth Haas introduces Pablo Tac’s life and the significance of the record he left. She situates his writing among that of other indigenous scholars, and elaborates on its poetic quality. Luiseño artist James Luna considers Tac’s contemporary significance in a series of artworks that bring Pablo Tac into provocative juxtaposition with the present day. Transcribed by Marta Eguía, Cecilia Palmeiro, Laura León Llerena, Jussara Quadros, and Heidi Morse, with facing-page translation by Jaime Cortez, Guillermo Delgado, Gildas Hamel, Karl Kottman, Heidi Morse, and Rose Vekony

Pablo Tac (1822-1841) was Luise�o Indian. He was born and raised at Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, located in present-day Oceanside, California. At the age of ten, he left the Mission with Father Peyr�, O.F.M., and another young neophyte boy, Agapito Amamix. Their destination was Rome. On September 23, 1834, Pablo and Agapito enrolled at the Urban College. There they learned how to be missionary priests, hoping to one day return home to California to shepherd their Luise�o brothers and sisters in Christ. Following in the footsteps of Saint Jun�pero Serra, whose motto was "Move forward and never turn back" (�Siempre adelante y nunca para atr�s!), the young Pablo Tac never gave up. Meet Pablo Tac is an inspirational story of faith, courage in the face of adversity, and the universality of the Catholic Church. Come and meet Pablo Tac.

This copious collection of reminiscences, reports, letters, and documents allows readers to experience the vast and varied landscape of early California from the viewpoint of its inhabitants. What emerges is not the Spanish California depicted by casual visitors—a culture obsessed with finery, horses, and fandangos—but an ever-shifting world of aspiration and tragedy, pride and loss. Conflicts between missionaries and soldiers, Indians and settlers, friends and neighbors spill from these pages, bringing the ferment of daily life into sharp focus.

Saints and Citizens is a bold new excavation of the history of Indigenous people in California in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, showing how the missions became sites of their authority, memory, and identity. Shining a forensic eye on colonial encounters in Chumash, Luiseño, and Yokuts territories, Lisbeth Haas depicts how native painters incorporated their cultural iconography in mission painting and how leaders harnessed new knowledge for control in other ways. Through her portrayal of highly varied societies, she explores the politics of Indigenous citizenship in the independent Mexican nation through events such as the Chumash War of 1824, native emancipation after 1826, and the political pursuit of Indigenous rights and land through 1848.

Serra's legacy has been distorted. Taking the controversy head-on, this composition aims to bring clarity to Serra's heritage. Christian Clifford's passion for the topic and presentation will help the fair-minded see the first American saint canonized on American soil in a clear and concise way and as one worthy of inviting on one's own faith journey. Going beyond the standard biography and drawing from many disciplines, the author paints a vivid picture of Serra during his time and through the years. This book is written with Catholic high school students, parents, and religious educators in mind. However, anyone who is interested in the man Pope Francis called the "Evangelizer of the West" will deepen their understanding of this amazing Catholic Hispanic.

This short, comprehensive collection of primary documents provides an indispensable introduction to Mexican American history and culture. Includes over 90 carefully chosen selections, with a succinct introduction and comprehensive headnotes that identify the major issues raised by the documents Emphasizes key themes in US history, from immigration and geographical expansion to urbanization, industrialization, and civil rights struggles Includes a 'visual history' chapter of images that supplement the documents, as well as an extensive bibliography