Ecological Transformation and Indigenous Demographic Collapse at Mission Santa Clara

The Mission Santa Clara de Asís leveraged California Indigenous labor as a means to boost economic growth, displacing Native communities in the process. We analyzed demographic and economic data spanning from 1778-1832. The data centered around the correlational relationship between the demographic collapse and the growth of the mission’s agricultural production. We used multiple methods of analysis and charts that took into account a variety of variables, including birthrate, deathrate, and cattle exports. These conclusions illustrate the extent to which the Mission Santa Clara de Asís exploited the Indigenous communities as a means of economic expansion.