New Mission San Francisco Solano Lectures on Native Culture

A series of lectures this month and February will highlight Native People's contribution to Mission San Francisco Solano in Sonoma.

The Mission is the northernmost in California and was the last one built in the state. It was completed in 1823, when the state was under Mexican Rule. Miwok, Pomo, Patwin and Wappo people were used as a labor force, according to State Parks, which manages the Mission. A memorial to the Native Peoples who labored and died there is alongside the Mission on First Street East.

Upcoming lectures will focus on Indian life along Sonoma Creek, Coastal Miwoks, and Indian management of Old Mission Delores in San Francisco. The series will be presented Jan 17 and 31 and Feb. 7, as follows:

Jan. 17: "Native Peoples, Foreign Ideas: The Creation of Sonoma Mission," presented by Breck Parkman, senior state archaeologist for California State Parks. Breck will examine Indian life along Sonoma Creek prior to the founding of the Mission, as well as how the Mission changed history.

Jan. 31: "Coast Miwok Connections: Past, Present and Future," presented by Nick Tipon, Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.

Feb. 7: "Old Mission Delores, San Francisco: A Return to Original Indian Management," presented by Andrew Galvan, curator of Mission Delores, San Francisco, and Vincent Medina, assistant curator, Mission Delores.

Each lecture will be at 7 p.m. at the Mission San Francisco Solano, 114 East Spain Street. Admission is $10 at the door or $5 for Sonoma-Petaluma State Historic Parks Association members and California State Parks volunteers. Refreshments will be served starting at 6:30 p.m.

For more information, call the Mission at 707-938-9560.

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