People of the West

Spanish Missions

The brutal reality of California’s mission system unfolds through the story of Aha’ya and Atsia of the Ohlone. Families are torn apart as forced baptisms, disease, starvation, and systemic abuse define life under Junípero Serra and the soldiers. Expert voices reveal how the missions operated as engines of colonization, using whippings, sexual violence, and forced labor to control Native people. Yet amid devastation, acts of resistance and survival endure, culminating in uprisings that challenged Spanish domination.