"By examining historical records and drawing on the work of anthropologists, archaeologists, ecologists, and psychologists, We Are Not Animals sets out to answer questions regarding who the Indigenous people in the Santa Cruz region were and how they survived through the nineteenth century. In We Are Not Animals Martin Rizzo-Martinez traces tribal, familial and kinship networks through the missions' chancery registry records to reveal stories of individuals and families and shows how ethnic and tribal differences and politics shaped strategies of survival within the diverse population that came to live at Mission Santa Cruz. Between 1770 and 1900, the linguistically and culturally diverse Ohlone and Yokuts tribes adapted to and expressed themselves politically and culturally through three distinct colonial encounters with Spain, Mexico, and the United States. They persevered through a variety of strategies developed through social, political, economic, and kinship networks that tied together Indigenous tribes, families, and individuals throughout the greater Bay Area, and they employed survival tactics such as organized attacks on the mission, the assassination of an abusive padre, flights of fugitives, poisonings, and arson. In some cases, they also collaborated with certain padres, tracked down fugitives, and strategically employed service, labor, and musical performance. We Are Not Animals illuminates the stories of Indigenous individuals and families to reveal how Indigenous politics informed each of their choices within a context of immense loss and violent disruption. "-- Provided by publisher.