Shaped by the expansion of the american democracy and the cotton economy. Indian nations like the cherokees were victimized by the United States government, the state of georgia as well as land hungry settlers, but the nations willingness to adapt and press all possible advantages illustrates how indians continued well beyond the colonial area to change to make colonialism work in their favor. With that in mind, i want to revisit california today. And consider the ways Californian Indian societies continued the practice after the mission era, and helped to build californias economy, attract settlers, and transform the territory into a economically vital american state during the gold rush. This transformation hinged on the work of indian people. As you remember, catholic missionaries where the vanguard of Spanish Colonial settlement in california. Franciscan missionaries envision the Northern Frontier in which indians would be converted into spanish subjects loyal to the crown and will