Act 1: Wicket
The main character is a Chumash boy named Wicket. He moves to the San Gabriel Mission with his mom where he converts to Catholicism and experiences hardship. The movie then jumps into the future, after the secularization of the missions, and finds Wicket, now named Esteban, working on a ranch with the loving support of his wife, Josefina.
Scene 1: Chumash village in the San Gabriel Valley in the 1790s
A young Chumash boy, named Wicket, around the age of eight is sitting in a small Indian hut with a village elder and group of similarly aged children. The village elder is in the middle of talking about one of the creation myths of another Indian people that one of his ancestors had come into contact with through trade. He begins his story, “Coyote was walking on a trail and looking up every little ways” (Orcutt, 173). As the elder is talking, Wicket’s mother walks in and tells him it’s time to go home. As they are walking back, the village bustles around them, with many Native Americans moving about their daily lives. Wicket’s mom tells him that they are moving to the San Gabriel Mission since it is becoming increasingly more difficult to survive outside and the Indians on the mission have a safer lifestyle. They arrive to their humble hut where they find Wicket’s dad just returning from a hunt. Wicket asks his dad if he is excited for the move to the mission. His father gives him a sorrowful look and tells Wicket that he is not going with them because he doesn’t believe he would be able to submit to the authority of the Spanish, but he says that the padres let Indians visit their family every once in a while so it won’t be goodbye forever. Wicket is sad, but comforted by his father’s words and the scene comes to a close.
Scene 2: Entrance to San Gabriel Mission and its interior
A couple weeks later Wicket and his mom arrive at the San Gabriel Mission with a friend, Jose, who has been living on the mission already. The friend introduces them to a padre, Eduardo, and acts as a translator between the padre and them. Through the translator, the padre tells them about the how the mission functions. He says that they will have to work in the fields in order to earn their keep and that they will also need to learn about God, eventually with the goal of becoming Catholics like the other residents of the mission. The padre also tells them to stay away from the Spanish military men who live in the presidios. Padre Eduardo says that “As for the example to be set by the soldiers, no doubt some of them are good exemplars and deserve to be treated accordingly, but very many of them deserve to be hanged on account of the continuous outrages which they are committing in seizing and raping the women” (Chan and Olin, 59). He says that they are bad men, only concerned with their own selfish desires. However, he says that they are needed to uphold Spanish law in this savage land. Wicket and his mom thank the padre for accepting them into the mission and the padre leaves them to get settled down. The housing the Spanish have provided for them is very different then what they are used to and they have a moment of doubt about their decision to move into the mission. However, Jose tells them that most of the Indians make their how housing, since it is more comfortable to them and invites Wicket and his mom to the Indian area of the mission. He also says to Wicket that “the son, if he is a man, works with the men” (Tac, 21). He tells Wicket that the men all hunt, but Wicket won’t have to do that for now since he is so young. He says that the Indians have ways to get around working: “The healthy Indians are clever at offering as a pretext chronic ailments and [we] know that they are generally believed, and that even in cases of doubt the missionary dispenses them from work” (Hackel, 124). While his mom settles down, Wicket goes exploring and stumbles upon a group of Indian children playing around. Besides the group playing is a girl, about the same age as Wicket, standing alone and Wicket decides to approach her. She introduces herself as Josefina and tells Wicket about herself. She has lived on the mission her whole life and doesn’t connect to the other kids as much since she hasn’t really experienced the world outside the mission. She has been Catholic since birth and speaks Spanish fluently, as well as the native language of the Chumash people. Wicket starts to talk about himself, but his mother comes and pulls him away to help tend to their home.
Scene 3: In the Chumash Village
This scene takes place several days later and opens on the Chumash village that Wicket used to live in. Wicket and his mom come back to the village where Wicket’s father greets them. They talk about their life on the mission and how grateful they are that the padre gives people time off to visit their family. Wicket says that he enjoys Catholic school and has made some friends among the children of the mission. He says that the padres can be very strict sometimes, but overall they are friendly people. Wicket’s father is happy to hear that all is going well and tells them about life on the outside of the mission. He says that the cattle of the Spanish are destroying more land and that disease continues to claim more victims. He also tells them about the assassination of a padre at another mission. He says that it has been told that when the culprit was arrested he said “Here, take your knife, Compadre, that which I thought is already done” (Chan & Olin, 69). Wicket’s mother asks him if he would like to live on the mission with them, but Wicket’s father says he has a duty to uphold the culture of his people away from Spanish imperialism.
Scene 4: Church of San Gabriel Mission
A couple years later, the scene begins with Wicket in Catholic school. Padre Eduardo is teaching about a certain catechism and it is apparent that Wicket now understands some Spanish. Wicket is whispering to Josefina, showing that they are very good friends at this point in time. The padre asks Wicket to quite down and tells him to stay after class. When class ends, Wicket asks what the punishment will be for talking. The padre tells him that he is not going to punish him, but instead thinks it is time for Wicket to be baptized. Wicket is excited and asks when the baptism will take place. The padre says that the next day is as good a time as any and sends Wicket on his way home. Josefina is waiting for him outside and ask Wicket what happened as soon as she sees him. Wicket tells her the good news of his baptism and she gets very excited. They talk about how grateful they are that God has granted them this opportunity and some of the problems in the village. Wicket mentions that some of the people are getting very sick and Josefina tells him that they should pray for all of them and entrust God to save them. They also talk about the new building that is going up in the mission. Before they part, Josefina gives Wicket a parting hug.
Scene 5: In home in Mission at night
Again another time jump, this time about five years, the scene centers on Wicket in the home comforting his mother, who is extremely ill. Some of the other women in the village as well as Padre Eduardo are also present. The padre is administering some European medicine, while the Chumash women are preparing an herbal drink. Padre Eduardo takes Wicket to the side and tells him that it is time to deliver his mother’s last rights. In the conversation he refers to Wicket as Esteban, showing one of the results of the baptism. Esteban asks Padre Eduardo to excuse him and says he needs some air. He goes outside and begins praying to God, asking Him to help Esteban let his mother go. As he his praying, Josefina comes up to him. She tells him that she is sorry for his loss and is sure that the baptism of his mother will ensure that she goes to Heaven. Esteban thanks her for her concern and they have a conversation about how great their friendship has been over the past seven years. Esteban walks back into his home and tells Padre Eduardo that he is ready. He holds his mother’s hand as Padre Eduardo gives her last rites. She passes almost as soon as the padre finishes his words. The scene then cuts to her burial, which is done in a Catholic fashion, with a casket and overseen by Padre Eduardo.
Scene 6: Ranch near the Pueblo of Los Angeles
Another time jump, this time about 10 years and Esteban is working in a field in a ranch near Los Angeles. Josefina, now his wife, comes out to him and tells him that supper is ready. Esteban leaves the field and enters his home. It is a Spanish style home, one room, with the kitchen near the bed. He sits down to eat and Josefina starts asking about their future plans. They talk about the end of the missions, the Mexican takeover of California, and the rancheros.
Flashback to the newly formed Mexican government talking about the mission problem in California. He speaks: “The natives see renewed in themselves the days of horror and mourning in the punishment and severity which they suffer from those who profess the adorable religion which inspires sweetness and preaches humanity and meekness” (Chan and Olin, 86). His speech ends and everyone claps, heartily approving the decision to take land out of the hands of the religious and into the hands of the rancheros.
Back to present time where Esteban and Josefina are still talking The conversation eventually comes to family and they both decide that they are ready to have children. Esteban realizes its time to get back to work, gets his horse and sets off.
Scene 7: Main Plaza of City
A crowd is around the main plaza and the camera sets on one Spanish man asking a mestizo man what is happening. He tells him that an execution is occurring for an Indian man who shot another. Apparently, an Indian man had shot this fellows horse and the horse owner repaid the favor It is revealed that the man that is about to be executed is Esteban. The Mexican soldiers read off his crimes and that his punishment is death. They make him stand up and one of the soldiers puts a gun to his head. Before he is about to fire, Josefina runs forward and struggles with the soldier. In her struggle she is shot and killed. Esteban, enraged, starts to attack the soldier and he is also killed. The head soldier tells everyone that this is a warning that the new Mexican authorities must be respected. The camera zooms in on a white man who is shaking his head in disgust. He mumbles under his breath “In the hands of an enterprising people, what a country this might be” (Chan & Olin, 93).
END OF ACT 1
BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Father Luis Jayme Criticizes the Behavior of Spanish Soldiers, 1772." Major Problems in California History. Ed. Sucheng Chan and Spencer Olin. N.p.: Wadsworth, n.d. 59-60. Print.
Hackel, Steven. Children of Coyote, Missionaries of Saint Francis: Indian-Spanish Relations in Colonial California 1769-1850. N.p.: The University of North Carolina Press, 2005. Print.
"Land, Labor, and Production: The Colonial Economy of Spanish and Mexican California." California History. Vol. 76. N.p.: University of California Press, 1996. 111-46. Print.
"Lorenzo Asisara Narrates the Assassination of a Priest by Santa Cruz Indians, 1812." Major Problems in California History. Ed. Sucheng Chan and Spencer Olin. N.p.: Wadsworth, n.d. N. pag. Print.
"A Mexican Commission Urges the Secularization of the California Missions, 1833." Major Problems in California History. Ed. Sucheng Chang and Spencer Olin. N.p.: Wadsworth, n.d. 86-88. Print.
Orcutt, Georgia. "Coyote Story." Karok Myths. By A.L. Kroeber and E.W. Gifford. Berkeley: University of California Press, n.d. 173-74. Print.
Tac, Pablo. "A Record of California Mission Life." Ethnology of the Alt California Indians II: Postcontact. Ed. Lowell John Bean and Sylvia Brakke Vane. New York & London: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1991. 139-69. Print.
