May 28th, 2026 | Featuring: John R. Johnson, Ph.D - "Fr. Gerónimo Boscana, Franciscan Missionary Ethnographer"

🗣Fr. Gerónimo Boscana, Franciscan Missionary Ethnographer -- Father Gerónimo Boscana’s extensive description of the “Acágchemem” or Juaneño Indians of Mission San Juan Capistrano is one of the classics of California anthropology, representing the only full-length ethnography left to us by a Franciscan missionary who served in Alta California.  The most-familiar version of Fr. Boscana’s manuscript was titled “Chinigchinich,” when it was first published in English translation by Alfred Robinson in 1846 as an appendix to his Life in California.  The name Chinigchinich refers to the principal deity of the Juaneño and Luiseño in their traditional religion.  Boscana’s original Chinigchinich account in Spanish has been lost, only two earlier manuscripts are known.  Dr. Johnson will discuss Fr. Boscana’s significant contribution to California ethnography and will also describe research in the Santa Barbara Mission Archive-Library and elsewhere to…