Mission Dolores – San Francisco |
245th Anniversary
The oldest still-standing building in San Francisco
The first “home away from home” for thousands of Bay Area Native American Indians.

Andrew Galvan, an important Indian from Hayward, is a Pastoral Director, and the Old Mission Curator.

The building was built entirely with Native labor, (2 padres in charge). Its painted ceiling reflects a popular basketry design.

The Sainthood of Junipero Serra, largely promoted by Andrew Galvan, is a thorn in the side of many Native Americans, anthropologists, and archaeologists. On this tour he referred to Serra as an early hippie who loved the Indians, but functioned in a different cultural environment. Excellent points, made articulately.

A drawing of a dance in 1816, 10 years after the last tribes had been removed from their ancestral homelands.

The little Museum features some excellent baskets and craft work.

Interesting to see a mortar and pestle used exclusively to grind pigments.

The best looking reconstructed dwelling we’ve seen, tucked into the Mission cemetery.

