Father Serra
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Re Daood Moosa’s March 28 letter accusing Father Serra of “converting Indians . . . by pouring boiling water” on them: In reality, Junipero Serra did more for the California Indians than anyone in thousands of years. He brought civilization to Stone Age tribes who had not yet invented the wheel. He brought agriculture, a written language, permanent housing and the skills to prosper at many trades, all while treating them as humans worthy of conversion and intermarriage, unlike the English colonial approach.
Serra did this while enduring great hardships, defending the natives from Spanish soldiers and with a saintly love of these primitive people.
MIKE MURNANE
Tujunga
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