Daily Chores at Mission Santa Cruz

Gender-Divided Labor at the Santa Cruz Mission

Life at Mission Santa Cruz (founded 1791) centered on agriculture, livestock, and crafts. Tasks were largely divided by gender:

Men's Responsibilities

• Fieldwork: planting/harvesting wheat, barley, corn
• Livestock: raising hogs, cattle; horse care
• Construction & repair: buildings, tools, equipment
• Crafts: blacksmithing, carpentry, furniture making, leatherworking, weaving

Women's Responsibilities

• Food: meal preparation, gathering medicinal herbs
• Childcare and domestic management
• Textile production: soap making, spinning yarn, making thread, preparing cloth
• Livestock assistance: tending smaller animals
• Cleaning and maintenance of mission quarters

This division reflected both Spanish colonial norms and practical demands of a self-sufficient frontier community. Neophyte (convert) Indigenous people performed most labor under missionary supervision.