Mapping Silicon Valley Religion

Significant change ensued during the following broad periods:

• The Indigenous People of the region
• Mission period (1769-1883)
• Spanish secularization (1834-1846)
• Americanization and the Gold Rush (1846-1855)
• The Modern Period  - Marked by the passing of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965

The first human inhabitants arrived in Santa Clara Valley about 10,000 years ago. By 800-1100 A.D. these Native Americans evolved into the group of people we now call the  Ohlone .

 Ohlone religion  revolved around elaborate ritual dances with dancers wearing colorful regalia and tribal members communing in the tribal sweat lodge—for ensuring good hunts, healing illness, and expelling impurities.  

The Native people have always regarded certain places like mountains, springs, particular groves of trees, rock formations, or petroglyph sites as  their sacred spaces.  

In 21st century California, The Ohlone work, live, and worship in modern-day Silicon Valley and the surrounding region. Members host pow-wows and other events to reclaim and keep their culture alive.

 Efforts to acknowledge  and protect their culture have helped locate and mark  sites of cultural significance . Such markers can be seen all over Silicon Valley.

An excerpt from a plaque placed in San Jose in 1994 gives its readers a glimpse into the lives of the native people of the land:

"Occupied between 250 and 1792 AD, this village is thought to be the village of Tamien.  Tamien is an Ohlone word referring to the Guadalupe River."

Today the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is the successor to the aboriginal people who inhabited this valley.

This way of life had sustained the Ohlone for thousands of years, but the onset of Spanish colonization in 1769 introduced dramatic changes.

Over the course of several generations, Ohlone society shifted from a traditional focus on hunting and gathering to agriculture; from holding strict tribal identities to having blended “mission” identities; from their native worldview to becoming, at least outwardly, Catholic Christian converts and citizens of the Spanish Empire.

The arrival of the first Spanish exploration parties marked the beginning of the end of the Ohlone lifestyle in the Santa Clara Valley.

The process of Spanish settlement of the Santa Clara Valley began in 1769 with the initial exploration by Sergeant Jose Ortega.

The 8th mission in the chain of 21 Franciscan missions established by Padre Junipero Serra.

Historic Mission Santa Clara is a consecrated Roman Catholic church that sits at the heart of Santa Clara University’s campus. It was first founded on January 12, 1777, on the banks of the Guadalupe River.

Flood, fire, and earthquake forced five relocations until the Mission finally settled on its current site in 1822.

The missions were successful at first in converting the local Native American population to Christianity, but by the early 1800s, many of the Native Americans had gone back to practicing their traditional religions.

This led to a series of conflicts between the Catholic Church and the Native Americans, which came to a head in the 1834 rebellion at Mission Dolores in San Francisco. After the rebellion was put down, the Catholic Church started to lose its influence in the region.

This shift in power was hastened by the arrival of Protestant missionaries in the mid-1800s, who began to convert many of the Native Americans to their own faiths.

By the end of the century, the Catholic Church was just one of many religious denominations present in the valley.

After the  Mexican secularization act of 1833 , the evolution of religion in the valley was marked by a gradual shift away from traditional Catholicism. This process was hastened by the influx of Protestant missionaries from the United States, who established churches and schools that competed with the existing Catholic institutions.

Apart from traditional Catholisicm, other significant 'first' sites of worship include:

• 1847 San Jose  First United Methodist Church  founded
• 1849  First Presbyterian Church of San Jose  founded
• 1863  Trinity Episcopal Church  built - the oldest continuously used church in the valley
• 1868  St. Joseph Church  - Roman Catholic founded

 The Gold Rush of 1849  brought an influx of people from all over the world to the San Francisco Bay Area in search of gold. This melting pot of cultures also brought with it a diversity of religious beliefs.

Prior to this transition, the population consisted primarily of Native Californians and Californios prior to the Gold Rush (settlers and landowners of mixed Spanish, Native Californian, and African descent).

The thirst for gold drew individuals from all across the country and the world to California.

 The ethnic makeup of the state's population was altered  by the influx of Anglo Americans (of English, Irish, or Scots heritage), other Europeans (including Italians, Russians, and others), Chinese, Asians, African Americans, and others who came and stayed.

The  World’s Parliament of Religions  gathered in 1893 in Chicago under the umbrella of the Columbian Exposition. Organized by Presbyterian minister John Henry Barrows (1847-1902), it was a uniquely pluralistic event, introducing Christians in America to an array of faiths from around the globe.

It is particularly known for shining a spotlight on Asian religions whose speakers gave inspiring explanations of their beliefs -- including  Anagarika Dharmapala  (1864-1933) and Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the first Theravada Buddhist missionary and first Hindu missionary, respectively, to this country.

In his opening address, Rev. Barrows raised this challenge:

"Why should not Christians be glad to learn what God has wrought through Buddha and Zoroaster -- through the sage of China, and the prophets of India and the prophet of Islam?"

By the early 20th century, the Bay Area was home to a diverse array of religious groups, including Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Buddhists. The region has since become known for its tolerance of religious diversity, with churches, temples, and mosques dotting the landscape.

 The first Jews in the San Francisco Bay Area  were part of the California Gold Rush in 1849.

 The first record of Jews in the Santa Clara Valley  dates to the 1850s, when the Bikur Cholim Society purchased a 3-acre plot in Pueblo Cemetery (now  Home of Peace Cemetery , located in Oak Hill Memorial Park) in San Jose. The oldest known grave in the cemetery dates to 1857.

The year 1860 saw the establishment of San Jose’s first synagogue, Congregation Bickur Cholim. (In 1948 Bickur Cholim was destroyed by a fire, after which it rebuilt and changed its name to  Temple Emanu-El , the name by which it is still known today.) 

Although its ritual was Reform, separate services were conducted on the High Holidays to accommodate the Orthodox members

Relevant establishment of other 'firsts':

• Conservative -  Congregation Sinai Synagogue  completed - 1956
• Reconstructionist -  Keddem Congregation  founded in Palo Alto - 1993

In 1852 -at the peak of the  Gold Rush immigration  - 20,000 Chinese immigrated to California, out of a total of 67,000 people.

The Chinese brought with them images of the Buddha and of the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Guanyin, as well as the complex religious worldview informed by Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian traditions. Read more  here .

 The San Jose Hongwanji Buddhist Church  was established to bring together the growing community of new Japanese immigrants to the San Jose area. 

Over the next few decades, several other factors were responsible for the spread of other forms of Buddhism. led to the development of numerous organizations and religious sites including the  Buddhist Churches of America (BCA)  (formerly known as the Buddhist Mission of America).  Read more. 

Further establishment of Buddhist 'firsts' in the valley:

• 1980:  Pao-Hua Buddhist Community  established
• 1986:  San Jose Cambodian Buddhist  Society established
• 1999:  Duc Vien Buddhist Community Pagoda  established

President Lyndon Johnson signed  The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 , also known as the Hart-Celler Act, abolishing previous quotas that had heavily favored Europeans.

This led to a global influx that  dramatically changed the religious landscape  of the U.S. By the early 21st century, there were 3.3 million Muslims, 3 million Buddhists, 2 million Hindus, and 500,00 Sikhs in the U.S. -- many of whom were foreign-born.

The California gold rush of 1848-55 had emptied the land of agricultural workers, lured by the prospect of easier riches and few returned, creating opportunities for those ready to take their place.  Between 1899 and 1914 an estimated 6,800 South Asians came to the American West, mostly Punjabi  Sikhs, but Punjabi Muslims and Hindus as well. 

However, the passing of The 1965 Immigration Act and its new laws dramatically changed the nature of immigration to North America and created new opportunities for Indian immigrants, the majority of whom, in this post-1965 era, are Hindu.

Thanks to the work of  Swami Vivekananda , Vedanta societies were emerging across the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Vedanta Society of Northern California was formed in 1899/1900, but like other societies, lectures and classes were given in rented halls and buildings, not traditional Hindu temples.

In the summer of 1900, Swami Vivekananda dispatched a delegation of the Vedanta Society to the eastern side of Mt. Hamilton with the purpose of establishing a “peace retreat.” This remote locale in the far eastern portion of Santa Clara County was the  first Hindu retreat in the Western world . 

With the rising Hindu community in Northern California, particularly in the Silicon Valley area, there was a demand in the South Bay for a location to meet, pray, and conduct other religious activities. Existing facilities were either too tiny and restrictive or too far away, distancing the younger generation from Hindu religious traditions and making it difficult for families and senior residents to participate.

On December 23rd, 1993, after months of hard work by this group of dedicated workers, the  Hindu Temple and Community Center of South Bay  acquired a home of its own.

The  Sikh Gurdwara Sahib of San Jose  is located in the Evergreen District of San Jose, California. It was founded in 1984 by leaders of the then-rapidly growing community of Sikhs in the area. It is the largest Gurdwara in the world outside of India.

 The Jain Center of Northern California  (JCNC) in Milpitas was established in 197, with twenty Jain families. It has since grown to over 1,000. The temple,  Jain Bhawan , is the first Jain center in North America to have Pratimajis consecrated with Pran Pratishtha ceremonies, as well as the first to unite  different sects of Jainism  in one location.