b) Displacement and Decrease

The significant impact of the California Gold Rush on indigenous populations was displacement and decrease. The influx of tens of thousands of miners and settlers in California during the Gold Rush era led to intense competition over resources, land, and cultural clashes. Native American populations faced displacement from their traditional lands, devastating impacts from diseases brought by settlers, and violence. The era marked a tragic decline in the indigenous population and a profound disruption of their traditional ways of life, leaving lasting impacts on Native American communities in California.