Three California Writers

Edited by: Cindy Beck

Back to the ANPA Digital Library homepage
Terms of Use

Three California Writers Introduction
Three California Writers Table of Contents

Three California Writers Introduction

The early twentieth century was a period of reform in Native American affairs, in California as well as the rest of the nation. In general, reformers had three main objectives, allotting tribal lands, assimilating Native Americans into the general population, and providing an educational system that would hasten and realize assimilation. By the 1920s, a new generation of reformers questioned the methods and goals of their earlier counterparts; especially, they were concerned about the destruction of tribal cultures, the usurpation of tribal lands, and the obliteration of tribal sovereignty that government policy was rapidly bringing about.

One of the organizations established to monitor federal policy and initiate change was the Indian Board of Co-Operation (IBC), established at Round Valley, California, in 1912. The IBC was an umbrella organization of some sixty “auxiliaries” with about nine thousand members scattered throughout the state and surrounding areas. Membership comprised both Natives and non-Natives who were interested in encouraging Indians to work for their rights under both state and federal law. Specifically, the IBC sought to create cooperation among the various tribes and bands, to obtain legislation to help admit their claims to the U. S. Court of Claims, to acquire competent legal representation, to secure the place of Indian children in the public schools, to insure that any government appropriations were used by Indians and not bureaucracies or grafters, and to secure the general welfare of the Native peoples of the region. By the early 1920s, the IBC had brought about new public schools for Indian children, admission of Natives to existing public schools, gained admission to health care facilities, obtained help for indigents, and brought the suited that ended in the California Supreme Court’s decision that non-reservation Indians were citizens (Anderson v. Mathews, 1917). The Indian Board of Co-Operation published the California Indian Herald, which contained organization news as well as editorials and news on national events that touched upon Indian affairs. It also published creative works by Native writers.

Another reform organization from California was the Mission Indian Federation. During the 1920s, the federation sought to secure rights and benefits for the Indians through legislation and to protect Native Americans from unjust laws and regulations. The Mission Indian Federation published The Indian, a magazine that contained organization news as well as creative works by Native writers.

Two of the three writers were affiliated with these two organizations and wrote extensively for their publications. The writing of all three California Indians reflect ideas shared by their peers and give us a rare glimpse of a special time and place in American history.

Three California Writers Table of Contents

Alfred C. Gillis

Wa-Wa Chaw

Samuel J. Rice