In conjunction with this year's University One Book Program, which features Sherman Alexie's book Blasphemy, the University Library is featuring an exhibit I co-curated with Dr. Brian Baker, entitled Before 'The Search Engine': Education, Identity and Tradition. Our exhibit was inspired by the short story The Search Engine, and includes four exhibit cases. Two feature Americana Indian artifacts from Dr. Baker's collection, and two (shown below) feature my research on Marie Potts--her years at the Greenville Indian Industrial School and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and the period of her land claims activism here in Sacramento. The exhibit is up through December 12, 2014.
The Federated Indians of California (FIC) formed in 1946 to press a land claims case before the federal government. Inspired by the Indian Claims Commission Act (1946) and the failures of the CA Indians Jurisdictional Act (1928), they sought (unsuccessfully) to unify all California Native nations and landless Indians under a single claim. Although this goal proved unattainable, their political activism fostered important mid-century strides in cultural revivification and self-representation.
