Valentine's Day

While the Smoke Signal was primarily a vehicle for delivering news about California Indian land claims cases, it also offered holiday greetings and news of upcoming dances and other opportunities for socializing, as seen in these examples drawn from the early 1950s.

Stay tuned (or email me) for information about the West Sacramento Historical Society exhibit "First Families," opening in early March.

Happy New Year

The December 1949 issue of the Smoke Signal offered a New Year's greeting to the membership. Notice the addressee in the upper right-hand corner of this issue.  Edna and Saturino Calac hailed from Rincon Reservation, in San Diego County. Their choice to back the FIC land claim petition (versus that of the Mission Indians) reflects the political potential of social affiliations forged in boarding school contexts, including Stewart and Carlisle. For instance, Marie Potts and Peter Calac (who gained national fame as a member of the school's football team) overlapped at the Carlisle from 1912-1915.

Thanksgiving Soliloquy

In the November 1949 edition of the Smoke Signal, Marie Potts re-published this memento from her years at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. "Thanksgiving Soliloquy" appeared on the last page of  Volume VIII, No.13. Potts (then Marie Mason) attended the Carlisle from September 1912 through May 1915. 

Smoke Signal, Vol. VIII, No. 13., November 1949

"Boys in the Service of U.S."

In Vol. X, No.1 (Dec. '50/Jan. '51) issue of the Smoke Signal, editor Marie Potts (Mountain Maidu) called for readers to submit addresses of American Indians in the military service. Through three wars--WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam--the FIC sent the Smoke Signal free to countless California and other American Indian service men and women.

Smoke Signal, Vol. X, No. 1

Smoke Signal, Vol. XI, No. 9

Smoke Signal, Vol. XI, No. 9

Smoke Signal, Vol. XI, No. 5

Indian (Gaming) Country

Land claims news of an entirely different sort. Surely the gaming economy that has developed in California over the course of the last two decades would have been impossible for an earlier generation of activists to envision, though I find it hard to believe that any of them would be surprised to learn that the gaming landscape is just as inhabited by non-Native stakeholders as was the claims-scape of mid-20th century California. The land claims opportunities and cases enabled by the California Indians Jurisdictional (CIJA) and the Indian Claims Commission (ICC) Acts were no less complicated in their historical origins, legislative logic, and political contentiousness than those making headlines today. Perhaps the key difference is that during the mid-20th century, there was no hope for the actual re-claiming of any land.

Smoke Signal Debut, January 1948

 The Smoke Signal, Jan. 1948 (top portion of p. 1)

The Federated Indians of California (FIC) was almost two years old when the first Smoke Signal made its appearance.* Within months, a formal masthead with additional artwork was designed and introduced as a way to mark the transition from news letter to newspaper.  An image of that masthead will be posted next week, but it is worth noting that the organization's tag line, "In Unity There is Strength," can be seen penciled in on this archival copy, perhaps by the inaugural editor, Kitty Potts Flores. This motto would feature prominently on the newspaper masthead. The clips below are also taken from the January 1948 issue.

A note from editor Kitty Potts Flores

In mid-1949, Marie Potts succeeded her daughter as Smoke Signal editor. For three decades, she continued to edit and publish the paper out of the family home in the popular neighborhood of Oak Park, in Sacramento, California. The final issue of the paper was printed in January 1978, just months before Potts'  passing. At that time, The Smoke Signal was the longest-running, American-Indian owned and operated paper in the country.

*Prior to the introduction of the Smoke Signal, the FIC communicated with its membership by newsletter.

Indian Day Dance and Fundraiser