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Finding Aid to the Pictorial Material from the American Indian Community History Center Records
BANC PIC 2009.067
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: [Pictorial material from the American Indian Community History Center records]
Creator:
American Indian Community History Center (Oakland, Calif.)
Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 2009.067
Physical Description:
approximately 15,700 photographs
in 31 boxes, 4 sleeves and 1 oversize folder
: chiefly gelatin silver prints, 35mm film negatives and 35mm slides
; various sizes.
Date (inclusive): 1945-2000
Abstract: Chiefly photographs documenting the San Francisco Bay Area urban Indian community and related organizations, events and activities,
with an emphasis on the Intertribal Friendship House (I.F.H.) of Oakland. Majority of collection depicts I.F.H. administration,
social activities, cultural events, education efforts, public outreach, activism and other functions.
Language of Material: English.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Collection is open for research. Negatives and slides available by appointment only.
Copyright in this material has been assigned by the donor to the Regents of the University of California, for the benefit
of The Bancroft Library. In addition to copyright considerations, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by
terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing
and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission
of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies
.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Pictorial Material from the American Indian Community History Center collection was given to The Bancroft Library by the
American Indian Community History Center in September, 2007. Additions were made in January, 2009.
Organization of the Collection
This collection is organized into series:
- Administration
- Social Activities
- Cultural Events
- Education
- Activism
- Slide Files, Photograph Albums and Negatives
- Urban Voices
- Miscellaneous and Unidentified
The American Indian Community History Center is a project dedicated to preserving the history of the broader San Francisco
Bay Area “urban Indian” community. One of the highpoints in this preservation effort included the book project, Urban Voices:
The Bay Area American Indian Community (2002). In 1976, the Community History Project (CHP) grew out of the interests of Geraldine
(Gerri) Martinez Lira (MSW), Marilyn LaPlante St. Germaine (MSW) and Susan Lobo (Ph.D., CHP coordinator) to preserve the histories
of American Indians whose lives were greatly impacted by the federal relocation programs that moved them from reservations
to the bay area with the promise of sustainable employment, better education for their children, and affordable housing. Initially,
the CHP committee focused on recording their oral histories, but the committee expanded, with Sharon Mitchell Bennett, Charlene
Betsillie and Joyce Keoke joining the project, and so too did the project’s focus.
One of the key organizations that arose was the Intertribal Friendship House, which was founded in 1955. The IFH is one of
the oldest and still operating “urban Indian centers” in the United States. The founding of the IFH was in direct response
to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs 1950s Termination Act, the Relocation Act, and the Employment Opportunity Act. These
strategic government interior policies, which focused on removal and relocation, coerced some and motivated other Native Americans
to migrate to urban locations for educational or employment opportunities, for adventure or to ‘see the world’, or even to
escape or leave behind problems they were having in their home communities. The period of the 1950s saw a great migration
of American Indians and their resettlement in one of a handful of urban communities designated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs
throughout the United States.
Like most of the “urban Indian” centers that eventually developed in the United States after the mid-1950s, IFH was established
by non-governmental non-profits and religious groups. For a number of years, IFH was administered by the American Friends
Service Committee, the social action arm of the Quakers that consistently refused funds from and entanglements with the government.
In a short time, government provisions for job, health and housing services waned and the newly relocated American Indian
peoples had to take on these commitments, often via the urban Indian centers such as IFH, of organizing, developing and providing
the services and advocacy necessary for their own incorporation into urban society. At the same time, the maintenance of American
Indian socio-cultural practices within the American Indian greater Bay Area urban community remained a priority. In addition
to political and economic activism, social activities offered important interventions in that they nurtured a sense of community
and belonging among the newly relocated people and the longstanding “urban Indian” community at-large. In doing so, social
activities and annual events worked to alleviate the stresses of relocation for American Indian individuals and families and
shine a public spotlight on the struggles and achievements of American Indians in the Bay Area and broader nation.
Though the IFH was officially founded in 1955, during the “relocation period,” there were a number of earlier efforts to support
and sustain the growing “urban Indian” community that had begun to amass previously in response to poor economic opportunities
on reservations. Employment opportunities in California provided incentives especially for those American Indians whose reservations
communities suffered economic disenfranchisement as a result of federal-Indian laws and policies. World War II also saw many
American Indians join the U.S. military. This brought many enlistees to California for training and deployment. Companies
like the Santa Fe Railroad Company also drew American Indians to the company for employment. This saw the formation of a “worker
colony” called the Santa Fe Indian Village in Richmond, primarily established for Acoma and Pueblo peoples whose cultural
and economic stability were deeply interrupted by the railroad company’s utilization of their reservation lands for the railway.
This and other companies drew thousands of American Indians to the Bay Area prior to the 1950s.
(Organizational history note by Leece M. Lee, Ph.D., Ethnic Studies/Native American Studies, University of California, Berkeley.)
[Identification of item], Pictorial material from the American Indian Community History Center, BANC PIC 2009.067, The Bancroft
Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Processed by Leece M. Lee, Maggie Elmore, Raquel Parra, and Brian Yoo.
American Indian Community History Center Records (BANC MSS 2008/108)
American Indian Community History Center poster collection (BANC PIC 2008.010)
The pictorial collection of the American Indian Community History Center (AICHC), a California non-profit organization, consists
of photographic prints, portraits, polaroids, slides, film negatives, numerous planned and candid photographs, and posters
that reflect the development and activities of the San Francisco Bay Area “urban Indian” community, organizations, events
and activities. The archive was organized and housed at the Intertribal Friendship House (IFH) of Oakland, California, which
is the one of the oldest “urban Indian” centers in the United States. A substantial and similar collection has been created
by the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto in Canada and is titled “First Story Toronto”.
The collection spans six decades from the early 1930s through the 1990s. The bulk of materials represents the development
and activities of the Bay Area “urban Indian” communities from approximately 1950 through 1999, which reflects the second
period of “Indian relocation” policies, the first beginning in the 1830s, that brought American Indians to metropolitan areas
throughout the United States. The pictorial collection depictses various boards of directors, staff, and volunteers and their
efforts to provide support services, social activities and public events that sustained the cultural and social identities
of newly relocated American Indians in the greater Bay Area. Events and activities aimed at family- and community-building
efforts included “Supper clubs,” “outings,” Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter celebrations, and cultural events such as “American
Indian Days” celebrations and the annual “American Indian Music Festival.” Public and institutional outreach led to relationships
between urban Indian centers and local political, educational and business collaborations. Boards of Directors and generations
of staff are shown throughout the collection in meetings with Oakland Unified School District representatives, and State representatives
like Governor Jerry Brown. Public and institutional outreach aimed at creating health and wellness activities within the greater
Bay Area community included elder support activities such as “Honoring elders” luncheons, Senior Christmas Parties, and the
“Young at Heart” Senior Center at the YWCA, sponsored by Hewlett Packard Foundation and Kaiser Permanente. Among the collaborative
ventures, the ongoing relationship with members of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization, resulted
in the donation of a building to the I.F.H. organization. The collection includes a black-and-white photograph of the house,
taken by photographer Ilka Hartmann, and photographs of additional I.F.H. locations donated by the American Friends Service
Committee including its earliest property at 29th and Telegraph Avenue, 51 Ninth St., and its current location at 523 International
Blvd., all in Oakland, California.
The pictorial collection also highlights a strong commitment to American Indian youth and community members. Collaborative
and multi-year ventures are captured in photographs of meetings and events organized with Oakland Unified School District,
Laney College, Stanford University, and San Quentin Prison, and the federal Johnson O’Malley Program, which supported activities
like the summer youth camps. The pictorial collection documents the Pre-school cohorts, graduations, ballet classes, baseball
teams and youth summer camps. Youth mentor and educator Bill Wahpepah appears throughout the collection.
A number of the country’s most potent American Indian political leaders and others key figures, first recognized for their
work in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, are depicted in the collection. They include Walter Lasley, Alice Carnes, Joe
and Ann Salyer, Al Hicks, Wes Huss, Grover Sanderson, Ellie and John Hastings, Mary Eddards, Sharon Bennett, Betty Cooper
Newbreast, Wilma Mankiller, Marilyn St. Germaine, Gerri Martinez Lira, Susan Lobo, Marge Good Iron (Jones), Ethel Rogoff,
Alfred Elgin, Loraine Elgin, Stewart Calnimptewa, Travis Kinsley, Simon Ortiz, Eleanor McNoise, Thomas Brown, Charlene Betsillie,
James Muneta, Ruben Vera, Corrina Gould, Russell Piper, Joyce Keoke, Les Miller, Yvonne Choate, Marie Oliver, Sarah Poncho,
and Bill and Carol Wahpepah.
Some staff and members of the Bay Area “urban Indian” community became internationally known American Indian leaders like
Principal Chief of the Cherokee Wilma Mankiller, activist, musician and actor Floyd Red Crow Westerman, comedian Charlie Hill,
and musicians Paul Ortega and Sharon Birch who appear in numerous photographs, especially those taken at the annual “American
Indian Music Festival” and pow wows. Activists associated with the occupation of Alcatraz Island and the “Longest Walk” include
Wilma Mankiller, Justine Moppin and Dennis Banks.
The AICHC pictorial collection also contains original artwork and prints by noted artists such as Hulleah Tsinhnajinnie, Jean
LaMarr, and photographers Ilka Hartmann, Ted Clairmont, Peter Blos, Richard Conrat and Susan Tsosie.
One of the highpoints that came out of the AICHC collection preservation effort is the book project, Urban Voices: The Bay
Area American Indian Community (2002). In 1976, the Community History Project grew out of the interests of Geraldine (Gerri)
Martinez Lira, Marilyn LaPlante St. Germaine and Susan Lobo to preserve the histories of American Indians whose lives were
greatly impacted by the federal relocation programs, economic hardship, and an expanding interests on reservations, pueblos,
rancherias and rural communities that inspired movement to the Bay Area. Initially, the CHP committee focused on collecting
and recording the oral histories of members, but the committee expanded with the addition of committee members Sharon Mitchell
Bennett, Charlene Betsillie and Joyce Keoke, and so too did the project’s focus. Like the AICHC collection, the book grew
to portray the history, leadership, organization members, activities, events and locations of the centers and services of
the Bay Area urban Indian community. Urban Voices: The Bay Area American Indian Community, Community History Project, Intertribal
Friendship House, Oakland, California was coordinated and edited by Susan Lobo and published by University of Arizona Press
in 2002. The book project was organized and carried out by Sharon Mitchell Bennett, Charlene Betsillie, Joyce Keoke, Geraldine
Martinez Lira, Susan Lobo, and Marilyn LaPlante St.Germaine. The collection includes various project files for this publication
effort.
(Scope and content note by Leece M. Lee, Ph.D., Ethnic Studies/Native American Studies, University of California, Berkeley.)
Note on Transcription of Names
The names of many people, places and events described in this finding aid were transcribed as they appeared in hand-written
annotations on photographs or accompanying material. Processing staff have corrected misspellings and provided descriptions
of unidentified subjects whenever possible. However, many individuals could not be identified, and some inaccuracate forms
of names may still be present.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American Indian Community History Center (Oakland, Calif.)