Dorothy Amora Stanley (née Dudley; July 14, 1924 – October 10, 1990) was an American educator, consultant,

Miwok The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native Americans in the United States, Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok lan ...

activist, and politician. Trained in Northern Miwok culture during her youth, she became involved in Native American affairs – particularly the

Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Miwok people in Tuolumne County, California.Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

Central California Agency's advisory board and as chair of the Tuolumne Me-Wuk Tribal Council in 1980. She was also an educator and demonstrator on Miwok culture, including basket-weaving, as well as an archaeological and academic consultant.

Biography

Early life and career

Dorothy Amora Stanley was born on July 14, 1924, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, raised on the ancestral Fuller Ranch and Tuolumne Rancheria (both in

Tuolumne County Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises the ...

), and educated at the

Stewart Indian School The Stewart Indian School (1890–1980) was an American Indian boarding school southeast of Carson City, Nevada. Today, it is the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum. The school's 110-acre campus still holds 65 original buildings. ...

. Her parents were Raymond Dudley and Alice Carsoner Pruitt, the latter of whom was born to the northern

chieftaincy, with her stepfather being the son of

Chief William Fuller Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

, and she was raised at home in the Northern Sierra Miwok and Central Sierra Miwok languages. In addition to several odd jobs outside the county such as candy maker, cashier, strawberry picker, and waitress, she had a long career working at the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company as an operator and supervisor.

Career with the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians

Originally trained by William Fuller's wife Annie Jack Fuller in Northern Miwok culture during her youth, she started her career with the interests of the

Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians The Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians is a federally recognized tribe of Miwok people in Tuolumne County, California. She held several positions in Native American affairs, including as

Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service The Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service (HCRS) was an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which subsumed its functions from the National Park Service and Bureau of Outdoor Recreation. It was created under the Ca ...

liaison for the

New Melones Dam New Melones Dam is an earth and rock filled embankment dam on the Stanislaus River, about west of Jamestown, California, United States, on the border of Calaveras County and Tuolumne County. The water impounded by the dam forms New Melone ...

, project director of the Tuolumne Indian Rural Health Project (which was also done at the Rancheria), and vice-chair of the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

Central California Agency's advisory board. She dedicated the

United States Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic. It was a central event in the memo ...

plaque at the site of a Miwok camp the

Bartleson–Bidwell Party In 1841, the Bartleson–Bidwell Party of thirty-two men and one woman, and her baby daughter, was led by Captain John Bartleson and John Bidwell. They became the first American emigrants to succeed in a wagon crossing from Missouri to California. ...

witnessed in 1841, the first of its kind in the county. After serving in the Tuolumne Me-Wuk Tribal Council (TMTC)'s business committee, she was elected chair of the tribe in 1980, but she was suspended from office in June after the Rancheria fell into debt and ran into accounting and administrative irregularities concerning government grants they were awarded. She was a supporter of Native American rights, with her co-worker Shelly Davis-King recalling that Stanley once said that her experience with bureaucratic complications was "not

red tape Red tape is a concept employed to denounce excessive or redundant regulation and adherence to formal rules for creating unnecessary constraints on action and decision-making. The occurrence of red tape is usually associated with governments but a ...

, but

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

tape". She worked as an educator on Miwok culture, including at demonstrations at such places as the

Smithsonian Folklife Festival The Smithsonian Folklife Festival, launched in 1967, is an international exhibition of living cultural heritage presented annually in the summer in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is held on the National Mall for two weeks around the Fo ...

and Southwest Museum of the American Indian, and she was a practitioner of Miwok basket-weaving. She supported the preservation of the

Miwok languages The Miwok or Miwokan languages (; ), also known as ''Moquelumnan'' or ''Miwuk'', are a group of endangered languages spoken in central California by the Miwok peoples, ranging from the Bay Area to the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. There ar ...

, considering them essential to Miwok culture, and at one point was reportedly one of their last speakers. She also worked as an archaeological and academic consultant, including as supervisor of

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

's Indian Cultural Program and an Indian village attraction at West Side and Cherry Valley Railroad, a canceled theme park in Tuolumne City originally planned by

Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...

founder Glen Bell.

Personal life, death, and legacy

In addition to three previous husbands, she had seven children with her Southern Sierra Miwok husband Elmer Stanley, whom she married in 1969, including basket weaver Jennifer Bates. Stanley died from heart complications on October 10, 1990, at the Rancheria. ''

The Modesto Bee ''The Modesto Bee'' is a California newspaper. It has about 70 employees and is delivered throughout central California, reaching places such as Modesto, Turlock, Oakdale, Ceres, Patterson and Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y ...

'' reported that she was known as "a symbol of MeWuk pride and MeWuk identity", with her son-in-law, ethnographer Craig Bates, calling her "a link with a people and a past". In ''Native American Women: A Biographical Dictionary'', Bev Ortiz recalled that Stanley "made substantial contributions to the preservation and continuance of Miwok culture and worked extensively on behalf of her community".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanley, Dorothy A. 1924 births 1990 deaths People from Tuolumne County, California 20th-century American academics 20th-century American women academics 20th-century Native American politicians Women Native American leaders Academics from Los Angeles 20th-century California politicians 20th-century American women politicians Politicians from Los Angeles American consultants Cultural heritage consultants Native American activists American women activists Activists from Los Angeles Miwok people Activists for Native American rights American Indigenous rights activists