Marie Mason Potts (1895 – 1978) was a

Mountain Maidu The Maidu are a Native American people of northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada, in the watershed area of the Feather and American Rivers and in Humbug Valley. In Maiduan languages, ''maidu'' means "person". Local div ...

cultural leader, activist, educator, writer, journalist, and editor. She was an influential California Native American activist who travel lectured on tribal sovereignty, heritage, and cultural preservation. Potts had authored two books, "The Northern Maidu" (1971) and "Honey Run Bridge". She was also known as Chankutpan, "One With Sharp Eyes", and

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Marie Mason.

Early life and education

Marie Mason was born in 1895, in Big Meadows (now known as Chester),

Plumas County Plumas County () is a county located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 19,790. The county seat is Quincy, and the only incorporated city is Portola. The largest comm ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. Her father was a minerals

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of European-origins that had sexually assaulted her mother; and then left her as a single parent. She was a member of the Maidu Tribe of the Federated Indians of California. She attended the Greenville Indian School in Greenville,

, from 1900 to 1912; and the

Carlisle Indian Industrial School The United States Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, generally known as Carlisle Indian Industrial School, was the flagship Indian boarding school in the United States from its founding in 1879 to 1918. It was based in the histo ...

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, from 1912 to 1915. She wrote for ''The Carlisle Arrow'', a student newspaper. Potts was the first of California Indians to graduate from Carlisle School. In 1915, she married her former classmate from Greenville, Hensley Potts (Concow Maidu), and together they had 7 children. Starting in 1942, the family moved to

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

, California.

Career

In 1946 and 1947, she participated in the founding of the Federated Indians of California (FIC), an organization formed to support land claims case before the judicial relations arbiter

Indian Claims Commission The Indian Claims Commission (ICC) was a judicial relations arbiter between the United States federal government and Native American tribes. It was established under the Indian Claims Act of 1946 by the United States Congress to hear any longstandin ...

, against the United States government. For three decades Potts was an editor of the FIC alternative newspaper, "The Smoke Signal" (published from 1947 until 1977). It has been reported as the earliest Native American newspaper. Potts was a founding member of the Sacramento Indian Center, and the American Indian Press Association Intertribal Council Center. She was a part of a group that later became the California Education Association. Potts taught American and Californian Native American history at

California State University, Sacramento California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

(CSU). Potts was a participant in the

Occupation of Alcatraz The Occupation of Alcatraz (November 20, 1969 – June 11, 1971) was a 19-month long occupation of Alcatraz Island and its prison complex, then classified as abandoned surplus federal land, by 89 American Indians and their supporters. The occ ...

protests in 1969 to 1971.

Death and legacy

She died on June 24, 1978, in Susanville,

Lassen County Lassen County ( ) is a county located in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 32,730, and was estimated to be 28,340 in 2024, Its county seat and the largest city is Susanville. ...

, when traveling. In 1975, she was honored by the state of California; and in 1977 the California State Park and Recreation Department. The California State Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (now the California Department of Public Health) had a building named after her and included a lobby plaque in her dedication.

Publications

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Early life and education

Career

Death and legacy

Publications

See also

References

Further reading