Marie Mason Potts

Marie Mason Potts (1895 – 1978), also known as Chankutpan,^[1] or "One With Sharp Eyes",^[2] née Marie Mason; she was a Mountain Maidu cultural leader, activist, educator, writer, journalist, and editor.^[3][4] She was an influential California Native American activist who travel lectured on tribal sovereignty, heritage, and cultural preservation.^[5] Potts had authored two books, "The Northern Maidu" (1971) and "Honey Run Bridge".^[6]

Marie Mason Potts
Chankutpan
Born	Marie Mason 1895 Big Meadows (now known as Chester), Plumas County, California, U.S.
Died	June 24, 1978 Susanville, Lassen County, California, U.S.
Nationality	American, Maidu Tribe of the Federated Indians of California
Other names	Marie Potts
Occupation(s)	Maidu cultural leader, activist, educator, author, journalist, editor
Spouse	Hensley Potts (m. 1915)
Children	7

Early life and education

Marie Mason was born in 1895, in Big Meadows (now known as Chester), Plumas County, California.^[7] Her father was a minerals prospector of European-origins that had sexually assaulted her mother; and then left her as a single parent.^[2] She was a member of the Maidu Tribe of the Federated Indians of California.^[8]

She attended the Greenville Indian School in Greenville, California, from 1900 to 1912; and the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, from 1912 to 1915.^[7][9] She wrote for The Carlisle Arrow, a student newspaper.^[4] Potts was the first of California Indians to graduate from Carlisle School.^[1][10]

In 1915, she married her former classmate from Greenville, Hensley Potts (Concow Maidu), and together they had 7 children.^[7][11] Starting in 1942, the family moved to Sacramento, California.^[7]

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, against the United States government.^[7] For three decades Potts was an editor of the FIC alternative newspaper, "The Smoke Signal" (published from 1947 until 1977).^[12] It has been reported as the earliest Native American newspaper.^[6]

Potts was a founding member of the Sacramento Indian Center, and the American Indian Press Association Intertribal Council Center.^[5] She was a part of a group that later became the California Education Association.^[5] Potts taught American and Californian Native American history at California State University, Sacramento (CSU).^[5]

Potts was a participant in the Occupation of Alcatraz protests in 1969 to 1971.^[5]

Death and legacy

She died on June 24, 1978, in Susanville, Lassen County, California, when traveling.^[5][6]

In 1975, she was honored by the state of California; and in 1977 the California State Park and Recreation Department.^[1] 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.^[1][10][13]

Publications

• Potts, Marie (1971). The Northern Maidu. Happy Camp, CA: Naturegraph and Keven Brown Publications. ISBN 978-0879610708.
• Potts, Marie (1981). "My Childhood". In Margolin, Malcolm (ed.). The Way We Lived: California Indian Stories, Songs & Reminiscences. Berkeley: Heyday. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-930588-55-X.

See also

• List of Indigenous writers of the Americas

References

1. Bataille, Gretchen M.; Lisa, Laurie; Russ, Julia A. (1993). "Potts, Marie". Native American Women: a Biographical Dictionary. Internet Archive. New York: Garland. pp. 207–208. ISBN 978-0-8240-5267-6.
2. Trafzer, Cliff; Akers, Donna L.; Wixon, Amanda; Stahl-Kovell, Daniel (2021-07-07). ""In Unity There is Strength", Writer and Activist". Indigenous Activism: Profiles of Native Women in Contemporary America. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 93–98. ISBN 978-1-7936-4541-8.
3. Whalen, Kevin (Fall 2022). "Marie Mason Potts: The Lettered Life of a California Indian by Terri A. Castaneda (review)". Native American and Indigenous Studies. 9 (2): 133–134. doi:10.1353/nai.2022.a863589. ISSN 2332-127X. S2CID 252203258.
4. Whiteley, Kathleen C (2021-07-28). "Marie Mason Potts: The Lettered Life of a California Indian Activist. By Terri A. Castaneda". Western Historical Quarterly. 53 (1): 109–110. doi:10.1093/whq/whab108. ISSN 0043-3810.
5. "Funeral Today For Indian Leader". The Sacramento Bee. 1978-06-27. p. 15. ISSN 0890-5738. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
6. "Maidu Indian leader Marie M. Potts dies". Feather River Bulletin. 1978-06-29. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
7. Castaneda, Terri; Wilkinson, Richenda (March 23, 2003). . D-Q University. Archived from the original on 2005-10-26.
8. "Native of Plumas Takes Active Part In Indian Exhibit". Indian Valley Record. 1961-11-02. p. 3. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
9. "Indian Returns To Carlisle". The Sentinel. 1953-08-18. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
10. "History". Newspapers.com. Feather River Bulletin. March 27, 2002. p. 23. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
11. Akins, Damon B.; Bauer, William J. (February 2022). We Are the Land: A History of Native California. University of California Press. pp. 197–199. ISBN 978-0-520-28050-2.
12. "The Smoke Signal". Calisphere.org. 1963. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
13. "Marie Potts Is Honored". The Sacramento Bee. 1975-05-17. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-10-20.

Further reading

• Castaneda, Terri A. (2020). Marie Mason Potts. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806168319.
• Trafzer, Cliff; Akers, Donna L.; Wixon, Amanda; Stahl-Kovell, Daniel (2021-07-07). ""In Unity There is Strength", Writer and Activist". Indigenous Activism: Profiles of Native Women in Contemporary America. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 93–98. ISBN 978-1-7936-4541-8.