Identifier	ov068
Title	Paiute Women
Creator	Mendenhall, Harry W., 1882-1952;
Date Created	circa 1930
Description	Three Paiute women with their children in cradleboards. The Anglo-American crowd in the background shows that this is a public event, perhaps the Paiute's annual dance festival, or else some kind of fair. Inscription at lower left of the postcard reads "Baby Show." Title supplied by cataloger.
Historical Background	These women would have been members of the Northern Paiute, who live in Northern Nevada and in Eastern California in such places as the Owens Valley. The valley their home for centuries before their first contact with Europeans in 1820, the Paiute based their way of life on agriculture, and hunting and gathering. Foreshadowing Anglo-American reliance on irrigation, Paiutes developed irrigation systems for their crops, utilizing the streams fed by the snow pack of the Sierras. Silver and gold strikes beginning in 1859 in the mountains surrounding the valley profoundly ruptured the Paiute way of life. Anglo-American and Mexican miners and settlers moved into the valley, resulting in a war that involved the U. S. Army from 1862 through 1865. The Paiute lost decisively, leading to their marginalization, both socially and economically in the valley. By the 1870s, the Paiute lived on the fringes of Anglo-American society and settlements and had begun to earn their living through working as farm and domestic labor. The Paiute faced segregation from Anglo-American society in such areas as public education until 1924 and such public venues as movie theaters. The photographer, Harry W. Mendenall, was the owner of the Camera Art Shop in Big Pine, California and a resident of Big Pine from at least 1910 until his death in 1952.
Type	image;
Physical Description	1 postcard : b&w ; 9 x 14 cm
Institution	Center for the Study of Los Angeles Research Collection, Loyola Marymount University
Collection Identifier	http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt3w1022nb
Country of Creation	US
Copyright Status	Public Domain
Copyright Statement	http://library.lmu.edu/dlp/copyright.htm
Language	eng;
Subject (Topic)	Northern Paiute Indians; Northern Paiute Indians--Children; Northern Paiute women; Cradleboards;
Form/Genre	Photographs; Postcards;
Metacollection Identifier	http://digitalcollections.lmu.edu/
Item/Call Number	J. D. Black Papers, CSLA-15, Series 3: Photographs, Subseries A: Photographic Postcards, Box 16, Sleeve 20