May Montoya Jones
May Montoya Jones | |
|---|---|
 May Montoya, from a 1919 newspaper | |
| Born | Mary Montoya Cole 1880s Texas |
| Died | 1973 (age 89) |
| Other names | Sunflower, Warcaziwin, May Jones Montoya, Marie M. Jones, May Jones |
| Occupation(s) | Clubwoman, lecturer, writer |
May Montoya Cole Jones (born about 1884, died 1973) also known as Warcaziwin or Sunflower, was an American writer, lecturer, and clubwoman based in Los Angeles, California.
Early life
[edit]Mary "May" Montoya Cole was born in Texas, the daughter of John Albert Cole and Carolina Montoya Cole. Her father was a physician from Illinois; her mother was from Texas. She had younger brothers Robert Fontaine Cole and John Albert Cole.[1]
Career
[edit]As a young woman, Montoya wrote about boxing and legal subjects for the Los Angeles Express and Los Angeles Herald newspapers.[2][3] She also wrote for periodicals, including New Outlook.[4] She was adopted into the family of Oglala Sioux chief Luther Standing Bear in Los Angeles in 1929,[5][6] and welcomed at Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in 1934.[7][8] She assisted Standing Bear in writing True Stories of the Sioux, My Indian Boyhood, and Land of the Spotted Eagle (1933).[7][8] She managed Standing Bear's business affairs from 1935, and held the rights to these books when Standing Bear died in 1939.[9]
In Los Angeles, Jones was president of the American Indian Woman's History and Art Club,[5][10][11] and secretary of the American Indian Women's Club[12][13] and the Popular Science Society.[14] She spoke on American Indian history and culture at the Southwest Museum in 1928,[15] and to various church and community groups,[16][17][18][19][20] often in costume and with music and slides.[21] In 1932, in connection with the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, she was slated to represent Native American religious traditions at a Parliament of World Religions.[22]
Jones was connected with the San Bernardino County Museum later in life; she spoke at the museum's annual gala in 1960 and 1964.[7][23] In 1963, she taught a class in ethnology at the museum.[24] and the museum published her booklet, The Lore and Symbolism of Birds and their Relation to Man.[25] One of her speeches was reprinted in Aboriginal American Oratory: The Tradition of Eloquence among the Indians of the United States (1965).[26]
Personal life and legacy
[edit]In 1910,[27] Mary Cole married O. G. (Orange Glen) Jones, one of the founders of Huntington Park.[11][28] Her husband was describe as being a Pawnee,[13] and a collector of "ancient pottery and relics".[29] The Joneses divorced in 1935. She lived in Yucaipa with her brothers in the 1960s.[24][1] She died in 1973, at the age of 89.[30] Some of her collected artifacts are on display at the Crazy Horse Memorial.[31]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Historical Writer Makes Home Here". Yucaipa News-Mirror. 1961-09-28. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-01-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Montoya, May (1919-07-15). "Why the Fight? A Woman's View". Los Angeles Evening Express. p. 25. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Montoya, May (December 19, 1919). "Philosophy of New Case is Defined". Los Angeles Herald. pp. A1. Retrieved January 14, 2024 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ Warcaziwin (February 1954). "Let's Discover America". New Outlook: 57–61.
- ^ a b "Famous Indian is Entertained". The Whittier News. 1929-10-07. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Shippey, Lee (1933-06-25). "The Lee Side o' L.A." The Los Angeles Times. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-01-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "Lecture on Sioux Indians Scheduled". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1960-10-18. p. 18. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Land of the Spotted Eagle". Nebraska Press. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
- ^ Vigil, Kiara M. (2015-07-15). Indigenous Intellectuals. Cambridge University Press. pp. 282–284. ISBN 978-1-107-07081-3.
- ^ "Much Interest in Indian Program for Friday Night". South Gate Daily Press-Tribune. 1930-02-03. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Indian Women Unite in Club". The Los Angeles Times. 1927-03-20. p. 75. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Mrs. Noonan Hostess to Club". The Highland Park News-Herald. 1928-02-03. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Indians to Talk at Church Dinner". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. 1929-01-29. p. 8. Retrieved 2024-01-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Beebe Lectures to New Science Society". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1922-04-15. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Indian Club Officer to Talk at Museum". The Los Angeles Times. 1928-02-25. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Society to Meet". The Los Angeles Times. 1928-04-15. p. 65. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Reception Given by Cosmopolitan Club, Brilliant". The Whittier News. 1930-03-27. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Shakespeare Section Will Hold Meeting". The Pasadena Post. 1929-05-24. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Indian Motif is Stressed at Luncheon". The Pasadena Post. 1929-11-25. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ McClintock, Ruth (1929-02-22). "Women's Club News". Los Angeles Evening Express. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Colorfully Costumed Indian Girl Pleads Liberties for Her People". South Gate Daily Press-Tribune. 1952-03-11. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Religious Conference". The Los Angeles Times. 1929-10-26. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "County Museum 'Appreciation' Dinner Tonight". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1964-05-21. p. 41. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Museum Plans Ethnology and Spanish Study". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1963-12-29. p. 11. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Warcaziwin (1963). The Lore and Symbolism of Birds and Their Relation to Man. San Bernardino County Museum Association.
- ^ Jones, Louis Thomas (1965). Aboriginal American oratory: the tradition of eloquence among the Indians of the United States. Los Angeles, Calif.: Southwest Museum. OCLC 1183694.
- ^ "Marriage Licenses". Los Angeles Herald. 1910-02-27. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-01-15 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Club Observes City's Birthday". The Los Angeles Times. 1931-09-03. p. 36. Retrieved 2024-01-14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hodgson, Beatrice (March 21, 1930). "Bow'n Arrow". p. 14. Retrieved January 14, 2024 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
- ^ Sprague, Donovin Arleigh (2005). Rosebud Sioux. Arcadia Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-7385-3447-3.
- ^ "The Indian Museum of North America". Crazy Horse Memorial. Retrieved 2024-01-14.