May Montoya Jones

May Montoya Jones
A young unsmiling woman with dark hair and eyes
May Montoya, from a 1919 newspaper
Born
Mary Montoya Cole

1880s
Texas
Died1973 (age 89)
Other namesSunflower, 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

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

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

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

  1. ^ a b "Historical Writer Makes Home Here". Yucaipa News-Mirror. 1961-09-28. p. 3. Retrieved 2024-01-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Warcaziwin (February 1954). "Let's Discover America". New Outlook: 57–61.
  5. ^ a b "Famous Indian is Entertained". The Whittier News. 1929-10-07. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Shippey, Lee (1933-06-25). "The Lee Side o' L.A." The Los Angeles Times. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-01-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b "Land of the Spotted Eagle". Nebraska Press. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  9. ^ Vigil, Kiara M. (2015-07-15). Indigenous Intellectuals. Cambridge University Press. pp. 282–284. ISBN 978-1-107-07081-3.
  10. ^ "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.
  11. ^ a b "Indian Women Unite in Club". The Los Angeles Times. 1927-03-20. p. 75. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Mrs. Noonan Hostess to Club". The Highland Park News-Herald. 1928-02-03. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ "Beebe Lectures to New Science Society". Los Angeles Evening Express. 1922-04-15. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ "Indian Club Officer to Talk at Museum". The Los Angeles Times. 1928-02-25. p. 20. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Society to Meet". The Los Angeles Times. 1928-04-15. p. 65. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Reception Given by Cosmopolitan Club, Brilliant". The Whittier News. 1930-03-27. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ "Shakespeare Section Will Hold Meeting". The Pasadena Post. 1929-05-24. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Indian Motif is Stressed at Luncheon". The Pasadena Post. 1929-11-25. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ McClintock, Ruth (1929-02-22). "Women's Club News". Los Angeles Evening Express. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "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.
  22. ^ "Religious Conference". The Los Angeles Times. 1929-10-26. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "County Museum 'Appreciation' Dinner Tonight". The San Bernardino County Sun. 1964-05-21. p. 41. Retrieved 2021-08-18 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ Warcaziwin (1963). The Lore and Symbolism of Birds and Their Relation to Man. San Bernardino County Museum Association.
  26. ^ 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.
  27. ^ "Marriage Licenses". Los Angeles Herald. 1910-02-27. p. 16. Retrieved 2024-01-15 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Club Observes City's Birthday". The Los Angeles Times. 1931-09-03. p. 36. Retrieved 2024-01-14 – via Newspapers.com.
  29. ^ Hodgson, Beatrice (March 21, 1930). "Bow'n Arrow". p. 14. Retrieved January 14, 2024 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  30. ^ Sprague, Donovin Arleigh (2005). Rosebud Sioux. Arcadia Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-7385-3447-3.
  31. ^ "The Indian Museum of North America". Crazy Horse Memorial. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
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