WINTU HEALER

Florence Jones (1907-2003)

Florence Curl Jones, Wintu spiritual leader and healer, died on Saturday, November 22, six days before her 97th birthday. She was the most fluent speaker of the Winnemem Wintu language, and was known as a "top doctor" by Native people throughout the western United States.

Born Florence Violet Curl (Puilulimet) on November 28, 1907, on the McCloud River (Winnemem, or "Middle Water") south of Mt. Shasta in northern California, she was the daughter of William Curl (Dolikentillema) and Jenny Charles Curl (Chipoki). From the time of her birth Florence Curl was recognized as a special child, destined to become a leader. At five years of age, Florence was forcibly taken by agents of the U.S. government to the Indian School at Greenville, California. Five years later, after the school caught fire, she returned home and resumed her training as an Indian doctor and spiritual leader. At ten years of age, Florence was sent on foot on an 80-mile solo journey along the McCloud River. Soon after this journey, Florence was again taken from her home by the government and sent back to Greenville School. As a teenager, she was sent by the school to work as a servant for a family in San Francisco, where she attended Lowell High School. At age 17, she made her way back to the McCloud River and again took up her training as a traditional healer.

She married Andrew Jones (Jones Valley near Redding was named after his family). Lands allotted by the U.S. to Mrs. Jones' family were lost with the construction of Shasta Dam and the flooding of the lower McCloud River in the 1930s. The bodies of her father and mother, recently deceased, had to be re-buried to escape the rising water of Shasta Lake. Following the death of her parents and uncles, Mrs. Jones assumed the successional role of leader and top doctor of the Winnemem Wintu. Leadership has now passed to Caleen Sisk-Franco, Mrs. Jones's great-niece and designated successor. Mrs. Jones was an expert on the plants of northern California and their traditional uses. Throughout her life she conducted ceremonies at the Winnemem Wintu's sacred sites on and around Mt. Shasta, following a thousand-year tradition. She was recognized by her people, by elders of other tribes, and by archaeologists and anthropologists, as a uniquely gifted healer. Mrs. Jones championed the cause of protection of sacred sites from development. In 1998, the U.S. Forest Service dropped plans to build a ski area on Mt. Shasta due in part to the efforts of Mrs. Jones. Despite unbroken traditions of language, culture, religion, and self-governance by Mrs. Jones and the Winnemem, they are not recognized as a tribe by the U.S. government. In the 1980s, the Bureau of Indian Affairs dropped the Winnemem from their list of recognized tribes without explanation. Mrs. Jones was the subject of a documentary film, In the Light of Reverence, which aired nationally on PBS in 2001.

 Florence Jones died in her sleep, at her home north of Redding, surrounded by family. She is survived by her daughter, Grace Marjory Charles. A son, Howard Richard Charles, died at the age of 2. Letters in support of the Winnemem Wintu effort to regain tribal recognition may be addressed to: Secretary of the Interior 1849 C St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20240.

http://wintutribe.net/body_index.html 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "My heart is moved by all I cannot save, so much has been lost.... so much has been destroyed. I must cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power... reconstitute the world."

Winneman Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk at Stanford Mother's Day Powwow of Northern California with other women in 2012