"First Families, a one-of-a-kind book, draws on a recently compiled collection of 1,500 images donated by California Indians from their private family photo albums especially for this project. Enlivened by personal stories and deepened by carefully researched historic and cultural asides, it presents a richly varied, warmly nuanced, constantly surprising portrait of California's oldest communities. Truthful and intimate, First Families challenges stereotypes as it records, recent history from an insider's perspective and pays heartfelt tribute to the survival of native people to this day."--BOOK JACKET.

1. Central Valley and Western Sierra Nevada : History and culture ; Not by bread alone ; Vessels of culture ; Song, dance, and ceremony ; Indian cowboys ; Golden opportunity ; At the valley's end -- 2. Central Coastal California : History and culture ; A culture of abundance ; Keeping culture in its place ; The Pomo Indian Women's Club ; Valley of the bears ; Words to the wise ; The round valley -- 3. Coastal Southern California : History and culture ; Indian gaming, the old-fashioned way ; Seagoing vessels ; Resisting the invasion ; The exiles of Cupa ; The border ; Culture heroes -- 4. Inland Southern California : History and culture ; Bird songs ; Advocates and organizers ; Sherman Institute ; Indian gaming ; A desert uprising -- 5. Great Basin : History and culture ; Ancient art history ; Foods of the east ; Datsolalee; Louisa Keyser ; Nüümü Yadoha -- 6. Northeastern California : History and culture ; Indian doctors ; The ghost dance ; Preserving the sacred ; Ishi, a man -- 7. Northwestern California : History and culture ; A matter of value ; Traditional tattoos ; Seagoing redwoods ; Fish for life ; A traditional Yurok village.