Florence Curl Jones, 96; Spiritual Leader of Tribe in Northern California

Florence Curl Jones, a Native American spiritual leader and “top doctor” of the 150-member Winnemem Wintu tribe who conducted rituals at sacred sites she helped preserve on Mt. Shasta in Northern California, has died. She was 96.

Jones died Nov. 22 in her sleep of natural causes at her home north of Redding.

Even when she had to be pushed up Mt. Shasta in a wheelchair, Jones continued to lead the annual Circle at Coonrod, a four-day healing ceremony conducted by the Wintu each summer for centuries. She had an extensive knowledge of the healing powers of native plants and herbs, and would treat a variety of ailments among those who sought her help.

Jones’ ceremonies on the slopes of the dormant volcano were featured in the PBS documentary “In the Light of Reverence” filmed over the period of a decade by Christopher “Toby” McLeod. Telecast nationally in 2001, the film dealt with Lakota, Hopi and Wintu efforts to preserve and worship at sites sacred to them.

Praised by initially skeptical Wintu and other Native Americans, the film earned the best documentary feature award at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco in late 2000, and the Eagle Award at the Taos Talking Pictures Festival in 2001.

Although Jones’ tribal members feared she might be exploited by the filmmakers, she agreed to participate in the documentary to promote preservation of environmental sites important to Native Americans. “I looked you over and decided to trust you,” she told McLeod.

Her fierce protection of the mountain included legal action as well as public-awareness efforts.

“Nature takes care of your mind, and your heart and soul. This is my church,” Jones said during the successful battle to block construction of a $22-million ski resort near Panther Meadows on Mt. Shasta. The U.S. Forest Service revoked the building permit for the resort in 1998.

Lands allotted to Jones’ family had been lost in the 1930s when Shasta Dam was built and the lower McCloud River was flooded to create Shasta Lake.

Jones was born Florence Violet Curl (she was also known as Puilulimet) on the banks of the McCloud River on Nov. 28, 1907, to William Curl (Dolikentillema) and Jenny Charles Curl (Chipoki). Because her mother was so old (purportedly 60) when she gave birth to Florence, tribal elders gathered to determine whether the baby was good or evil.

“They immediately decided she was special,” McLeod told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The little girl was trained from infancy by her mother and grandmother in the healing arts and tribal culture. She also became fluent in the tribe’s endangered native language.

Under federal policy in place during her youth, Jones was removed from her tribe and placed in an Indian boarding school in Greenville, Calif. She returned to her home and traditional tribal studies only after the school burned five years later.

When she was 10, the girl’s tribe sent her on an 80-mile, weeklong hike alone in the Mt. Shasta area as a coming of age ritual to realize her power as a spiritual healer.

In her teens, Jones was again removed from the Wintu by federal agents who placed her with a wealthy San Francisco family, where she worked as a servant and attended high school.

At 17, she returned to the Mt. Shasta area permanently and later married Andrew Jones, for whose family Jones Valley near Redding is named. She had a son who died in infancy. Jones is survived by her daughter, Grace Marjory Charles.

After the death of her parents and uncles, Jones succeeded to the role as leader and top doctor of the Winnemem Wintu. Her designated tribal successor is her great-niece, Caleen Sisk-Franco.

Although renowned for her healing and for her environmental efforts to preserve Mt. Shasta, Jones failed to realize one of her major goals. That was to regain recognition of the Wintu by the U.S. government as an official Native American tribe. Without explanation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs had removed the tribe from its list in the 1980s.

Memorial contributions can be sent to the Indian Cultural Organization, 14840 Bear Mountain Road, Redding, Calif. 96003.