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GALLERY

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OF TWO WORLDS, YET OF ONE MIND:

VYOLA J. ORTNER, A LEADER FOR HER TIMES

Vyola J. Olinger (later Ortner)

Map of Mission Indian Reservations, showing the unusual checkerboard pattern pertinent to the Agua Caliente Reservation, 1942.

Commentary by Olinger on the critical need for engaging a tribal attorney in order to ensure the legal rights of the Agua Caliente Cahuilla. From a progress report by the Agua Caliente Band of Mission Indians, 1962.

Male Agua Caliente Tribal Leaders, 1937. Seated, left to right: Francisco Patencio, Moreno Patencio, William Marcus, Lee Arenas, and Pico Manuel; standing, left to right: Clemente Segundo, Albert Patencio, Baristo Sol, and Adam Castillo.

Second all-women Tribal Council, elected 1956. Left to right: LaVerne Saubel, Elizabeth Pete Monk, Gloria Gillette, Vyola Olinger, and Eileen Miguel.

The all-women Tribal Council, gathered together on the occasion of unveiling the Gruen master plan for Section 14. Left to right: Gloria Gillette; LaVerne Saubel; Dora Joyce Prieto; Eileen Miguel; and Vyola Olinger. The Desert Sun, November 29, 1957.

Gala Opening for the Palm Springs Spa, 1960. Barbara Gonzales, the youngest allotted tribal member at that time; Eileen Miguel, who succeeded Olinger as chairman of the Tribal Council; and Lee Arenas, the oldest allotted tribal member at that time.

Palm Springs Spa, 1960.

Entrance to the multimillion-dollar Palm Springs Spa, after completion of the adjacent Spa Hotel, 1963. By the grand opening of the Spa Hotel in April 1963, the landscaping for the Palm Springs Spa had begun to take hold and there had been a slight change

Press tribute to Olinger following her resignation from the Tribal Council, January 1959. The Desert Sun, February 10, 1959.

Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, 1960.

PLAYING THE HAND YOU'RE DEALT

Juana Saturnino Hatchitt, Vyola’s mother, was a member of the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians. Orion Garfield Hatchitt, her father, 1920s.

As a grade-school student, Palm Springs, late 1920s.

At home, Downey, California, 1950s. Background: At home with cocker spaniel, Rusty, Seal Beach, California, 1940s.

Vyola J. Olinger (Ortner)

Tribal Council Resolution No. 114, April 1, 1952, certifying the Tribal Council election of March 25, 1952, in which Vyola was elected vice chairman. The 2nd all-women Tribal Council with Ned Mitchell, local director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1956

In Washington, DC, with US Congressman D. S. Saund (standing) and Mayor of Palm Springs, Frank Bogert (seated), late 1950s.

Press coverage of Vyola’s attendance at joint congressional hearings on the federal government’s new Indian policy of termination. The Desert Sun, March 1954. Eileen Miguel ascending the steps of the Capitol, Washington, DC, late 1950s.

Tribal Council member Dora Joyce Prieto in Washington, DC, with US Congressman D. S. Saund and our delegation from Palm Springs, 1958.

President Dwight Eisenhower’s signing into law the historic Long-Term Leasing and Equalization Acts. The Desert Sun, October 22, 1959.

Section 14 before the development, 1957.

Map of the Agua Caliente Reservation, which has an unusual checkerboard configuration, comprised of one-mile squares, alternating between Indian and non-Indian land.

The second all-women Tribal Council, 1956. From left are LaVerne Saubel, Elizabeth Pete Monk, Gloria Gillette, Vyola Olinger, and Eileen Miguel.

Discussing the Gruen master plan for Section 14, 1956. From left, standing, Ned Mitchell, Ben H. Southland; Gloria Gillette; and LaVerne Saubel; seated, Eileen Miguel and Vyola Olinger.

Palm Springs, McCallum Way as it appeared during the 1940s.

The Palm Springs Airport in 1955, after conversion from a military base into a municipal facility.

Bathhouse Number Two, Palm Springs, built in the 1910s.

Bathhouse Number Three, mid- to late 1950s, not long before being demolished in preparation for the new Palm Springs Spa.

Press coverage of the tribe, its master plan, and the great boost this plan received with the lease of an eight-acre site on Section 14 for the Palm Springs Spa. With daughter Debra Olinger, 1958.

Newspaper headlines announcing the long-term lease for the Palm Springs Spa, the “first of its kind” on Indian land. Los Angeles Examiner and The Desert Sun, both February 14, 1958.

At the gala opening of the Palm Springs Spa, 1960. Left to right, Samuel Banowit; Eileen Miguel; Frank Bogert; Vyola Olinger; and Scotty Rubin.

Entrance to the multimillion-dollar Palm Springs Spa, 1960. The colonnade was patterned after the marble baths of ancient Rome; the bronze sculpture by Bernard Zimmerman was conceived as an abstraction of a water nymph inspired by Greek mythology.

The illustrations are examples of the press coverage of the grand opening of the Palm Springs Spa. Front and back cover of a supplement in The Desert Sun, 1960.

The illustrations are examples of the press coverage of the grand opening of the Palm Springs Spa. Front and back cover of a supplement in The Desert Sun, 1960.

Attending an event for ARROW (Americans for the Restoration and Righting of Old Wrongs), late 1950s. With Helen L. Peterson, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Being honored (third from the left) by the Whitney Foundation as among “Outstanding American Indians,” Fisk University, Nashville, Tennessee, June 1956. John Artichoker, Jr. (to my immediate right); Mr. and Mrs. Joseph R. G arry (center); Nelson Jose.

With fellow members of ARROW (Americans for the Restoration and Righting of Old Wrongs) (center row, second from the left), late 1950s.

Press coverage of conference on American Indian issues, held at the Central YMCA, San Francisco, 1956.

Letter to me from Vice President Lyndon Johnson, October 22, 1963. Vyola was honored to be called upon by Vice President Johnson to participate in a 1963 conference on issues of equal employment opportunities.

Vyola J. Ortner for City Council, Palm Springs, 1980.

Celebrating after winning my election to the Palm Springs City Council, April 1980. From left are Ed Hoban, Sally Sands, Bernie Lisker, me, Rosemary Hoban, and an unidentified participant.

At the redesigned Tribal Cemetery, Section 14, an Indian land project on which Vyola worked with landscape architect Michael Buccino. Forbes 400, October 1, 1984.

Tribal members and civic leaders celebrate the dedication of the new Tribal Building in 2004 that was constructed after the traditional round house was burned in 1951.

Photograph by David Glomb of the new Agua Caliente Tribal Building.

Photograph by David Glomb of the new Agua Caliente Tribal Building.

Photograph by David Glomb of the new Agua Caliente Tribal Building.

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