The Tule River Reservation is located on the southeastern edge of Californias San Joaquin Valley. It consists of several tribes that once inhabited a much larger part of the Valley and the nearby Sierras. After gold was discovered in California in 1848, the Natives in this relatively isolated part of the state were overwhelmed by American settlers and ravaged by disease, starvation, and injustice. By 1860, the Indian population in California was only 20% of what it had been ten years earlier. Settlers around the growing town of Porterville began to demand removal of the Tule River Indians to a more distant location. The Reservation was relocated to its current site in 1873, in part, to separate the Indians from unscrupulous individuals who entered the Reservation to entice the Natives to buy cheap liquor. As I photographed the Tule River Indian Education Center, I noticed a sign signaling a continuity with that earlier tradition which stated, Say No to Drugs and Dealers Help Protect Our Children!