Carobeth Laird died on August 5, 1983. Her death was not unanticipated—she had been seriously ill for a very long time—but her strong will and enormous personal power had enabled Carobeth not only to live to the age of 88 but also to produce significant scholarly works during her final years. Her strength was enhanced by an outpouring of support from family, friends, and colleagues. Since she had started publishing nearly a decade before her death, Carobeth had acquired many professional colleagues—anthropologists, linguists, and friends. She left a body of scholarly work that could be the envy of any professional anthropologist.

Jane K. Penn, founder of Malki Museum Inc., and a nationally known leader in American Indian affairs, passed away on March 22 at Loma Linda University Medical Center after a lengthy illness which she fought vigorously for months. Jane Penn (Juanita to some of her older friends) was an energetic, assertive, and active person who did not easily succumb to any circumstances that didn't suit her clearly seen objectives. Yet even during her last months she continued as long as she could to direct the affairs of Malki Museum from her bedside, making the same firm demands upon herself that she had made through a lifetime of service to her people.

This paper presents a general description of supernatural power as it was perceived and used by California Indians prior to European contact. The principal existential postulates relating to the concept of power which were shared by most native California peoples are outlined, and the normative postulates (values) which regulated the use of power are briefly discussed. Specific ways in which power might be acquired, and the conduits or pathways to its acquisition are reviewed. Finally, some of the social implications deriving from the concept of the presence of power and beliefs about its characteristics are suggested. The description of power presented here is cross-cultural, and the author fully recognizes that not every aspect of power described in this paper can be strictly applied to each ethnic group in the state. Beliefs about power varied from group to group, but for the most part the ideas presented here were widely shared.