We are seeking the re-edition of Lynwood Carranco and Estle Beard's book, Genocide and Vendetta: The Round Valley Wars in Northern California (University of Oklahoma, 1981).
After an accusation of plagiarism (determined to be “unintentional,” but nonetheless damning) was brought forward by Virginia P. Miller, a former student of Estle Beard, in 1985, the book was immediately withdrawn by University of Oklahoma Press.
Despite the book being permanently out of print, it continues to be used as a source for major publications in the field of Native American studies. The bibliography of books that use Genocide and Vendetta as a reference is evidence of its importance to historians and scholars.
Genocide and Vendetta unpacks one of the darkest chapters in California history: the literal genocide ("a war of extermination" as the first governor of California, Peter Hardeman Burnett, enthusiastically phrased it in 1851) of Native Americans by European Americans in Round Valley, CA, in Mendocino County. This history is mostly hidden (as most of these histories are) but its exposure is owed to the people who've inherited it, whether directly or indirectly.
The book's importance goes beyond academia, reaching deep into the soil and fabric of Northern California. For that reason we will petition the University of Oklahoma to re-release Genocide and Vendetta. If they are unwilling to do so, we will advocate and support an alternative means to re-release the book and distribute it to libraries (public and institutional) across the entire state, but particularly in northern counties where the genocide detailed in the book was perpetrated.
