Cahuilla
The Cahuilla , also known as ʔívil̃uqaletem or Ivilyuqaletem, are a Native American people of the various tribes of the Cahuilla Nation, living in the inland areas of southern California. Costo had many careers and avocations throughout his life, including farmer, cattle rancher, surveyor, and mineralogist. He also served as an engineer for the
California Division of Highways
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacramen ...
for nearly 20 years.
Early life and education
Costo was born in
Hemet, California
Hemet is a city in the San Jacinto Valley in Riverside County, California. It covers a total area of , about half of the valley, which it shares with the neighboring city of San Jacinto. The population was 89,833 at the 2020 census.
The foundi ...
, and was raised on the nearby Cahuilla Reservation.
He attended Riverside City College in the 1920s along with classmate John Gabbert, who ultimately became a Superior Court Judge. Following his time at
Riverside Community College
Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System.
History
RCC first opened in 1916 at ...
(now Riverside City College), he attended
Whittier College
Whittier College (Whittier Academy (1887–1901)) is a private liberal arts college in Whittier, California. It is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and, as of fall 2022, had approximately 1,300 (undergraduate and graduate) students. It was ...
and then the University of Nevada.
Career
Soil conservation
Costo was key in the establishment of the Anza Soil Conservation District, now known as the Elsinore-Murrieta-Anza Resource Conservation District.
Native American advocacy
Costo served as a member of the governing board of Cahuilla Reservation for more than 20 years and its spokesman for 8 years. He also served as a lobbyist fighting for Native American land rights for two years in Washington, D.C. and was a member of the
American Indian Federation The American Indian Federation (AIF) was a political organization that served as "the major voice of Native American criticism of federal Indian policies during the New Deal", specifically from 1934 through the mid-1940s. The AIF was an early Nativ ...
in the late 1930s.
He co-founded the American Indian Historical Society in 1950, in an effort to ensure scholarly examination of Native American lives as opposed to the stereotypes so prevalent in United States' society at the time. As part of the same efforts, he and his wife, Jeannette Costo, founded the scholarly journal ''The Indian Historian'' as well as the popular press periodical ''Wassaja''.
The Costos founded the Indian Historian Press, a for-profit publishing house dedicated to publishing titles documenting or related to the Native American experience in the United States. The Indian Historian Press published some 59 book titles.
Costo and his wife Jeannette opposed the efforts within the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
to name Father Junipero Serra a saint based on the claim that he treated Native Americans in an inhumane fashion.
University of California, Riverside advocacy
Rupert Costo and his lifelong friend, Superior Court Judge John Gabbert, were key players in lobbying the University of California to establish a university in Riverside, California.
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', the ''
Detroit Free Press
The ''Detroit Free Press'' is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, US. The Sunday edition is titled the ''Sunday Free Press''. It is sometimes referred to as the Freep (reflected in the paper's web address, www.freep.com). It primari ...
'', and ''
The Plain Dealer
''The Plain Dealer'' is the major newspaper of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. In fall 2019, it ranked 23rd in U.S. newspaper circulation, a significant drop since March 2013, when its circulation ranked 17th daily and 15th on Sunday.
As of Ma ...
'', in 1954. Mrs. Costo identified as being of Eastern Cherokee descent and was an activist for Native American causes in her own right.
Costo was named the Riverside Community College Alumni of the Year.
Death and legacy
Rupert Costo died on October 20, 1989, at his home in San Francisco, California.
The Costo's extensive personal library documenting the Native American experience in the United States was donated to the University of California Riverside Libraries in May 1986. The Costo Chair in American Indian History at the University of California, Riverside, was named in his honor.
Publications
*''Textbooks and the American Indian'' (1970)
*''Indian Voices: the Native American Today'' (1974)
*''Indian Treaties: Two Centuries of Dishonor'' (1977)
*''A Thousand Years of American Indian Storytelling'' (1981)
*
*