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Luis Kemnitzer

Luis Stowell^[1] Kemnitzer (November 13, 1928 in Pasadena, California^[2]– February 17, 2006) was an American anthropologist known for his social and political activism.

From 1967 to 1994,^[3] Kemnitzer was a professor at San Francisco State University, where in 1969 he taught that institution's first course in American Indian Studies.^[4][5] In this role, Kemnitzer visited Alcatraz Island during its occupation—which had been partially planned in his classroom,^[6] and among whose participants were some of his students^[2] (including Richard Oakes)^[6] — to provide logistical advice on how to set up educational programs for Native American children on the island.^[7]

Life and work[edit]

Kemnitzer began his academic career in the 1940s, studying public health at the University of California, Berkeley, but withdrew to become a brakeman on the Southern Pacific Railroad.^[2] His experiences in the labor force led him to join the Communist Party USA.^[2] In the 1960s, he earned his doctorate in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania,^[4] after writing a dissertation based on his experiences living among the Oglala Lakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.^[2] He subsequently became director of the Lakota Language and Culture Center.^[8] His published research included studies of syncretism among the Lakota;^[9] railroad workers' time perception;^[10] and needle exchange programmes.^[11]

As an activist, Kemnitzer helped establish the first needle exchange programme in San Francisco's Tenderloin district;^[4] and attempted to distribute condomstoBohemian Grove attendees.^[12] In 2005, he and his partner Moher Downing posed naked for the 2006 "Hotties of Harm Reduction" calendar; the 2007 calendar was dedicated to his memory.^[13]

In 1997, Kemnitzer, who had for many years been an avid record collector,^[14] helped create the liner notes for the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings reissue of Anthology of American Folk Music^[15] (originally compiled by Harry Everett Smith, with whom Kemnitzer had been friends).^[16] He subsequently shared in the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Album Notes.^[2]

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