Berenice Pate's personal philosophy is simple.
“I've always believed this country is very good to the people who live here, and each one of us should be willing to give some time in our lives to the betterment of the community,” she said.
In living that philosophy, Pate worked on the traditional community service projects (Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and schools) but she will probably be remembered for her work as an advocate for Indian rights.
“My husband was a doctor whose practice for a number of years was in Modoc County where there were a great number of Indians,” she recalled. “For one reason or another, he got along very well with them.
Once the Indians got to know her late husband, Dr. Waldo H. Pate, they realized they could trust him and started asking him for help with their problems. He, in turn, enlisted her help.
“So I started writing to the Bureau of Indian Affairs or congressmen to get certain information to try to better conditions up there,” she said.
In 1946, the Pates moved to Auburn where Dr. Pate joined the staff at DeWitt State Hospital for the mentally ill, and Berenice became active in the local community.
At the request of the Auburn District Fair manager, Pate began displaying the collection of Indian artifacts she had acquired while living in Modoc County.
Local Indians started to contact her and it wasn't long before she again became involved in fighting for the Auburn tribes, who were going through “termination, a process whereby the Indians were getting individual titles to their properties through Congress' Termination Act,” she explained.
There were a number of problems facing the Indians on the Rancheria, primarily the lack of running water and septic tanks, she noted.
“I got in touch with (former Congressman) Harold T. “Bizz” Johnson, and with his major assistance, we had a federal hearing here in Auburn, at which time it was determined that these Indians had been shortchanged,” she said, adding the problems were quickly resolved.
Throughout the ensuing years, she joined in time and time again to fight on the Indians' behalf. In 1961, she was asked to be a member of the California Indian Commission, and later served as executive director.
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