George Blake was born in 1944 on the Hoopa Indian Reservation in the Hoopa Valley of Humboldt County in northern California. He is of Hupa-Yurok descent, like many members of the small Indian tribes that inhabited this region of California before European contact. As a young man, Blake traveled as a missionary for the Indian Shaker faith. From 1963 to 1966 he served in the United States Army European Operations. arts.endow.gov
