 Collier moved to California in October 1919.In 1920, Collier was introduced to the Pueblo tribes by the artist Mabel Dodge, at the Taos Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico; for much of that year he studied their history and current life.By the time Collier left Taos in 1921 he believed that Native Americans and their culture were threatened by the encroachment of the dominant white culture and policies directed at their assimilation.