Native Americans

The Yurok Tribe delivered a proposal before the California Fish and Game Commission in Eureka on Wednesday, April 11 "giving the board an opportunity to better protect the Tribe’s right to traditionally harvest of marine resources," according to a press release from the Tribe.

The Fish and Game Commission meeting is one of the final steps in the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative process to create "marine protected areas" in the North Coast Study Region. The North Coast Study Region begins at Alder Point near Point Arena and ends at the California/Oregon border.

The deadline for written comments regarding the MLPA environmental impact report (EIR) was Monday, April 16. The Commission plans to make its final decision regarding the marine protected areas in Eureka on Thursday, June 14.

Tribal representatives proposed the following:

• Reading Rock- Tribal Take Option (B) Reclassify Reading Rock from a State Marine Reserve to a State Marine Conservation Area. This would allow for specific federally recognized tribes to take living marine resources pursuant to existing regulations.

Resources Secretary Announces Tribal Consultation Policy

by Dan Bacher

John Laird, the California Secretary for Natural Resources, on Wednesday announced the release of a draft policy directing the resources agency and its departments to "increase communication and collaboration with California’s Native American tribes."

The lack of consultation by the agency with tribes on environmental programs including the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, Delta Vision, Bay Delta Conservation Plan and other processes has led to frequent conflicts between the Tribes and the state. This failure to consult has led to many protests, including the peaceful take over of an MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force meeting in Fort Bragg on July 21, 2010 by over 300 Tribal members and their allies to protect Tribal gathering rights.

The draft policy letter is available at: http://resources.ca.gov/docs/Final_Tribal_Policy_Letterhead.pdf

by Dan Bacher

Members of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe from northern California on Monday challenged Randy Moore, U.S. Forest Service Regional Forester, at his Vallejo office to protect indigenous women from racial slurs and physical harm during coming of age ceremonies planned for this summer.

Caleen Sisk, Winnemem Chief and Spiritual Leader, and Tribal leaders met with Moore after members of the Winnemem, Yurok, Karuk, Hoopa Valley, Ohlone and other Tribes picketed outside the office for an hour.

Although claiming to be unfamiliar with the issue, Moore promised to review the Winnemem's request to close 400 yards of the McCloud River arm of Shasta Reservoir for 4 days in late June so that the Tribe can conduct the ceremony. Moore committed to respond to the Tribe's request by May 1, 2012.

"This is a very important issue that we will look at very seriously," said Moore. "Our concern is that the Winnemem Wintu are not a federally recognized tribe, although they are a state recognized tribe."

North Coast Indian Tribes, along with conservationists, fishermen, and environmental justice advocates, have been vocal critics of the state of California's failure to acknowledge tribal gathering rig

“With regard to local shoreline systems, where there is access, there are no ‘unfished’ systems,” said Mike Belchik, senior fisheries biologist from the Yurok Fisheries Program. “People have coexisted with these resources for many thousands of years; the appropriate conceptual organization foundation is that systems have been managed, and what is seen is the result of millennia of management.”

Tribal Science Challenges MLPA Initiative Assumptions

by Dan Bacher

State officials and proponents of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative have continually claimed in press releases and testimony before the Fish and Game Commission that the initiative is “science-based.”

However, the claims that that process is based on “science” ring hollow when one considers that the scientific perspective of tribal biologists was never included in the MLPA process since the initiative was privatized in 2004.

Sacred Site Protection & Rights of Indigenous Tribes (SSP&RIT)

For Immediate Release:

As Bulldozers May Arrive Any Day at Ancient Burial Site,
Native Americans To Occupy Sacred Land at Glen Cove in Vallejo
Spiritual Ceremony and Occupation Beginning Friday, April 15, 2011 at 8 am

Vallejo, California (April 14, 2011) – Faced with the imminent arrival of bulldozers at the Native American sacred burial site at Glen Cove, Vallejo, members of the local Native American community will hold a religious ceremony to commence an occupation of Sogorea Te, otherwise known as Glen Cove, in the City of Vallejo beginning at 8 am on Friday, April 15, 2011. Native Americans and their supporters have vowed to physically block bulldozers or any other work that would desecrate the burial site.

Native American activists consider this to be the last stand in a struggle that has been going on for over a decade, since the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (GVRD) first proposed plans for a “fully featured public park” including construction of a paved parking lot, paved hiking trails, 1000 pound picnic tables and a public restroom on top of the 3500 year old burial site.

Tribal Activists Disrupt MLPA Meeting to Protect Gathering Rights

By Dan Bacher

Over 40 American Indian activists took over a meeting of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative Science Advisory Team in Eureka on June 29 to protest the violation of tribal gathering and fishing rights under the controversial process.

Frankie Joe Myers, a member of the Coastal Justice Coalition and Yurok Tribe ceremonial leader, went to the microphone and demanded that the panel open up a public comment period. The MLPA team attempted to meet without allowing any public testimony, but they were prevented from proceeding as they were interrupted by chants of “Keep your laws off my culture” and “M-L-P-A taking Tribal rights away.”

Tribal members held up signs and banners stating, “MLPA Can’t Hide the Genocide,” “MLPA making my grandmother an outlaw,” “Respect Native Tradition” and “Fish and Game, You’re Lame.”

Unable to proceed without interruption, the MLPA officials conceded and members of North Coast Tribes and non-native supporters provided powerful testimony slamming the process and demanding tribal representation on the science panel.

The activists demanded that tribes, who have been the stewards of the ocean for thousands of years, not be scapegoated for the decline in ocean fisheries caused by decades of government mismanagement.

“We gathered and harvested the ocean’s bounty for thousand of years in a sustainable manner,” said Myers. “For California to blame tribes for its reckless mismanagement of our fisheries for the last century is simply appalling.”

Winnemem Wintu Leaders in New Zealand to Call McCloud Salmon Home

by Dan Bacher

Two dozen members of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe are now on a spiritual mission in New Zealand to ask Chinook salmon native to the McCloud River, a tributary of the Sacramento River, to return home to northern California.

Tribal representatives will gather on the banks of the Rakaia River, in Canterbury, on Sunday, March 28 to apologize to the winter run Chinook salmon - a species that was introduced to the river over 100 years ago. The winter Chinook is also known as "quinnat" in New Zealand.

At the culmination of a four-day ceremony, tribal members will perform the "nur chonas winyupus" or middle water salmon dance, according to a news release from Tourism New Zealand.

MLPA Stakeholders Draft Resolution to Address Disregard for Tribal Rights

by Dan Bacher

During a conference call/webinar on February 25, members of the North Coast Regional Stakeholders Group for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative agreed upon the proposed text for a recommendation to the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force on the topic of tribal uses of the ocean.

Winnemem Wintu Tribe Holds War Dance Before Launching Federal Lawsuit
By Dan Bacher

Arrayed in traditional regalia, over two dozen members of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe held a war dance along the banks of the American River on the evening of April 19 and morning of April 20 to bring attention to decades of injustice and destruction of their cultural sites by the federal government.

Male dancers in traditional feathered headdresses, accompanied by female singers in white dresses, performed the ancient ceremony around a sacred fire to the steady beat of a wooden drum.

Russell Means: Breaking the silence on Obama
Posted by Brenda Norrell - January 11, 2009 at 1:47 pm

American Indian activist Russell Means said President-elect Obama was selected by the colonial powers as president to improve the US image globally in the aftermath of George Bush. Further, Means said Obama's appointments show that he is a Zionist controlled by Israel. Speaking on Red Town Radio, Means said what is happening now to Palestinians is what happened to American Indians.

"Every policy the Palestinians are now enduring was practiced on the American Indian," Means said on the Blog Talk Radio show on Jan. 10, hosted by Brenda Golden, Muskoke Creek. "What the American Indian Movement says is that the American Indians are the Palestinians of the United States, and the Palestinians are the American Indians of the Middle East," Means said.

Senate Supports Winnemem Wintu Tribe: Senate passes Joint Resolution

The California Senate on Wednesday passed a Joint Resolution urging the federal government to restore federal recognition status to the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. The resolution, authored by Assembly Member Huffman, passed with 24 votes. The Tribe has played a big leadership role in the battle to restore the California Delta and Central Valley rivers and stop the raising of Shasta Dam.

Dan

Wednesday, August 13th
Mark Franco, Winnemem Wintu Tribe, (530) 510-0944
Debbie Davis, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (916) 743-4406

California Supports Winnemem Wintu Tribe:
Senate passes Joint Resolution urging restoration of federal recognition status

Sacramento, CA – The Winnemem Wintu Tribe drew one step closer to righting years of historic wrongs today. The Senate passed a Joint Resolution urging the federal government to restore federal recognition status to the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. The resolution, authored by Assembly Member Huffman, passed with 24 votes.