News From Native California Volume 31, Issue 3 | Page 2
editor’s notes
news from
native california
PUBLISHER: Steve Wasserman
FOUNDERS: Malcolm Margolin, David W.
Peri, Vera Mae Fredrickson
EDITOR: Terria Smith
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Tiffany Adams, Dugan
Aguilar, Lindsie Bear, Brian Bibby, Marina
Drummer, L. Frank, Jeannine Gendar,
Leanne Hinton, Julian Lang, Frank LaPena,
William Madrigal Jr., Meyo Marrufo, Vincent
Medina, Beverly R. Ortiz, Stan Rodriquez,
Sage Romero, Terria Smith, Paula Tripp-
Allen, Linda Yamane
OUTREACH COORDINATOR: Vincent Medina
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Tima Link
PROOFREADING: Kim Hogeland
PRINTING: Modern Litho, Jefferson City, MO
NEWS FROM NATIVE CALIFORNIA
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california is our home, and with more tribes than any other state it is
undeniably Indian Country. But I have found that many people outside of tribal
communities fail to see it this way. Their consciousness drifts to the Southwest
or the Great Plains when they think of tribes and their environmental challenges.
Thus, I wanted to focus an issue of News from Native California on nature and the
environment to give tribal people across the state a chance to talk about it. This
was not something I could take on myself, so I asked someone who has a long
history in tribal environmental justice efforts to help guide this edition of the
magazine, Brittani Orona (Hoopa Valley Tribe). We are so honored to have her
as guest editor.
—Terria Smith
when i close my eyes I can see the Hoopa Valley, the ancestral homeland
of the Hupa people, my people. I can envision standing on my grandfather’s
property near the Trinity River, next to the giant oak tree that shades his house.
I can turn around and see the mountains that cradle our valley, smell the Trinity
River, and feel the cool wind on my cheek. If my mind is there in winter, the
fog surrounds the mountains; if in summer, the mountains are shrouded by
hot smoke from nearby fires. If it is winter the river is high, hungry, and swift.
If it is summer it is low, dangerously hot with algae blooms that can poison the
life the river supports. This valley—negatively impacted by both state and federal
environmental policy, but fiercely protected by the Hupa, Yurok, and Karuk
people—is a special, beautiful, powerful place. The Hoopa Valley, and the sur-
rounding mountains, rivers, and forests, are the center of my world.
This special issue of News from Native California focuses on California Indian
relationships with nature and the environment. Native people have been tending
and caring for the land that is now known as California since time immemorial.
Through a series of settler-colonial and violent conflicts, there were attempts
to remove Native people off the land and to disconnect us from our ancestral
places. However, memories are long and Native people are resilient, and despite
these efforts California Indians today continue to care for their land.
This comes in many forms, from practicing traditional ecological knowledge
like controlled burns and traditional gathering practices to advocating for environ-
mental justice by protesting against infrastructure projects that would negatively
impact the environment.
California Indians hold a special connection to nature and the environment
that goes beyond the physical. Land is inherently tied to who we are. There is
a responsibility to nature that is tied to tradition, culture, and spirituality. We
teach our children to respect and protect the environment. This is because all of
us, from ancestors to present, have had to fight to live and be of the environment.
Finally, I ask: where is the center for your world? Close your eyes and hold it
in your mind’s eye. Is it a mountain? A river? A desert? Whatever it may be, it is
undoubtedly a special and sacred place.
What would you do to protect it?
—Brittani Orona
FRONT COVER: Kumeyaay Community College
student Blue Vigil (Viejas Band of Kumeyaay
Indians) pushes a ha qui yo (tule canoe) carrying
Puna Watson, a Hawaiian exchange student, at
La Jolla Shores. Photo by Evan Schell.
BACK COVER: Honey mesquite has been an
important food source for the Quechan for
thousands of years. Photo by Scott Braley.