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Photo: Citizens of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation participate in the Netlh-‘ii~-ne Steward program along the northern California coast, covering natural-resources management strategies and cultural practices. (Rosa Laucci / Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation)
Native leaders are asking Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) to sign a bill that would allow federally recognized tribes to sign agreements with the state to co-manage and co-govern ancestral lands and waters.
Suzanne Potter has more.
AB 1284 unanimously passed both houses of the state legislature this week.
Scott Sullivan is vice chairman of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation.
“This is going to allow us to deepen our relationship on a government-to-government level, it’ll give us better access to our traditional ancestral territories to improve the environment and to reconnect our people to the land.”
Fawn Murphy chairs the Pulikla Tribe of Yurok People and says tribes want to promote biodiversity and reverse erosion and environmental degradation.
“As these devastating climate impacts are coming and things are changing so rapidly, we need to bring it back to what works. California tribal people have been practicing traditional ecological knowledge since time immemorial. ”
The bill is also intended to help California meet its goal of preserving 30% of the state’s land and waters by 2030.
This story is supported by Pew Charitable Trusts
(Courtesy @TeresaForNM / X)
Democratic members of Congress, governors, and mayors appealed to Native Americans at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago last week.
Elected leaders stopped by two Native American Caucus meetings delivering remarks hoping to energize attendees and asking them to rally their communities to vote and back the Democratic Party.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM) says the Native American vote is key.
“We cannot deliver the kinds of investments and respect for Indian country if we do not win the presidency, if we do not flip the House, and we do not keep the Senate. And you know what? The Native vote is going to be key in Arizona, Wisconsin, Montana, to make sure we keep that great senator up there. Over and over, this election turns on the Indigenous vote.”
We are not going back! @KamalaHarris #DemocraticConvention2024 pic.twitter.com/Zsgfw4oNO5
— Teresa Leger Fernandez (@TeresaForNM) August 23, 2024
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) in remarks told the Native caucus there have been
many accomplishments in Indian Country, but there’s still much work to do, including electing the Democratic presidential ticket.
“I am clear that when we remind your and our communities what’s at stake and what we’re building for our children and their future. And that the values that you have always demonstrated and held dear ought to be the values for all across America.”
Tucson, Ariz. Mayor Regina Romero says the Native vote has made a difference in the state in past elections, and is important this year.
“We need to make sure, one, that the platform that the Democratic Party has carried is a pro-Native American platform.”
Governor Stephen Roe Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona says he’s encouraging people to vote, but the tribe is not officially endorsing candidates.
Gov. Lewis says, in her role as vice president, Kamala Harris visited the Gila River Indian Community, and as a presidential candidate, she included him in a rally, which makes a difference to Native voters.
“I know the Gila River Indian Community and I know as us as Indigenous people and tribal people when those types of leaders when they come to Indian Country and especially as our elders told us that means so much. For them, it’s not about on social media or it’s not about on TV a political ad, it’s about coming on our traditional land face-to-face.”
Democrats say the Harris-Walz ticket has knowledge of Indian Country issues and would bring that to the White House.
Some tribal leaders say they’ve had representatives at both the Republican National Convention and the DNC, and are listening to both parties, while advocating for tribal issues.
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