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Anchor: Antonia Gonzales
A tribe in the San Francisco Bay Area is fighting a proposal to develop a gravel pit mine on sacred land.
Christina Aanestad reports from California.
The Amah Mutsun Tribe says sacred land two hours south of San Francisco near Gilroy, must be preserved.
Valentine Lopez is Chairman of the Amah Mutsun tribal band.
“Juristac has been the most sacred site to the Amah Mutsun tribal band for thousands of years.”
He says the land was stolen 150 years ago, and never returned to the federally unrecognized tribe, and despite repeated attempts to this day-they’ve been denied access to what’s now called Sargent Ranch.
The Debt Acquisition Co of America bought the land and is seeking a permit for a sand and gravel mine on part of the land.
The environmental impact report was just released. Lopez says it would be devastating to his tribe and the environment.
“It identified significant and unmitigable cultural resources and spiritual resources at Juristac. It also identified they will have significant and unmitigable conditions there to the wildlife, to the wildlife corridors and to the waterways, etcetera. So the impacts of the mining permits, should it be approved, would be horrendous.”
The company disputes the land is sacred to the tribe.
The Amah Mutsun Tribe is calling on California’s governor to step in and support a land back reconciliation process.
Public comment on the mine permit at Sargent Ranch ends September 26th.
A new mural at Westmoreland Park in Eugene, OR titled “Willamette Wetlands of the Kalapuya” depicts early Indigenous people with native plants.
(Photo: Beyond Toxics / KLCC)
A campaign is underway to rename Lane County in Oregon, to recognize the region’s original Indigenous inhabitants. KLCC’s Brian Bull reports.
Critics say Joseph Lane’s pro-slavery sentiments and actions against Native Americans while Oregon’s territorial governor doesn’t jibe with today’s values.
Richard Pettigrew of the Archaeological Legacy Institute in Eugene says he’s pushing to change Lane County to “Kalapuya County,” to reflect a more truthful narrative.
“The Americas didn’t begin with Christopher Columbus. People have been here for at least 15,000 years. The Kalapuya are our link to that longer, deeper past. The Kalapuya people are not extinct, they are here. Their descendants are here. They’re part of our community. So by changing the name, we are connecting ourselves to a deeper history.”
Pettigrew hopes people petition county commissioners to back his efforts.
Another option commissioners have looked at is keeping “Lane County”, but in honor of Harry Lane, Joseph Lane’s more progressive son.
Cheyenne and Arapaho Television recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary.
In 2010, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes received a federal grant for an educational TV station.
Darren Brown is senior content producer.
“We’ve been here for 10 years and that is significant because there are 39 federally recognized tribes here in the state of Oklahoma, but to my knowledge we are the first and only tribes that have a TV broadcast signal. It’s licensed as a low power TV signal, which means we get a small coverage area. We’re small, but mighty.”
The TV’s Native-based programming includes “Indian Road,” “Making Regalia,” and the children’s show “Frybread Flats.”
New seasons of those shows are in the works and the new Zoom-based interview show “Red Talk.” Cheyenne and Arapaho Television is affiliated with First Nations Experience (FNX), a PBS station in California.
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