Tribal leaders from all over northern California will gather at Cal Poly Humboldt March 24 for the first-ever Land Back symposium, hosted by the Native American Studies Department and Save California Salmon, an organization the promotes traditional ecological knowledge.
It’s been a year since the California Truth and Healing Council Meeting where Governor Gavin Newsom announced that $100 million will be available to tribal initiatives that address climate change, including priorities like tribal co-management, ancestral land access, and returning land to indigenous people.
Wade Crowfoot, the Secretary of California Natural Resources, and Geneva Thompson, the California Assistant Secretary of Tribal Affairs, will offer remarks near the beginning of the event. There will be panels on public and private land return, land grab universities, indigenous land trusts including the Intertribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, and legal, policy, and funding considerations.
Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy is the chair of the Native American Studies Department at Cal Poly Humboldt . “I was there when they returned the sacred island of Tuluwat to the Wiyot people,” she says. “People always ask me, what does land back look like? What does it actually feel like? What does it look like? Everybody in that room was so happy…it’s creating a lot of joy.”
In-person registration for the first-ever land back symposium at Cal Poly Humboldt filled up fast, but there is a zoom link for anyone who would like to watch the event without participating.
The zoom passcode for the event is: 444645