VOLUME 12 / NUMBER 3 / AUTUMN 1996
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VOLUME 12 / NUMBER 3 / AUTUMN 1996
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BY THE INTERTRIBAL
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 KAREN EZEKIEL
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Photo: At an intertribal gathering in Sinkyone |
At least four or five tribes lived within the area now known as Sinkyone--which was much more vast than the land so called today; it stretched roughly from Usal in the south to the Mattole River in the north, and from the Pacific Ocean to the south fork of the Eel River. These tribes were Wailaki (Athapaskan)-speaking, and they lived here continuously for thousands of years. The Sinkyone peoples were almost entirely eradicated within 40 years of the first contact with European settlers. Survivors joined other tribes at Round Valley, the Mendocino Reservation in Fort Bragg, and throughout Mendocino and Humboldt Counties.
At the formation of the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council in 1986, we felt that the court's decision to halt logging in the Sinkyone should apply to the entire 7,100 acres that had been held by Georgia Pacific, and that all this land needed to be protected in perpetuity.
Now, ten years later, we have achieved our goal of protecting Sinkyone. The InterTribal Park represents the first time on this continent that several tribes have come together to create an intertribal park and save a large piece of land as a traditional native-use wilderness. Also unique is the alliance that has evolved here between native people and local environmentalists. Both are very dedicated to the Sinkyone movement, and that is how we have come this far.
On September 9, 1996, the InterTribal Council bought from the Trust for Public Land a $100,000 option for purchasing the 3,900-acre Upland Parcel. While the option technically gives the Council 18 months to come up with the $1.3 millon balance of the total $1.4 million purchase price, we expect to complete the purchase no later than early 1997. Along with the $100,000 raised by the Council through public donations and foundation grants, a commitment from the Lannan Foundation for the $1.3 million balance will enable us to gain title to this land.
We were prepared to do whatever it took to save the land and this was the key. Priscilla Hunter, founder and current chairwoman of the Council, was involved in this effort long before the InterTribal Council was formed. She and others had experience and expertise in organizing communities, identifying needs for programs and funding, and negotiating successfully with state agencies and others who had a stake in the Sinkyone. Hawk Rosales, executive director, started with the Council in 1990 as a volunteer. He has had training in administration, management of a nonprofit organization, and grant writing by working with the Council.
Each successive step toward our goal has brought more people into the effort. The Council sponsors gatherings on the land, where the people can come together and enjoy the beauty of our Mother Earth, sing and dance the traditional ways, and bring a healing spirit and smiles to our elders and youth. At these gatherings everyone can learn what is happening and how to become involved. People have begun considering what their role will be in the park. Local tribal members are also visiting the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park more frequently.
Our elders tell us what they remember about Sinkyone. Edna Guerrero, Potter Valley Pomo, related how every summer, after hops had been gathered, her family's wagons would go to Usal to gather abalone and seaweed, to catch salmon and smoke it right there in their camp. Waikiki Elder Della Womach, though very young, drove a team of horses. Ira Campbell, Edna"s nephew and chief of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, recalls that the fishing at Usal was beautiful and that he especially liked the way people fished for everyone, not just themselves: the Indian way.
Della Womach remembers using grinding rocks to smash acorns for making soup and bread. She remembers the dances and the good times. She also remembers Sally Bell, who as a five-year-old child saw her entire family massacred at a place called Needle Rock, and who lived into old age in the Sinkyone forest. Dellas parents cared for Sally Bell in her last years.
Around campfires by Usal Creek, people still talk about the ruthless attacks on our giant redwood elders that accelerated in the 1950s when heavy machinery was brought in for clear-cutting. The resulting soil erosion and fisheries degradation continues even now, ten years after logging was stopped.
At our gatherings and many meetings, we have discussed the real work that lies ahead. Some of it is staring us in the face: everyone can see that salmon and steelhead are gone from the silted-in streams. Therefore we pursued and obtained funding from the Coastal Conservancy, the California Department of Fish and Game, and the U.S. Forest Service to assess the land's current condition and begin stabilizing slopes and stream banks, put in stream barriers to hold back the silt, and build jumps and pools for salmon. Two years ago the Department of Fish and Game determined that coho salmon were again present in Wolf (Jackass) Creek.
In one large ecosystem assessment we plotted areas in which trees were counted and their species, sizes, and conditions recorded. This information has been digitized for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) computerized mapping to be used for future land planning. In the last five years we hired more than 35 people, Indian and non-Indian, for Sinkyone projects on InterTribal Park land and in the state park. We know that our strong ties to the land have helped us to accomplish our landmark success. |
RASA GUSTAITIS
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Photo: Cooking breakfast |
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The forest is growing back, but brush and hardwood species, rather than redwoods, are dominant. We will work to reestablish the original balance. Our elders have told us that "you could see through the trees" in the old days, that the redwood forest wasnt dense with undergrowth. Our people managed land with controlled burns to allow certain medicine and basketry plants to emerge and grow. They manicured tan oaks for maximum health and productivity, acorns being a staple food source. We have to look at the relation our people had with the land and try to reestablish this relation for future generations.
Future Sinkyone restoration projects will depend on a broad spectrum of funding sources. The Council currently depends on grants and government contracts for operating its programs. In the future we will develop appropriate enterprises that will help to cover the cost of park management. Eventually, reliable long-term sources of funding can support the park.
Some income will come from projects we undertake on the land. We will construct a native plant nursery and use local seeds for replanting because of their genetic integrity. Some seedlings will eventually be available for sale as well. People are now seeking out manzanita and other beautiful native bushes and trees that are drought-, fire-, and disease-resistant and suitable for landscaping. We can grow these. But we will also propagate some plants for cultural uses only, and these will not be for sale.
Some income will come from guided tours of the land and from meal-provision, but we must be careful not to impact any areas negatively. Llamas and horses will be used to pack in people and their supplies, but only in certain zones and along certain trails. The park will be open for camping to local people who are members of the Council through their tribes, but there will be no permanent occupancy. We are developing a management plan that will set forth the uses and activities allowed within the context of restoring the natural balance of Sinkyone's very complex ecosystem.
Three public trails will traverse the width of the property and connect with the state parks trail system. Beyond these the public will be allowed on the land only at the Council's discretion. This is a California Indian cultural preserve. The public trails provision is part of the Coastal Conservancy's requirement for our purchase of the land, as is limited hunting. Twelve hunting permits will be issued annually, through a blind lottery system, to Mendocino County residents. There is a proviso that if hunting interferes with the health and well-being of the natural resources, public safety, or cultural activities, it will be suspended until those matters are resolved.
We have worked to create an intertribal park that will be a living wilderness area where we can practice our traditional culture in a traditional environment. We have succeeded, and others can too. To share the good news of Sinkyone we have traveled widely, even to the island of Hokkaido, Japan, in 1993 at the invitation of the indigenous Ainu people, to participate in benefit events that raised money for our land.
Mother Earth is home to all people, so all people have a responsibility to protect some part of the natural world from destruction before it is too late. Sinkyone is an important part of our heritage, as are Headwaters Forest and all other wilderness areas where some of the natural world is still intact.
The beauty of these places speaks to us, and the land asks for our help because we are a part of it.
The InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council can be reached by mail at 190 Ford Road #333, Ukiah, CA 95482.
A 46-minute documentary video about the Sinkyone land struggle, "The Run to Save Sinkyone," is available from the Council for $30.
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hen the Indian community became involved in Sinkyone again in the 1980s, after our removal from this landscape 150 years ago, it became clear that it was time to organize as a tribal entity to protect the Sinkyone area and Mother Earth from further destruction, and to develop a tribal park where Indian peoples could practice their traditional ways.