On this edition of Your Call, we continue our US at 250: A Native Perspective series by discussing Native history in California.
Within the 100 years that encompassed both Spanish Colonization and the Gold Rush, California's Indigenous population experienced an estimated 80 percent collapse, driven by enslavement, dispossession, and state-sponsored genocide. Despite this historic decimation, according to the 2020 US Census, California is home to more tribes than any other state in the country.
Alongside educators from the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, we explore the unique history of this state’s over 100 distinct tribes and their decades of activism in pursuit of visibility and sovereignty.
Guests:
Nicole Myers-Lim (Pomo/Miwok), executive director of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center, and co-editor of On Indian Ground: A Return to Indigenous Knowledge-Generating Hope, Leadership and Sovereignty through Education
Jayden Lim (Pomo), project specialist at the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center
Resources:
Public Policy Institute of California: California’s Native American Community
CalMatters: ‘Feels like erasure’: Why Native American students may be undercounted by 90% in California schools
CalMatters: ‘It’s a family’: How a California tribal college is opening doors for Native students
Grist: How the Klamath Dams Came Down
Los Angeles Times: California pledges to open 7% of its land and waters to Indigenous tribes – a step toward healing a 175-year-old broken promise
