Governor Gavin Newsom has launched the largest land return in California history, declaring his support for returning ancestral lands to the Shasta Indian Nation that were confiscated a century ago and submerged.
The 2,800 acres in Siskiyou County are part of the Klamath River dam removal project, which will rehabilitate more than 300 miles of salmon habitat.
“This is a down payment on the state's commitment to improving the Native American communities that have called this land home since time immemorial,” Newsom said in a statement. The governor's announcement Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of California's official apology to its Native American people for the state's historic wrongdoings.
Newsom said the move was part of “healing deep wounds and rebuilding trust.”
The state has previously worked to return ancestral lands to the Fort Independence Indian Community, the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation, the Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria and the Wiyot Tribe. The Mechoopda Tribe received more than 90 acres, and the rest of the land returned was about 40 acres each, according to Lindsay Bribiescas, spokeswoman for the governor's office of tribal affairs.
Last year, Siskiyou County also supported returning ancestral land to the Shasta Indian Nation. In November, the county Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter of support to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Fish and Wildlife, along with the California Natural Resources Agency, will work with the Shasta Indian Nation on the legal return of the lands.
Shasta ancestors inhabited the lands around Lake Copco, near Bogus Mountain, before formal records of the area existed, according to Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors meeting documents. Traditionally, the land was known as Kíkacéki.
After the gold rush, the Shasta Indians worked to reclaim their historic community by purchasing or squatting plots of land; some “occupied” on recently privatized lands that were not their property. The document states that some Shasta women would strategically marry or cohabit with non-Indian men who purchased plots, and the women would eventually gain control of a significant portion of the land.
But in 1911, the land was taken from tribal members through eminent domain on behalf of the companies that would build the Copco No. 1 Dam, forcing members to relocate.
Now, more than 100 years later, with the removal of Copco and other dams, the land has resurfaced and tribal members remain eager for its return.
“Having access to our ceremonial sites, including the site of our First Salmon Ceremony, is critical to the spiritual and emotional health of our people,” said Janice Crowe, president of the Shasta Indian Nation.
Returning the land allows the Shasta Indian Nation to complete the Shasta Heritage Trail, an educational trail whose design incorporates native art along with informational signs that share the history of the Kíkacéki, Crowe said in a statement.
This announcement is part of a larger effort to amend California's historic crimes against Native American communities.
At the time of California's formal apology, Newsom also established the California Truth and Healing Council to clarify the historical record, he said, and provide an opportunity for collaboration between tribes and the state.
Programs and initiatives that emerged from it include conserving 30% of coastal lands and waters by 2030, a grant program to return lands to tribal ownership, and establishing agreements with tribes to ensure they have access or can co-manage them. , areas within state parks that are important to them.
It is unclear when the ancestral lands will be officially returned to the Shasta Indian Nation.
