Map of the Elders: Cultivating Indigenous North Central California

Home , Bay Miwok, Canadian Aboriginal law, Coast Miwok, Lake Miwok, Maidu language, Modoc people

HIYA ‘AA MA PICHAS ‘OPE MA HAMMAKO HE MA PAP’OYYISKO

(LET US UNDERSTAND AGAIN OUR GRANDMOTHERS AND OUR GRANDFATHERS):

MAP OF THE ELDERS: CULTIVATING INDIGENOUS NORTH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

CONSCIOUSNESS

A Thesis Submitted to the Committee on Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts and Science.

TRENT UNIVERSITY

Peterborough, Ontario, Canada

Indigenous Studies Ph.D. Graduate Program

September 2016

ABSTRACT

Hiya ʼAa Ma Pichas ʼOpe Ma Hammako He Ma Papʼoyyisko

(Let Us Understand Again Our Grandmothers and Our Grandfathers):

Map of the Elders, Cultivating Indigenous North Central California Consciousness

Diveena S. Marcus

The Tamalko (Coast Miwok) North Central California Indigenous people have

lived in their homelands since their beginnings. California Indigenous people have

suffered violent and uncompromising colonial assaults since European contact began in

the 16th century. However, many contemporary Indigenous Californians are thriving

today as they reclaim their Native American sovereign rights, cultural renewal, and well-

being. Culture Bearers are working diligently as advocates and teachers to re-cultivate

Indigenous consciousness and knowledge systems. The Tamalko author offers Indigenous perspectives for hinak towis hennak (to make a good a life) through an ethno-

autobiographical account based on narratives by Culture Bearers from four Indigenous

North Central California Penutian-speaking communities and the author’s personal

experiences. A Tamalko view of finding and speaking truth hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart says) has been the foundational principle of the research method used to illuminate and illustrate Indigenous North Central California consciousness.

Keywords: Tamalko, Indigenous, North Central California, Penutian Language, consciousness, knowledge, re-cultivation.

Dedication

Ka hammako he papʼoyyisko hinnetto.

For my great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers; especially great grandmother

Tamalko Annie Carrillo-Dixon and great grandfather Modoc/Klamath John Dixon. Ka

soli weleetak hinnetto, also for my dream helper, Nelumbo Lutea, (Indigenous North

American Lotus) I dedicate this dissertation. In this dissertation, Nelumbo Lutea honors

and symbolizes ka hammako he papʼoyyisko.

iii

Acknowledgements

This research has been a long spiritual journey. When I felt alone, there was

someone or something that offered support and encouragement along the way.

Wonderful people have emerged during this process. I wish to acknowledge their

meaningful contributions to the Spirit of this manuscript.

Ka ʼinniiko, ka hammako he ka papʼoyyisko ʼope ka Tamalko ʼinniiko, ka molis.

My ancestors, my grandmothers, and grandfathers, also my Tamalko (Coast Miwok) and

Southern Pomo ʼinniiko (relatives), I am grateful. You have been the fuel for this

research. Bicolano Filipino father Vivencio Frivaldo, Tamalko Great Auntie Kay Baguio

and hamma grandmother Felicita Margaret Dixon, your Spirit and memories have blessed

and lived within me to hinak towis hennak (make a good life).

Ka Tamalko ʼunu, my Coast Miwok mother Diane Newman has been a continual fount of love and support since I began this academic journey. Ka molis. You have been

the catalyst for our family’s Tamalko cultural advocacy. We are blooming in

consciousness together with Nelumbo Lutea (Indigenous North American Lotus) once again.

This dissertation research was made possible through perseverance, prayer, and gifts. Ka molis, I am grateful for the education funds awarded towards field research.

Funding made possible by, A.I.C.L.S. Advocates of Indigenous California Language

Survival conference scholarship, the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Education

Scholarship, G.O.N.A. Gathering of Native Americans healing conference scholarship, as

well as Trent University’s Bursary awards, Five Sister’s Award and funding through First

People’s House of Learning.

Without my beloved husband Marcus Hayduk, this journey would not have taken place. Thank you. We forged together through this incredible adventure. I have been honored by the respect you have for Indigenous cultures and your belief in our goals, as

well as your valuable talents and abilities to live and participate indigenously on the land.

I am grateful for Bubu and Auggie, my two little Dachshund hayussa ʼinniiko

(canine family members). During the most severe trials on our journey together, I was

lifted out of confusion many times by your “Coyote” antics and love.

Ka molis for the significant Elders who have been and who have emerged as

friends and supporters during this research. Winnemem Wintu Caleen Sisk and Misa Joo, your friendship and warm welcome into the Winnemem community have enriched my life tremendously. Tamalko Elder Joanne Campbell, without your encouraging support this journey would not have been possible. Anishinaabe Elder Edna Manitowabi, you have been the agent that changed the course of this research. Without your wise and stimulating presence, this would be a very different story.

Significant individuals who have influenced this work in Ontario, Canada are:

Emerence Baker, Georgi Baptiste, Tasha Beeds, Brigitte Evering, Lynne Davis, Mark

Dockstator, William Kingfisher, Don McCaskill, Brenda Maracle-O'Toole, Marrie

Mumford, Liz Osawamick, Karyn Recollet, Tessa Reed, Skahendowaneh Swamp,

Christine Sy, Jill Thompson, Eliza Tru, Celine Vukson, Valarie Waboose, Barbara Wall,

Christine Welter, Doug Williams, Shirley Williams, and the Indigenous Studies students

at Trent University.

I have great respect for my dissertation committee members’ mentorships: Paula

Sherman, Dan Longboat, Richard Applegate, and Supervisor David Newhouse. Paula

thank you for your overall support: the encouragement to learn from Edna Manitowabi,

for inciting the design of this dissertation in honor of Lutea, and for inspiring involvement with the Indigenous Cultures in Peterborough. Dan thank you for the space you made to include me in your food systems course. Richard, thank you for the Tamal

Machchaw teachings, they sustain the presence of the ancestors for the people. David, many thanks for your direction that guided me to honor the dream. It was the affirmation

I needed to do this research.

Tamalko homelands have been the spiritual strength for grounding my mind and

heart, towards articulating this study. They are Tamalpayis Mount Tamalpais, the oceans

of Kanwin Tamal Bodega Bay, Chollooko Russian River, lume limme Redwood forests

mingled with the distinct fragrance of sawlas bay laurel. Your commanding presence

rekindles haunting and almost forgotten memories with clarity. Breathtaking and

majestic Bulyum Pulyuk (Mount Shasta in Winnemem language) and proliferate Lake

Shastina, ka molis. Every morning you have been with me during this journey in Siskiyou

County. I have been humbled and awed by the land’s benevolent grace, wisdom, and

dignity.

Most relevant to this dissertation are the participants who like the land, give the

voice of distinction for Indigenous North Central California. Walli Ka Molis to members

of the Tamalko community: Culture Bearers Jacquelyn Ross, David Carrio and Elder

Joanne Campbell. Culture Bearers: Muwekma Ohlone Vince Medina of the East Bay,

Maidu Konkow Elder Alan Wallace, Paskenta Nomlāqa Cody Pata, Winnemem Wintu

Elder Chief Caleen Sisk, Winnemem Wintu Ricardo Torres and Nomtipon Wintu Elder

Frank LaPena. All participants are advocates and influential for re-cultivating North

Central California Indigenous consciousness.

International students in Canada have limited financial resources to do research.

Within the U.S., I am also considered an international student studying in Canada, with

minimal access to funding. I am grateful for the miraculous events and the generous in-

kind contributions of friends and family who have given their assistance in most

appreciated ways.

Before I mention the list of so many that have been significant to this research, I

must share the gratitude l have for Gloria Cooper, my friend, and editor. Thank you for

the weekend chats, ginger tea and your gentle approach to the task of editing this work.

Also, final editor Barbara Heidenreich, along with Richard Hawkins, owners of Fernhill

Farms, whose support has been tremendous in the final defense process.

Ka molis to: Robert Baguio, Curtis Bigington, Jennifer Bryan, Joanne Campbell,

Ron and Gloria Cooper, Marina Drummer, Geoff Gamble Ph.D., Richard Hawkins,

Frankie Hayduk, Jim Hayduk, Barbara Heidenreich, Conrad Heidenreich Ph.D., Laurette

Hilliard, Aida Hinojosa, Leanne Hinton Ph.D., Lynda Holman, Andrea LaMantia, Ruth

Little, Barbara McPheeters, Anthony and Beverly MacKay, Trish Marshall, Edward

Martinez, David McLaughlin, Kirsten Mollegaard Ph.D., Paul Neele, Nancy Potter, Jim

and Mary Sanders, Cheryl Santiago, Lillian Castillo-Speed, Lenny Strobel PhD, Daniel

Swan PhD., Martin Swann, the Santa Rosa Christian Church Senior Prayer Group, the

Siskiyou Library Archives in Yreka, and the Siskiyou Geneology Society.

Walli Ka Molis, (I am very grateful) Thank you

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………………….. ii

Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………...…… iv

List of Figures ………………………………………………………………….. xii

PURPOSE ………………………………………………………...……………...... … 1

CHAPTER 1 – Intent of Research

Introduction ……...………………………………...…………………………….. 2

Background …………………………………………………………………….. 10

ʼEkette Weyan Hella Chaamati Chewwa: When the World had no Light …..... 13

Positionality ……………………………………………………………………. 22

Sources …………………………………………………………………..……... 30

Kenne Soli: One Dream …………………...………………..…………...……... 33

Methodology ………………………………………………………………….... 39

Design ………………………………………………………………………….. 42

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………..…. 45

SECTION I – Soli: The Dream ……………………………………………………..... 48

CHAPTER 2 – Nelumbo Lutea: Indigenous North American Lotus

An Invasive Species …………………………………………………………..... 49

Soli ʼEchchen Weyatto: Dream within the Seed ……………………..…...…..… 57

Ma Soliiko: Our Dreams ...……………………..…………………...…..…...... 67

Huuke Michchako: First People ……………………………..……….…....…… 71

Conclusion: Nelumbo Lutea and the Dream …………………………………… 77

CHAPTER 3 –Hinti Katu Ma Pichas: How We Know

viii

Protocol ……………………………………………………..………………….. 79

ʼOssa Sut ‘Ute: Two Eyes Seeing ……………………………..……………..… 83

Indigenous Theory…………………………………..………………………….. 91

Ma ʼAkkalaako: Our Stories ………………….……….…………………...... 97

Tootoy ʼAkkalaako: Colonial Stories/History …………………………….…...103

Conclusion: Dormancy ……………………………………………………….. 116

SECTION II - SPIRIT TRAVEL …………………….……………………………… 121

CHAPTER 4 - ‘Ununni ʼUnun Yayyu: Great Mother’s Call

Knowledge This Research Provides …………...……….…………………….. 122

Ceremony and Transformation ………………………………….………...... 129

Ka Weeya Muku: My Ceremonial Pathway (initiation)………..……………… 135

Conclusion: ʼUnunni ʼUnun Yayyu: Great Mother’s Call …….…..…….……. 143

CHAPTER 5 - ʼAlmuti Hennak: Tasting Life

Conducting Research Method/Process ……………………………………….. 152

Emergence: Under the Right Conditions (Lutea)……………………………....160

Genealogy….………………………….………………………………………. 171

Conclusion: ʼAlmuti Hennak: Tasting Life ………………………………..….. 182

SECTION III – MEMORY ………………………………………………………….. 185

CHAPTER 6 - Hinti Weyan ʼOna: What the Land Says

Nation Sovereignty (Regional Overview)…………………………………...... 186

Wintun Penutian Family……………………………………………….….….... 200

Winnemem……………………………………………………………………... 202

Nomlāqa (Nomlaki) …………………………...………………………..…..…. 207

Maidu Penutian Family ………………………………………….…….……… 211

Nisenan ……………………………………………………………………….. 214

Miwok Penutian Family……………….……………………..……………..…. 218

Ohlone Penutian Family …………………..……………….…………….….... 225

Conclusion: Hinti Weyan ʼOna: What the Land Says.….…..…...……..….….. 227

CHAPTER 7 – Kolli,ʼInniikon Kiwa: Leaves, Ancestral Power

Narrative Sovereignty (Visitations) …………………………………….…….. 233

Elder Culture Bearers ……………………………………………….……….... 238

Chief Caleen Sisk 238-245, Frank Lapena 245-251, Joanne Campbell 251-257

Uncle Culture Bearers ………………………………………………………… 257

Alan Wallace 257-261, Ricardo Torres 261-266, David Carrio 266-269

Raconteurs……………………………………………………….…………….. 269

Jacquelyn Ross 270-275, Cody Pata 276-280, Vince Medina 280-284

Conclusion: Kolli,ʼInniikon Kiwa: Leaves, Ancestral Power ……...……….… 284

SECTION IV – IMAGINATION …………………………………………………… 288

CHAPTER 8 - Ma Hullu, Ma Missu: Our Roots, Our Beliefs

Principles - Values …………….…………………………...……………....…. 289

‘Inniikon Wayannako: Our Peoples’ Gifts (Themes from visitations) ..….…... 300

Talas Wuskippaamu: Standing with Respect ..……..………………….…….... 307

Conclusion: Ma Hulluko, Ma Missuko: Our Roots, Our Beliefs ….……….…… 313

CHAPTER 9 - Muyyen Kennetto: All Together/Belonging

When we come together …………………………………………..……..…………… 318

Temneppa: Doctoring/Healing ...…………..…………………………….……………. 324

ʼEnyak ʼOppoy: Long Walk ..……………………...………………………………….. 339

Conclusion: Muyyen Kennetto: All Together/Belonging…………..……....………..... 348

SECTION V – VISION …………………………………………………..…….……. 352

CHAPTER 10 – Conclusion: Pakan Yewen: Fragrance of the Flower .……...... 353

Reclamation …………………………………………………………………………... 360

Principles for Living by Hinti Wuskin ʼOna: What the Heart Says …………..……… 370

BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………………….…. 375

APPENDIX A - Tamal Machchaw Glossary ………………………….……….…… 400

APPENDIX B - Wuki Ma ʼInniikoomu/Fire from our Relatives (Play) .………..… 401

APPENDIX C – REB Research Consent Form Sample …………………………... 410

APPENDIX D – Example: Freedom Garden Spring 2012 newsletter ….…….….. 413

List of Figures

Figure Description Page

1. “Nelumbo Lutea” 1

2. Map of Marin and Sonoma Counties CA 45

3. California Linguistic Groups Map. 46

4. Pre-Contact California community regions 47

5. Nelumbo Lutea Seeds 48

6. Seven Generation Diagram 78

7. California Spanish Missions 1769-1834 119

8. The White Man’s Burden 120

9. Nelumbo Lutea Seedlings 121

10. Frank LaPena and “Mourning of the Tenth Day” 151

11. Nelumbo Lutea Leaves 185

12. Nelumbo Nucifera Rhizome 288

13. Nelumbo Lutea Bloom 352

xii

PURPOSE

CHAPTER 1 – Intent of Research

Introduction

Retracing steps that have grown faint with use . . . Re-establishing faith in our traditions and customs . . . Against the constant thrust of assimilation . . . We must regenerate that love, trust and caring amongst us. Lola Hill1

Indigenous cultural and ethical consciousness is an experience of tremendous

transformation. Despite the impactful consequences of colonial dominance, Indigenous

Elders, and Spiritual Leaders continue to hold a vision for survival with great love for

their people. Their legacy has inspired future generations to continue to transgress the

limitations of slavery, incarceration, and degradation.

The primary goal of living utilized by contemporary Indigenous Visionaries is

founded upon the traditional manner of sustaining relationships as hinak towis hennak “to

make a good life.”2 Hinak towis hennak embraces all of life which sustains relationships,

the pleasant and the painful within the human experience. Respect, responsibility, and

reciprocity are Indigenous cultural and ethical principles that sustain relationships within

the context of hinak towis hennak. Indigenous scholars that make reference to these moral principles are Battiste (1988), Brant-Castellano (2000), Cajete (2000), Couture

(1987,1989,1991), Smith (1999), Weber-Pillwax (2001); and Ross Hoffman (2005) besides many others.

Indigenous peoples have survived tremendous changes by adhering to such

principles. By their commitment to the principles that sustain relationships, Indigenous

1 Quoted in Lena Odjig White, “Medicine Wheel Teachings in Native Language Education.” In From Our Eyes: Learning from Indigenous Peoples. (Toronto: Garamond, 1992), 107-122. 2 In Anishinaabe terminology this is Biimaadiziwin. A traditional principal stressed in the Indigenous Studies Program at Trent. Tewa Greg Cajete refers to this term as having the “highest thought” Native Science, pg. 276. In Tamal Machchawko (Coast Miwok Language) hinak towis hennak, (to make a good life) is to live in a good way and this is accomplished by hinti wuskin ‘ona (What the heart says). 2

people continue the struggle to re-cultivate an ethical life in colonial society. The purpose

of this manuscript is to illustrate from an Indigenous perspective the struggles of

Indigenous North Central California Penutian family groups within the historical colonial

context and their victorious sustainability of relationship building principles that are the inherent attributes of Indigenous consciousness and genius revealed within this research.

After many centuries of colonial domination and suppression, Indigenous North

Central Californians are emerging as visible participants within the landscape of their

homelands. The phenomena of their emergent positions bring the reality to settler society

that Indigenous North Central Californians had been surviving and now thriving, once

hidden in plain sight. For Indigenous North Central Californians, we were always here.

Like many contemporary Indigenous peoples throughout the world, Indigenous

North Central Californians defend and protect their environmental communities and their

spiritual ways of life.3 However, they were not as visible to this position in the most

recent past, especially within the scope of settler periphery. Nonetheless it is clear that

Indigenous North Central Californians never left their lands, but rather were invisible to a

society that wished them invisible.

Living ancestral environmental relatives need all the cooperative help from their

human relatives during this crucial era of their potential eradication by continual colonial

destruction. Indigenous communities are striving to protect and save California’s existing and precious wetland environments, and to protect water sources for all indigenous relatives, human, vegetable, animal, and mineral. Indigenous voices are heard

3 Some examples: Idle No More: Indigenous Uprising Sweeps North America. Yes Magazine. Blog. 9 June 2015. http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/idle-no-more-indigenous-uprising-sweeps-north- america. and International workgroup for Indigenous Affairs. http://www.iwgia.org/. and The Cultural Conservatory website. http://www.nativeland.org/mission.html. 3 regarding fracking in California, so that the remaining precious environment is protected and that the remaining water is drinkable for all the people. Not only does the land have to confront state and national assaults on its resources, but it also is compounded by international corporate aggression.

In Siskiyou County Crystal Geyser, owned by Otsuka Holding Co, a Japanese pharmaceutical conglomerate has interests to bottle the only pure water California has left for her own people. Otsuka wants the water for the Japanese population.

Crystal Geyser is already entrenched in Weed, CA, just 8 miles north of Mt. Shasta, reportedly extracting 1.5 million gallons of water daily. (Bacher)

According to Bacher’s article in the Daily Kos blog, the pristine water takes 50 years to make it from snow and rain on Mount Shasta down through the volcanic aquifer to where the torrents converge as Headwaters in Mount Shasta.

Environmental impacts caused by corporate industrial capitalism in the agricultural, wine, construction, real estate and the high-tech industry have assaulted the

California landscape and indigenous peoples for decades. A contender for constant attention that remains in need of advocacy and protection is Indigenous religious freedom and efforts made to protect religious sites, ancestral remains and artifacts, intellectual properties and a re-cultivating of culture and traditions.

Embedded in Indigenous homeland environments are ancestral bones, myth stories, and culture. Tewa scholar Greg Cajete calls this “spiritual ecology.” 4

A culture’s understanding of relationship encompasses everything, from the spiritual to the physical, including the technologies and tools that develop from the specific mode of thinking and understanding relationships. (Cajete 38)

4 Greg Cajete, Native Science: Natural Laws of Interdependence, (2000) pp. 38. 4

Spiritual Ecology is where everything that consists of Indigenous culture is

spiritually entwined within its endemic environment. Such places and spaces contain meaningful culture and historical relationships that are reverent to the people who belong there. For contemporary Indigenous North Central California people, there is no other place to live. Their histories are within the spiritual power of the land, or what Filipina scholar Leny Strobel says, “Their sacred text is the Land/Earth (15).” Also, Tamalko

David Carrio reminds his ʼinniiko (relatives), “Everything around us is our library.”5

Wintu Frank La Pena aligns his description of spiritual ecology as an Indigenous

analogy similar to quantum physics in his article Wintu Sacred Geography. What the

Wintu call the Olelbis, (the invisible energy and power of the Earth and universe) is

everywhere, constantly in motion. Aleut Elder and Culture Bearer Larry Merculieff

refers to this energy and power as the “Sacred Feminine”, the generating energy and life-

force consciousness of the Earth. An advocate for a balanced gender consciousness,

Merculieff relates this essence of knowledge and power from his recollections of Aleut

practices during traditional hunting and ceremonies. For Merculieff, this power is a living force that one can join in body and spirit. He says the living consciousness comes from . . .

that spiritual source of guidance if you will, that comes from being centered, being present, being connected, being a real human being. (Earth Spirit Council)

In correlation to these descriptions, I prefer to relate the Spirit of the Earth and its essence

of life and nurturing abundance as ʾununnni ʾunu. It is the “wholistic” presence of

ʾununni ʾunu that gives value to all life and living within our human experience.

5 Personal visitation with David Carrio, 2014. 5

Spiritual Ecology was and is an essential and integral part of Indigenous North

Central Californian lifeways. There is no word in Tamal Machchaw (Coast Miwok language) to define Spiritual Ecology, nor are there words to define art or religion, as

such gifts are fundamental to Indigenous lifeways. There was no need to reference such

aspects of the culture, but only to live out their attributes. Therefore, for the benefit of

this research, I have constructed the terminology for Sacred Ecology in Tamal Machchaw

as ʾununni ʼunu (Great mother). ʾUnunni ʼunu best resonates with my understanding of

Her essential qualities as the Spirit that encompasses all of life that belongs to our

mother, the Earth, and to her all-encompassing Spirit that belongs to the rest of the

cosmos.

Indigenous North Central California people who have remained upon their

homelands and are accessible to natural resources hold a belief that they can awaken

ʾununni ʼunu within their lives, particularly when they come together spiritually upon

such spaces. When the people and the preserved lands come together, all the ancestors

are there as well.

When I entered this research, my concerns were on cultural loss and

revitalization. My original research question was “How do we uncover the principles of

our sacred ecology that reclaim hinti wuskin ʼona as a sacred teaching for Indigenous

Northern California peoples? I have since realized that there is no loss of consciousness considered by the majority of North Central Indigenous California people because their

living ancestors are still accessible to them. We are led back to ma hammako he

papʼoyyisko (our grandmothers and grandfathers) as long as we are here and our

homelands are here. Hence, the research question has changed to “How has Indigenous

North Central Californians maintained hinak towis hennak (making a good life) within

the colonial context?”

This research is to honor the Indigenous North Central California wisdom by

upholding the memory of the ancestors, thus supporting Indigenous knowledges and

culture and contributing to the education and respect of Indigenous North Central

California consciousness.

Aboriginal cultural and ethical consciousness is valuable today not only for the

protections of and good relationship building with the environment and withʾununni ʾunu

but also to encourage Indigenous people to caretake this consciousness to hinak towis

hennak (make a good life) for themselves and their settler neighbors. Non-Indigenous

environmentalists and concerned settlers seek spiritual relationships within their lives.

They are also struggling to find their place within the Eurocentric paradigm of historical

disconnect from the natural and spiritual world.6

Non-Indigenous “shamans” have misappropriated Indigenous knowledges and

generous gifts without the adherence to protocol and culture, nor do they sustain the ties of relationship with an Indigenous community or its Elders. In respect to the ancestors, it is imperative that Indigenous people learn, and carry their ancestral histories as they are the consciousness of their grandparents moving with power from the place of origins.

This power emanates the truth through hinti wuskinʼona (what the heart says) towards, hinak towis hennak (making a good like).

For an Indigenous North American in search for a culturally spiritual identity, the

capitalized market of mystical attractions can lead to a road of fantasy and illusions. For

6 Bioneers. http://www.bioneers.org/ and Society for the Study of Shamanism, http://shamanismconference.org/vision.php for just a few. 7

such a seeker, this manuscript offers a balm of support, inspiration and encouragement

along the voyage. Such an Indigenous person seeking hinak towis hennak within the

confines of the colonial paradigm is what Leny Strobel has described as one who looks

“to uncover the indigenous in our souls (31)”. I am such a seeker.

My personal journey in seeking my ancestral heritage was a long and tedious

voyage with very little to work with. My immediate relatives had little knowledge of our

culture and language. I began on a very broad and convoluted road to find where I

belonged. Ultimately it was the quest for my Tamalko culture that existed within a

dominated Pomo Indigenous environment where I did not feel I belonged. For

Tamalko/Southern Pomo ʼinniiko (relative/s) and for any Indigenous identity seeker who

desires to take on such a journey, it is my heartfelt desire to offer some assistance to you

within this research.

With few ʼinniiko who have knowledge about ancestral Tamalko consciousness,

or were courageous enough or wished to share knowledge about cultural awareness, I

reached out towards our traditional Penutian language family neighbors. I have been

learning from outside Indigenous cultures all my life. I began to progress forward in this

research by visiting and building relationships with my ancestral cousins.

There were two camps of Indigenous Culture Bearers and seekers involved in this study. 1. Descendants, several generations removed from the overt Diasporas with no readily available teachings regarding their Indigenous spiritual histories who hold a deep yearning to regain their Indigenous identity towards hinak towis hennak. 2. There are those that have limited resources and fragments of their culture and choose to live with

traditional cultural integrity by upholding principles of hinak towis hennak derived from

their ancestral Indigenous grandparents.

Indigenous seekers influence the Indigenous collective consciousness. As leaders and exemplars, they become Culture Bearers (a cultural knowledge keeper). They are where the Spirits of the ancestors abide, affecting change for hinak towis hennak. I chose to visit Indigenous North Central California Culture Bearers for this research.7

Ka molis. I am grateful that they have shared their stories. Indigenous stories

contain the life spirit of the ancestors, and when retrieved they are returned to the

community, thus re-cultivating Indigenous spiritual attributes of hinak towis hennak.

Indigenous scholar Robert Williams, explains:

Storytelling is the most significant manner in which Indigenous knowledge is communicated. The traditional tales and myths passed down among the people, as well as day-to-day narratives of the things that happen in the life of the tribe, are told to make things happen. Stories are told in tribal life to educate and direct young ones, to maintain the cohesiveness of the group, and to pass on traditional knowledge. (Williams, Jr., 84)

This research is a myth - story that consists of several narratives: 1. My personal ethno-autobiography; 2. Tamalko ʾinniiko (Coast Miwok relatives); 3. North-central

California neighbors of the Tamalko. 4. The spiritual gifts embedded within these narratives. Without these narratives, we would not be able to tell the stories. They are

bound to us like the seeds deeply entrenched within the Nelumbo Lutea Indigenous North

American Lotus seed pod. We belong together.

7 Culture Bearer is the term used in California and is equivalent to the First Nation’s term, Knowledge Keeper. 9

Background

I had no previous knowledge or introduction to Indigenous North Central

California consciousness other than reflections on the culture and what it has meant

personally. No one discusses this aspect of Tamalko culture in my community. In the

past when I was searching for my cultural identity, my Great Auntie Kay would not speak

to me about it. She said it was not respectful protocol to discuss our spiritual and private

inner spiritual concerns. However, it was my Great Auntie Kay who directed me to other

Indigenous ʾinniiko (relatives) who still carried the culture.

Unfortunately, those that held the culture at the time held it with clenched fists.

Many times I would find someone who had the ability to teach me, but there were many

restrictions. I had to give up all other beliefs and only follow the Culture Bearer’s

direction if I wanted to study with him, including taking on the Morman religion. I could

not follow what I felt was an absolute manner of training. However, through the years in

searching, I found fragments along my life’s journey. When I truly was offered

teachings, I did not have to surrender any personal beliefs.

Education has always been important. My Filipino father instilled its attainment

into my consciousness. He did not attend university nor did he have the means to send

me there. However, the support of high school counselors made it possible for me to go

to university after I graduated from high school.

I came from a disadvantaged consciousness and lacked the confidence to enter

academia. Through the support of high school guidance counselor, Mr. Albright, I found my way into the University, and there I began to walk upon the pathway towards self-

knowledge. At the university, I began to discover the background I carried as a human being that intrinsically held its origins within the legacy of my Tamalko ancestors.

I attended University of California Davis (UC Davis) during the cold war era in

the ‘70’s before Native American programs and courses existed there. I qualified for a grant for the first year, yet I was very concerned about sustaining funds for the remaining years. Subsequently, on campus, I joined the Army’s R.O.T.C. Reserve Officers

Training Corps program in re-assurance that tuition would be funded.

At the time, I had a fascination with the Russian culture and registered as a

Russian language major. After I had graduated, I planned to attend intensive Russian linguistic training through the Army’s language camps. At the time, I was ignorant of the history my Tamalko/Southern Pomo ancestors shared with the Russians in Northern

California.

All courses I took through ROTC were about war. In particular, the most prominent subjects required were Roman war strategies. After two classes, I did not return. I was deeply uncomfortable studying the subject of war. Ironically my left eardrum burst, and after three weeks of convalescence, and with Governor Ronald

Reagan cutting the education budget, I left the academy altogether.

War and aggression were not factors in the world of most North Central

Indigenous California communities. Ethnographer Isabel Kelly’s field notes recount

Tamalko Elder Tom Smith as denying any war observed in the history of the Tamalko

community. Kelly says of Smith, “Knows nothing of wars or fights (358).”

Ethnographer James A. Maxwell says of North Central Indigenous Californians, “[They]

were the least warlike of all Indians (262).” Theodora Kroeber and her father Albert

emphasize in Almost Ancestors that the majority of California people, especially in the

North Central regions, knew nothing about war (29). Theodora says of Indigenous

California peoples, “They did not believe in war. When it came, it disrupted the meditated tenors of life in which they believed.” Her father Albert Kroeber emphasizes

her statement by adding, “Their un-warlikeness was the trait that most downgraded them in the White man’s appraisal of Californians.”

The majority of western historical documentation indicates that Native Americans waged war, and it was a way of life, particularly in the North American Plains communities. Hollywood stresses this stereotypical persona as a portrayal of all

Indigenous North American nations. However, the majority of Indigenous communities were not from war societies.8 Also, there were those who transitioned or rather chose to

evolve out of a world of battles and vengeance into a society of peace. The

Haudenosaunee Nation is an excellent example. Documented through Indigenous oral histories approximating the 10th century, the Haudenosaunee put down their weapons of

war and made a commitment to a society of peace.9 Before Euro contact, many

Indigenous peoples were living in peace for centuries. A Peace consciousness

emphasizes a hinak towis hennak (to make a good life) world view.

My ancestors did not understand within their consciousness the components or the

need for war. This consciousness gave me the impetus to discover ka ʼinniiko (my

relatives) through a spiritual direction within myself and within the Tamalko culture. A

8 Plains society is the most recent chapter of the history on Indigenous North Americans, yet documented histories primarily focus on the Plains communities. For further investigation, research Pueblos, Hopi, Diné, Eastern Woodland communities such as. Potawatami, Creek, Chocktaw, Tewa for further education on egalitarian societies. 9 Tom Porter. And Grandma Said … Iroquois Teaching: as passed down through the oral Tradition. USA: Xlibris Corporation, 2008. 272-289. Porter tells the story of Hiawatha and the Peace Maker. 12

spiritually focused component directed me to the foundations of Indigenous

consciousness as an inner discovery, and with its participation, I found my truth and that

of ka ʼinniiko (my ancestors) as hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart says).

Through the direction of ka wuski (my heart), ka papʼoyyisko he ka hammako (my grandparents) have led me back to university in my later years to regain the pathway towards a fuller capacity of Indigenous knowledge and consciousness.

ʼEkette Weyan Hella Chaamati Chewwa: When the World had no Light

My personal journey towards indigeneity and consciousness was in darkness,

though I was not alone. Many Indigenous Californians were seeking a belonging. In the early days of our travels, we could not see each other. Our lives and our world were

shrouded with a depth of obscurity. Nevertheless, the ancestors were the truth living in

our hearts constantly speaking to us. The Earth, and her landscape, however drastically

changed by colonial manipulation though unrecognizable, still exists. I have learned no

matter how different the environment seems, as long as the Earth exists and the sun rises,

and the waters flow upon it, hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart says) will be in resonance with ʼununni ʼunu. I have learned it has been listening to hinti wuskin ʼona that our

Indigenous reality though submerged within the dominant colonial paradigm, has guided

us.

The majority of Elders would not leave their homelands. They knew their

ancestors remained on their homelands lands even if death was the outcome. By the examples displayed by their grandparents, who also endured the darkness of submergence, they remain. The generations living through early colonization knew who they were and where they belonged, but they also knew that if they revealed their

identities even to their children, their lives could be lost. Such actions eventually

perpetuated shame and invisibility. Subsequently, generations following became further

submerged in complete indigenous obscurity until a time when those within the

community decided to seek their ancestral consciousness.

Travels in my life took me to unfamiliar Indigenous cultures. I participated in various Indigenous communities and heard creation myth stories of their origins. Many

Indigenous narratives illustrate the beauty of a vibrant world surrounded by abundance

and celebration.

There is a scarcity of creation myth stories remembered of Tamalko. The closest

myth stories I became acquainted were the Pomo within my community. Tamalko have

very few documents about themselves and do not possess ancient artifacts regarding

ancestral intellectual properties. However, I am grateful for the efforts of amateur

ethnographer Hart C. Merriam, who independently funded his investigations on the

Miwok people of California. He documented his collected Miwok narratives in The Dawn

of the Word: Myths and Tales of the Miwok Indians of California.

Within Merriam’s collection are several Tamalko myth stories. All creation

stories that are unique to Tamalko illustrate a world of darkness. Two significant myth

stories, How Hummingbird steals fire, and Sun Girl focus on the darkness of the world.

The darkness the people were living through was either because there was no warmth in

their world and the need for fire; or there was no light, where the people sought out Sun

Girl. Both stories depict that the ancestors, one in particular ʼoyyin oyye (old man

Coyote) played a significant role in obtaining fire and light for the people. I will

elaborate further on these myth stories in Chapter 3 and 6.

I find that not only the fire for warmth and light for sight is necessary for survival,

but metaphorically speaking; both fire and light also bring consciousness to strengthen

Indigenous identity. I wonder why these two stories that are particular to Tamalko are the

only creationist myth stories that exist from the ancient past. Did the ancestors continue to bear the messages of the culture through the surviving stories to remind us that we will continue through the darkness? I believe through hinti wuskin ʼona and seeking hinak towis hennak that we have.

European contact brought an evolutionary transformation that affected Indigenous

people throughout the globe. The world continues to process through an evolutionary

transformation brought on by colonization, yet it does not need to be a descent into a deeper disparaging future. I believe change must come from Indigenous communities and their consciousness because hinak towis hennak (making a good life) is an inherent ancestral lifeway, and many have been conscious of hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart

says) as truth.

The indigenous consciousness that upholds the components of hinti wuskin ʼona and hinak towis hennak has been an incomprehensible reality for settler consciousness. I

make this assumption because in my experience as an educator, Indigenous histories are not included in the larger historical context of/for the dominant population. Settler population is descended from European settlers who have inherited ancestral legacies of colonial ideologies, and foreign immigrants quickly appropriate colonial ideologies.

Even though Indigenous North Central California peoples have been living

through a consciousness of darkness for the last several hundred years, they have been

conscious of their condition. In comparison to the majority of settler society, they have little consciousness that they have been living in darkness since the European Dark ages.

Western history is the construction of a philosophical Euro-Mediterranean context

originating from ancient Greece with some references to Egyptian history. Furthermore,

contemporary historical scholarship comprehends ancient Indigenous histories through a

Greek contextual framework compounded by Alexander III of Macedon, who drove

world domination.10

The Western doctrine has been constructed through an ancient Greek paradigm;

where privileged and powerful men have the leisure to fantasize and construct their

theories into laws and ethics. They have the abilities to control and impose political strategies upon a marginalized, disadvantaged and many times impoverished and

automatically enslaved populace

Indigenous philosophers Vine Deloria Jr. (1997), Anne Waters (2004) and

Kwame Anthony Appiah (1993) confront revered Greek philosophers Socrates, Plato,

and Aristotle, who are considered the key players in establishing a superior, separatist and

dualist western paradigm. For Deloria, Greek philosophers induced western morality and ethics through their efforts to bring order into the world, with its overall management

established through Christianity (1997:107). Waters further illustrates Greek binary

separatism that stresses patriarchal superiority through western morality in Language

Matters: Nondiscrete nonbinary dualism.11 Moreover, Appiah asks, “If there is white

philosophy, why not also Black philosophy (92)?”

10 Herodotus’ Histories and Decree of Ptolemy Lagides appropriated Egyptian mythologies. 11 Further expressed in Chapter 3 illustrating the value of Indigenous consciousness. 16

Indigenous philosophy is older than time. It is complete and whole, supporting hinak towis hennak (to make a good life) that builds reciprocating relationships with the

Earth. Indigenous philosophy is not comparable to the more recent western philosophies

because Indigenous philosophy is a living consciousness. Indigenous ideology exists not

for the sake of knowledge but to be experienced as a lifeway, for the benefit of hinak

towis hennak so that all life may continue.

Within traditional Indigenous societies, the epistemological consensus is not derived from men and reason alone, though not devoid of utilizing the highest of mental faculties. Women were invisible in ancient Greece; contrarily within Indigenous North

American communities there is a definite female presence. Men and women within

Indigenous communities hold roles that define their responsibilities towards maintaining

balanced relationships that respect all of life, referred to as “family” and its extended

family termed “all relations.”

Through an interview with Buset and Polizzi, Lakota Russell and Pearl Means

explained Indigenous intelligence within gender roles.12 Pearl said that women have an inherent ability to nurture, and it is their responsibility towards nurturing the wellness of the children and to also recognize that men need nurturing. The first few years of a young male’s life is to be with his mother, aunties and grandmother to learn to nurture and love before becoming a man.

Russell adds that this inherent nature of women is an unseen power that

Indigenous people respect. They understand this through the knowledge that women

12 Shannon Kring Buset and Nick Polizzi. Film: Russell Means Final Interview-The Sacred Feminine and Gender Roles, with the Sacred Science, LLC and Wild Heart Vision Dec. 2 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFt6XRyQhD8 17

naturally go through a purification process led by the moon (menstruation), whereas men

learn about the purification process in the yuwipi (Lakota term for sweat lodge).

If you don’t know how to nurture, then you are going to be afraid. The patriarchy,[the colonial consciousness] is out of balance; they do not know their women and when you are out of balance what you are afraid of you will want to destroy. –Russell Means (Buset)

From an Indigenous perspective, men and women are connected in consciousness to life’s force which governs their lives and holds their independent roles in balance. Like members of the dominant society formulated by Plato’s Republic, roles and positions are based on each person’s abilities. Unlike The Republic, Indigenous people of the past did

not compete but rather considered each other as equals.

Plato’s initial concepts of The Republic were similar to Indigenous ways of

educating. Aboriginal Elders observe children without any interference, thus enabling

children to evolve naturally into purposeful roles to support their communities.

Anishinaabe Leanne Simpson explains this Indigenous manner of education.

Non-interference encourages children to have control over their lives to make decisions. The role of the parent is to love, guide and support, not to control. We allow children to make mistakes, supporting them in finding solutions to their problems. (2011: 133).

For many of the Euro-centric countries today who are playing or have played

climactic imperial roles in history, it was Roman domination for almost 500 years that

has induced the colonial paradigm into their consciousness. Excellent examples of this

perspective are those of the U.S. and Great Britain. Before the Roman occupation, from

approximately AD 43 to AD 410, the British were a spiritually governing, agrarian and

peaceable Indigenous people.13 By the time the Roman Empire declined, the British

were transformed into a Eurocentric society and continued the momentum of bloodshed

and war throughout the Dark Ages.

After 500 years, the waning Roman Empire fell into the Dark Ages during the 5th

to the 15th century. During the 1000 years of dark times, the European world had no

foundation. For the majority of the population, European reality consisted of constant

war, brutality, servitude and deadly disease. For more than 1000 years, there was nothing the people could depend on in their world.

The formation of Christianity at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D was induced by neo-Platonic ideologies and was an onset of the Dark Ages.14 Christianity proselytized

that death could open the door to a perfect spiritual world of liberation from Earthly

misery. Therefore, Christianity was a vehicle of salvation for the European collective consciousness.

A similar compact of salvation came from what my Filipino ancestors

experienced during WWII when U.S. General Macarthur arrived on the Philippine shores

liberating the Filipinos from Japanese oppression. The Filipinos adopted anything

obtainable from the U.S. as well as embraced colonization at the time.15

For the typical European Mediaeval family, Christianity with its facade of eternal beauty and peace was far more attractive than the onset of daily inescapable oppression and subjugation. Because of this circumstance, I believe westerners are the product of

13 Dr. Francis Pryor, Britain BC. Diverse Productions, 2003. Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qZo0_YaBhc 14 Leo Donald Davis, the First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787): Their History and Theology (Theology and Life Series 21) Roman Emperor Constantine I’s organization of the Christian Doctrine and its observances. 15 There is a National Filipino emergence towards their Indigenous Spiritual Babaylan heritage within the contemporary context. See Leny Mendoza Strobel. Babaylan: Filipinos and the Call of the Indigenous. 19

what has been the consequence of domination and control for thousands of years that

evolved into a reactionary fear based fight or flight consciousness.

As a premise for more control, European Continental philosophies became the

modern ideologists of the 16th century’s Age of Enlightenment. Rational scientific consciousness replaced the Church’s power. Science was founded again by privileged and powerful men who executed examinations upon nature to discover her secrets.

Sir Francis Bacon, an example of the early scientific entourage, famously

proclaimed “knowledge is power”.16 According to Kolak, Bacon’s philosophy was to:

[E]ndow the condition of life and man with new powers of works [and to] extend more widely the limits of power and greatness of man. (Kolack, 98)

From this premise, technologies were developed to control entities of nature as

well as the disadvantaged populace and indigenous people. Technological warfare

extended the limits of European territories to forcibly extract natural resources from an

over populated, over consumed and already polluted and diseased Europe. Those with

industrial power were equipped to battle victoriously against their neighbors. Thus, a

competitive pursuit was globally propelled amongst Europe’s ruling nations to enslave and colonize Indigenous peoples and their homelands. “Manifest Destiny” is the

Christian based slogan for the sovereign right to conquer “uncivilized” land and peoples.

Lakota Floyd Redcrow Westerman defines Manifest Destiny, “That the taking of the land was not only justified but ordained by God”. 17

The ancestors of European North Americans fled their diseased and deteriorating

environment to very vibrant fecund lands upheld by sustainable ancient Indigenous

16 Solomon and Higgins, A Short History of Philosophy, New York: Oxford Press, 1996. 166. 17 Westerman, Native American Holocaust. Film. 2006. 20

societies. Settlers brought with them their ideologies of illness and arrogant superiority.

For hundreds of years, Indigenous people had to endure the darkness facilitated by the

descendants of Europe’s depressed legacy.

Indigenous philosophy is not easy to explain nor can it be contained because it is

about life, living and growing. There have been attempts to convey Indigenous culture

and ideologies through the traditional institutional process of utilizing historical

documentation and scientific theory, only to touch upon a superficial aspect of what it is.

With such methodologies, what is accomplished is the confinement of Indigenous

distinction as labeled artifacts within time. Anishinaabe Dale Turner addresses

Indigenous philosophy:

[S]pirituality is central to indigenous philosophical thinking, which European cultures cannot and will not respect on its own terms . . . As Indigenous people many of us believe we can explain our understandings of the ‘spiritual’ and the dominant culture may someday ‘get it.' But history has shown us that at least at this time in the relationship, we must keep to ourselves our sacred knowledge as we articulate it and understand it from within our own cultures, for it is this knowledge that defines us as Indigenous peoples. (Turner, 110)

I agree with Dale Turner. However, I choose a course of applying Indigenous knowledge systems as a method for this research exploration. Therefore, instead of articulating Indigenous spiritual knowledge, I articulate an Indigenous manner of approaching knowledge. Many aspects of Indigenous knowledge systems vary from nation to nation, each of our people offer unique perspectives as varied as the views held by non-Indigenous scholars and individuals. I offer my Indigenous voice and thus contribute to knowledge that embraces the wholistic view of Indigenous intelligence. As

Muskego-Cree scholar, Jacqueline Hookimaw-Witt says,

My goal as a graduate student is naturally to contribute to academic knowledge, yet I do not want to contribute as a white but as a Native person … After all, I will

contribute to knowledge by bringing a different point of view into the academic community. (7-8)

It is through an Indigenous philosophy that Indigenous people are making their way through the multilayered labyrinth of historical lies, religious smoke screens and back from the total separation of their homelands that has fragmented their lives. Such maneuvering has been in their histories since contact. By embodying aspects of their cultures’ spiritual philosophy, they will reach back towards the ancestors.

A metaphor that I find very succinct to this process is one that Darryl Babe

Wilson, a member of the California Pit River tribe illustrated in Jema-Halo-Ti-Wi-Ji.

The intrusion of the white people just 500 years ago (whose guide was and remains 'arrogance') and the disrupting of this balanced system caused an injury to the natives of this land comparable to the breaking of a mirror. One might piece it all together again, but it will never be the same. It would take a miracle to make it whole once more. (Wilson, 498)

Perhaps our cultures will never be the same again as Wilson portends.

Nonetheless, when we work to increase an awareness of Indigenous consciousness through valuing and inspiring Indigenous knowledge systems derived from our grandparents, we can reawaken to the miracle of a new Indigenous paradigm. Indian people must piece back the mirror of Indigenous consciousness. When we do so, with the map of our ancestors and Culture Bearers, we can regain a balanced Earth walk towards perpetual healing and a celebration out of the darkness and into the light of hinak towis hennak

Positionality

“Diveena,” was a name created by my father. He said he combined his name

Vivencio with my mother’s name Diane (who was referred by Anna after her grandmother). Italian friends say my name means “the Divine One.” For Indigenous

people, a name is very significant, and perhaps my name has been a contributing force in

seeking Spirit and its meaning in my life.

I am a member of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. Our traditional

territories occupy San Francisco Bay north of the Golden Gate Bridge, in the Marin and

Sonoma Counties, to the borders of the Northern Russian River outlet into Bodega Bay

and Sonoma Valley east. (See Figure 2 pg. 45) We are emerging from an invisible past.

However, it is understandable that living through the struggles of survival we forget to

remind ourselves of our powerful Indigenous legacy. Hence, this research is a reflection

of just one of the multitudes of shards broken from the mirror as a contribution to our

beautiful consciousness.

Although I may discuss Indigenous North Central California epistemological and

philosophical aspects of consciousness, I do not represent in any way the nations I

address. I carry no titles nor am I entrusted to speak directly for them. I am a

representative of an Indigenous North Central California woman whose heritage has been

impacted by the miscegenation of newcomer minorities and non-Indigenous settlers.

There is a population of bi-racial Anglo members in our community who can very well

be mistaken as white. 18 Also, within many Indigenous communities, there are

Indigenous academics who claim Indigenous lineage from an esteemed “medicine” person or chief.19

18 I choose to use the word community/ies instead of tribe/s. I do understand it is permitted to do so as many Indian people refer to their people as a tribe in the U.S. In Canada such a word is not used, nor anywhere else I lived outside the U.S. continent. I personally feel the word tribe/al relates to a descriptive the whites referred to Indigenous groups as ‘savages’. It is not an Indigenous word and will not be used in this manuscript. 19 Within California Indigenous communities, the term “medicine” or “shaman” was never used. There is a term “doctoring” for healing in Indigenous California. Healing herbs were not described as medicines, but were called their plant names. I utilize the word “medicine” because it has been taken as colloquial 23

I do not look white. I have no choice of being anything other than an Indigenous

woman. Like the majority of contemporary Indigenous people, I do not claim I am a

descendent of a medicine Elder or from a line of socially recognized leaders of any sort.

I advocate a perspective of the majority of Indigenous peoples, who are from North

Central California communities. Our communities did not hold chiefs or “medicine” people in high esteem but rather looked for guidance from our family Elders. All

community members have potential and opportunity for spiritual abilities and

consciousness. Our family Elders are our leaders and healers. I am a mixed blood and identified Indigenous California woman who is culturally conscious through ceremonial singing and language study, and who honors and knows who my living and spiritual ancestors are. I believe it is through the consciousness of ʼununni ʼunu and hinak towis

hennak that our connections will remain.

As an Indigenous Californian, I have experienced a legacy of foreign imported

ideologies that have taken residence in Tamalko homelands. One that has the strongest

niche has been the “new thought”, “new age ideology”. These new theories seem to be a contemporary resurgence of Neo-Platonic/Christianism based on Plato’s Phaedrus.

Phaedrus’ premise proposes that nothing of this world is real or true. In Phaedrus, Plato proselytizes that all matter in the world is an illusion, and what is real is the unseen spiritual world that exists elsewhere and is perfect and divine.20 From an Indigenous perspective, all life is real, not just the unseen.

terminology adopted by many Indigenous communities after contact in North America. In addition, California Indians did not have “chiefs” but headmen who were to support family groups. 20 Reginald E. Allen. Greek Philosophy Thales to Aristotle. 24

Along the journey in search of my identity as a Tamalko Indigenous woman, I

was actively involved in New Age gatherings and, for the most part, I felt welcomed.

Sadly no one, not even within the communities of the thousands of out of state North

American Indians who relocated to California, made a reference to California Indian

ancestors in the gatherings I attended. 21 The events were lead by non-Indigenous or foreign Indigenous declared priests/medicine people, who were ignorant of Indigenous protocol and the respectful recognition of California ancestors. I have been instructed by

Elders and mentors that when venturing away from homelands, traditional spiritual practices are private unless you are invited by the territorial community to share. In other words, as a visitor, the visited community’s practices are dominant, and are respectfully honored. However, participation is by invitation only.

Eurocentric “shamans” profess to have lived and traveled with esteemed

Indigenous medicine people and were given spiritual gifts. What is disrespectful to many

Indigenous peoples is that there is a disregard to the inclusion, honoring,

acknowledgment, and citation (speaking the name) of the Indigenous Culture Bearer. By

acknowledging and identifying mentors, their spiritual energy, and power of the

teaching/gift is transmitted directly to the present moment and the gathering as a blessing.

An excellent example of this procedure is the ceremonial protocol of the Haudenosaunee

21 Approximately 750,000 Native Americans migrated to major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit as a Federal attempt to extinguish reservations between 1950 and 1980. See the Relocation Act 1956. Public Law 959. Colin G. Calloway pages 451-452. In 1900 an estimate of 16,000 CA Indians existed. Today California is one of the highest Indian populated states at 600,000 estimated in 2006 U.S. Census. “Assimilation, Relocation, Genocide”. Indian Diaries. According to Dan Walters “California has the nation's largest Native American population”. Tribal groups from Mexico, at 45,933, followed by Cherokees at 20,969. 126,425 Californians identified themselves as “Native Americans” in the 2010 census without designating a tribal affiliation. There is no mention of Indigenous Californian communities, leaving California’s original peoples ambiguous, and unidentified. 25

Thanksgiving Address where all creation is acknowledged.22 David Newhouse states that the Thanksgiving Address is Haudenosaunee diplomacy:

[It] reminds us of the nature of the universe, its structure and functioning, the roles and responsibilities of all aspects of it, and creates an attitude of humility and gratitude. (184)

The recitation of this address (which can take days) has been passed down for thousands of years. Within North Central Indigenous California, this address is not as elaborate. There is an acknowledgment to the land, relatives (all peoples in the environment) Elders, and all outstanding mentors and those within the ceremony as traditional protocol at gatherings. Children know their ʾinniiko(relatives) to acknowledge the connections to their ancestors and to where they belong. If one has been given teachings, then they have been part of that mentor’s lineage and family, and it is respectful to honor them.

Behind every spiritual Culture Bearer stand all the people of her/his knowledge/ancestry. The traditional protocol is to honor the teachers in gratitude by recognition. A traditional practitioner knows that original Culture Bearers, (whether living or in the spirit world) is always acknowledged. It is also a responsibility out of respect to give this information to others who may wish to make reference to their lineage as well.

Western study of consciousness does not pertain to or benefit the Indigenous, yet findings derived from Indigenous knowledge have been appropriated into the context of the West. I believe through the disrespectful practices initiated by the early academic community, modern secular, sectarian, New Thought, and New Age literary sources have

22 Jake Thomas. Gayanashagowa: The Great Binding Law. 26

overtly expounded irreverent attitudes regarding Indigenous intellectual properties.

When academic citation ethics are respectfully practiced within Western and Indigenous

knowledge exchange towards respectful relationships as protocol, exploitation of

Indigenous intellectual property will end, and respect for Indigenous life ways and its

people will begin.

My return to the academy in my later years was directed by hinti wuskinʼona. I also had the experience and maturity of my indigeneity to advocate my ancestors. The walk amongst the darkness of colonization tempered my understanding as to what it means to be a warrior. Even though my Tamalko ancestors did not have the consciousness of war and aggression, my Bicolano Filipino ancestors were noted as the most prominent Filipino warriors in Luzon. My father carried on that legacy as a freedom fighter in WWII. His story gave me insights into cultural advocacy.

Studies in Philosophy and Women’s Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi

educated me on the cultural issues of the Kānaka Maoli (Indigenous Hawaiʻians). I was

fortunate to be living in Hawaiʻi during an extensive statewide recovery of Hawaiʻian

culture. Today the Hawaiʻian language is the second language in the State. While living

in Hawaiʻi, I began the journey towards Tamal Machchaw (Coast Miwok Language)

recovery.

In Montana, I was fortunate to be a part of teaching Indigenous history at

Montana State University as part of the Montana’s state ordinance implementation of the

Indian Education for All Act (MCA 20-1-501making it mandatory for Indigenous

histories and cultures taught within the education system from Kindergarten through

undergraduate studies. Its purpose was to bring the non-Indigenous and Indigenous

cultures together. The state of Montana houses the most Native American reservations in

all of United States within a given territory.

Teaching Native American Studies in Montana was a pioneering experience

teaching many non-Indigenous people about an ethical history they did have a desire to

know. However, at the end of each semester, many students were grateful to have been

exposed to Native American History.

As a Ph.D. candidate in Indigenous Studies, I am committed to advocating

Indigenous consciousness and myth stories. I have chosen to investigate Indigenous consciousness, and the way I chose to do so is by honoring and validating Indigenous

North Central California Culture Bearers and Indigenous cultural knowledge systems for the broader contextual framework of the academy within its documentation, and for promoting Indigenous ways of being that reflect hinak towis hennak, as truth. It is also to

reinforce the concerns that Indigenous people have regarding intellectual properties and to begin to openly address and begin to confront this issue so that protocols that respect

Indigenous properties can be practiced.

Sustaining relationships are the foundations of Indigenous consciousness.

Unfortunately, like many Indigenous peoples, I come from broken lineages. I have

inherited a legacy of several generations of motherless ancestry. Fortunately, I have a

relationship with my mother, but she, my father, and my grandmother did not have that

privilege. Both my parents were orphaned at the age of eight.

My father’s Filipino ancestors were colonized by the Spanish approximately the

same time the Tamalko were contacted by Sir Francis Drake in the 1500’s. Both have hundreds of years of colonial memory in their DNA.

My father, Vivencio, joined the U.S. military in WWII. He said that when the

U.S. military landed upon Philippine shores, the American Navy recruited Filipinos who

would enlist to fight the war against the Japanese. Prior, Vivencio was a guerilla

Freedom Fighter during the Japanese invasion and witnessed the torture and murder of both of his brothers. Sadly, at most Filipino gatherings where people from his homeland province, Sorsogon, attended, they referred to him as the “orphan”. Vivencio enlisted and retired from the U.S. military service, indebted to America as his home, for most of his life.

After my parents had married, and with my father in the U.S. Airforce, they traveled a comprehensive world map. My siblings and I lived in countries two to three years at a time, always far from our Indigenous homelands. Vivencio returned to

Sorsogon Philippines five years before he died, leaving a rice mill for his homeland village Santa Magdalena as his legacy and reciprocity to his country and relatives.

Similarly, I have returned to my mother’s Tamalko lands after fifteen years. My mother

returned to Tamalko lands after ten years of absence. An inheritance of intergenerational

trauma is not extraordinary within Indigenous communities.

This research journey has given me the opportunity to dive deeply into the ancestral history of my Indigenous ancestors and to uncover ʾinniiko (family) connections that were unknown to me in my past. This research has been a platform to utilize the knowledge I have gained and to reciprocate it to my family and community who are gaining pride in rediscovering their heritage. This research also features the valuable

North Central Indigenous Culture Bearers who have been uniquely playing significant roles in re-cultivating Indigenous North Central California consciousness.

Sources

Since the dawn of Western traditional philosophy and psychology, there have

been a plethora of literary resources on dream topics and the subconscious.

Contemporary literature on the subject has been through the contributions of Swiss

psychotherapist Carl Jung. Jung focused his examinations on the appropriation of

Oriental and Asian ideologies and their religious and spiritual process of enlightenment.23

As I carry Asian genetics from my father’s South East Asian heritage, I studied Eastern

Philosophy and academically researched religious studies for an undergraduate degree in

Philosophy.

From a North American Indigenous perspective, the Oriental enlightenment process follows one road. Primarily it is a road in a strong direction away from the Earth,

out of the body and into a spiritual universe to join with the Supreme Being or a Divine

state of consciousness. This universe is devoid of the material world and all its

semblances of joy and pain. Whereas through Western Greek theological ideology, the

soul merges after transition into a blissful state within an eternal world of perfection.

Eastern aesthetic, religious practice regards living on Earth as an experience that is endured, and the best way to suffer through life on Earth is to refrain from indulgences that would harm other life and to embody peace and tranquility as a personal objective.

Such methods initiate order and practices to avoid the accumulation of Karma which would cause the practitioner to return to this world of established and undesirable

23 J.J. Clark, Jung and Eastern thought: a dialogue with the Orient. 30 dichotomies.24 Western world religions, Christianity, Muslim and Judaism, hold similar concepts.

For all known religious practices, there is an element of dogma placed upon the practitioner that assures s/he will stay faithful to its order. If deviated from such practices, it is taught that some undesirable situation will accost the soul once death occurs. Furthermore, there is a certain belief that this world is not the ideal place to be.

Ironically such ideology has developed doctrines that are: to have little to do with the

Earth, or to do whatever one wants to it. Ironically, a principle foundation of religious doctrine dictates that the Earth established creation. However, there is a total disregard in such doctrines of the Earth’s spiritual qualities that are the components and agents of the

Earth’s wondrous creations that have been sustaining factors to human existence.

My ideology stems from an Indigenous heritage that honors pathways that travel to the mystical unknown as well as within the home of beloved ʾununni ʾunu. Cree scholar, Willie Ermine clarifies this,

Only by understanding the physical world can we understand the intricacies of the inner space. Conversely, it is only through journeys into the metaphysical that we can fully understand the natural world. Those old ones who made countless journies into the inner space have embedded these principles in Aboriginal education systems so that future generations can continue the research. (107)

Indigenous myths help us understand the process of inner journeying. They are mysteries and facts regarding our environments and universe in totality. They are also gifts for reactivating ancestral consciousness when recounted. Hence, this dissertation is to honor the passages of the ancestors, as their stories are our histories and knowledges.

24 The definition of Karma from Koller’s The Indian Way, is Action: the principle of the interconnection of all actions and their effects. Regarding Jainism, the contaminating “matter” that binds to suffering. Page 371. 31

Primary sources I have utilized are from North Central California cultural recollections offered to this research by Indigenous Culture Bearers and influential

advocates. Also included are myths and mystical theoretical discourse, a wholistic

approach to Indigenous consciousness through traditional narratives, and contributions by

Indigenous scholars and authors.

Additionally resourced are ethnological elements from the limited resources available that pertain to Indigenous North Central Californians and Tamalko ancestors.

There are a few documents that support North Central California Indigenous intellectual

deliberations and hypothesis. I have accessed the Siskiyou County, Yreka Native

American research records, which houses ethnographic interpretations on anthropological

and archeological information regarding Indigenous spiritual practices and observances.

There is limited scholarship, other than very recent contemporary publications such as

Native California published by Heyday Books, which have a concern or interest

regarding Indigenous Californians as intelligent human beings, and their unique

perspectives of how they feel, think and understand the universe as conscious people.25

However, this is changing within the contemporary academy as more Indigenous scholars contribute to conceptualizing this aspect of research. Indigenous Studies scholar,

Chadwick Allen addresses this in Blood Narrative.

American Indian writers and activists employ to represent the recovery of self, place, voice, and community – specifically, to represent the re-articulation of individuals as indigenous and indigenous nations as sovereign. (161)

I am grateful to be a part of this transformation, ka molis.

25 An example of this is Robert Heizer’s The Natural World of the California Indians, his co author is a biologist and looks upon Indigenous California as species which sharply contrasts’ Heizer’s awareness of Indigenous epistemologies. 32

Kenne Soli: One Dream

Roman Catholicism was the religion practised in my family. The Spanish

baptized both Tamalko and Filipino ancestors into the Church. My nuclear family lived as Spanish-Mexican/Filipino. No one would have suspected we were Indians. It was very confusing because both parents spoke Spanish fluently, yet held onto their broken indigeneity. Vivencio spoke broken English for 30 years while living in the U.S. My mother, Diane, related to the Mexican heritage, yet said we were Indian. She was a devout Catholic, and active in the church as an Altar lady and Catechism teacher. She also facilitated rosaries in our home every Saturday night. In the confusion, I would ask her questions about spirituality and the origins of the universe that would exasperate her.

Years later when I was facilitating a youth group in a Catholic Parrish, I confronted a priest. I grappled with questions like: “How is it possible that God can be all balled up in only one man?” Alternatively, I would ask, “Why is it that the Church does not recognize other peoples’ beliefs?” Moreover, “Why does everybody in the family have to believe the same”? The priest’s answers were “it is about faith”.

From there, a deliberate spiritual journey began which introduced New Thought,

New Age, and the Goddess movements that are prolific in California. Emotionally generous white people were welcoming in the beginning. Later, I thought I encountered a “guru,” a non-Indigenous proselytizer, enamored with Native American spirituality. He spoke about Lakotas and Hopis. When I mentioned I was a California Indian, he said, “I never heard anything about your people.” Nor did he ask about them. I felt unworthy of identifying as a Native American because no one believed there were Indigenous

California people. I was not considered a “real” Indian. An Indian that most people

knew, the Indians that Hollywood and fiction writers romanticized. I did not exist. That

was the catalyst that prompted the search for my ancestors so that I and my ʾinniiko

would not be invisible any longer.

When Culture Bearers are silenced, and the land is covered by concrete and asphalt, and authoritative teachings have no relationship to the environment, the disconnect can be very severe. I do not believe it will be lost forever, because Indigenous

seekers, like their salmon relatives, will continue to search for a direction, and will

eventually find the way back home. Moreover, the land, the ocean, the lakes and rivers

whom we are related, are still here singing and calling to us.

During early fall 2015 classes, Maidu/Navajo Chiitaanibah Johnson, an

Indigenous North Central Calfornia sophomore attending California State University

Sacremento, was expelled from her American history class. She disagreed with non-

Indigenous professor Maury Wiseman who said: “I don’t like to use the word genocide

because it implies that [the decimation of American Indians] was on purpose, and most

natives were wiped out by unintentional European diseases (Dominguez).”

University President Robert Nelsen met with Chiitaanibah and her parents and

informed them that Chiitaanibah was not expelled, but that his hands were tied regarding

Wiseman. Nonetheless, the incident prompted the University to add a minor course on

genocide to the Ethnic Studies department with the employment of an Indigenous professor to teach the course.

Johnson believes the new genocide course should be taught in the History

department, not in Ethnic Studies. In the Sacramento Bee article, Sac State President :

Neither Side at Fault by Stephan Magagnini, Chiitaanibah states:

It’s really frustrating when they keep pushing us off on ethnic studies to marginalize us from the mainstream. It’s like cowboys and Indians modern style. Instead of us getting scalped and killed, and enslaved, we’re in a classroom, and we’re fighting for the truth. (Magagnini)

When unethical history buries the truth, and the knowledge and memories of the ancestors are erased, there is a frustration for Indigenous people. I speak for myself. I believe the frustration about my Indigenous identity was because while living in my homelands, my emotions were constantly churning within me. My heart knew the ancestors were always there, but my senses were numb to their Spirit and voices. My heart ached for what it knew. Through all the lies and betrayals, the heartache and believing in hinak towis hennak have not let me rest. I have continued to search.

In the beginning, when I discovered hidden fragments of Tamalko histories, I became highly sensitized. Through physical and emotional responses, I gained full cognition that I had embodied my ancestors’ trauma. For many months, I could not shake the emotionally charged reactions from my body. A most important realization that came out of the experience was that I know I belong to my relatives, and they live with me.

A deep memory took hold of my life which has been referred by Indigenous scholars and traditionalists as “ancestral memory” or “blood memory”. Ethnographer and ally, Chadwick Allen reiterates this ideology:

The deployment of blood memory relies on a series of contemporary assertions rooted in indigenous worldviews and personal experience. These include the assertion of an unmediated relationship to indigenous land bases (whether or not these lands remain under indigenous control) and the power of the indigenous writer’s imagination to establish communion with ancestors. (Allen, 178)

I will discuss this further in Chapter 3. With an ancestral memory consciousness, powerful dreams emerge. A significant dream I had was a reoccurring dream about a circular image that I first thought was either a flower or the sun.

I searched for this dream image in New Age shops. I could not find anything that came close to it, so I made an artifact of a Golden Lotus flower. I was told by non-

Indigenous New Age “experts” on Indian people, that the symbolic Native American flower was a sunflower and not a Lotus. Their analysis was that the Sun Flower is endemic to North America and that the Lotus was an Asian cultural symbol.

I respect the “endemic” rational. However, the design did not change. Its creation was in honor of the dream image. Later I discovered, through research on

Indigenous Shamanism, that when an image becomes clear in a dream, an Indigenous visionary will produce it as best they can to honor the spiritual image and the Dream.26 I did not know this when I created the image. Eventually, I made the flower tool for family and close friends as a giveaway.27

In 2001, I was invited to present at Divina Femina, a Women in Religion conference, produced by the Women’s Studies Department and Dr. Lucy Defresne, at the

University of Ottawa. I brought my Golden Lotus dream artifact. I shared my story.

After, a few students introduced me to Rideau Canal where golden lilies were floating upon the water. That journey’s experience affirmed that the dream was significant. I now utilized the artifact as a personal spiritual tool.

26 Greg Cajete, Native Science, 2006. Also, Garter Snake Woman, The Seven Visions of Bull Lodge 1992. 27 A traditional practice within Indigenous nations is a protocol of giving momentous gifts away instead of receiving them to commemorate significant events. 36

Years later, dreams guided me to return to academia, and eventually to go back to

Canada and attend Trent University. At Trent, I had the opportunity to meet Anishinaabe

Elder of the Midewiwin Lodge, Edna Manitowabi.

My husband and I went to Edna’s presentation at the 2012 Elders Gathering at

Trent University. Through the presentation, I discovered Edna worked with water lily

medicine. I registered to take one of her workshops. I was also accepted as her assistant

during Biimadiziwin, an elective through the Ph.D. Indigenous Studies program at Trent28

I was very excited to attend Edna’s medicine camp, and I began to research water lilies in

Ontario. Through the research, I discovered Nelumbo Lutea, the Indigenous North

American Lotus, only endemic to North America and northern regions of South America.

The image of the flower was the very flower of my dream.

Thomas Hall references to Tricker Bailey in The Biology of the American Lotus,

Nelumbo Lutea, “American Indians conducted extensive aqua- cultural practices with the species (qt. in Hall, 744). Bailey said that Lutea was cultivated in the Central States and brought to the North and East by Indigenous travelers.

North American Lotus: Sacred food of the Osage People, by Daniel C. Swan, reveals ethnographic and historical evidence that the Osage of Oklahoma venerated Lutea as a symbol of health and long life. The Osage call the flower Tse’-wa-the, in English they refer to the plant as Yonkapins. Lutea was considered a plant of life, with every part of her utilized. According to Swan, Osage restaurants serve Yonkapin, and it is on their menus today. However, because of the drought situation in Oklahoma, and the

28 Biimaadiziwin is an elective that Ph.D. Indigenous students at Trent University can participate by assisting an Elder. Prior I did a traditional four day fast to work with her and then I assisted Edna during her women’s ceremonies. 37 endangered status of the Lutea, the Osage are utilizing Asian food markets to obtain the

Nelumbo Nucifera as an alternative food source. Nelumbo Lutea contains similar if not exact properties of her cousin the Nelumbo Nucifera (Sacred Lotus). Lutea’s ancestor;

Nelumbo Aureavallis is the oldest Nelumbo fossil, found in North Dakota from the

Ypresian strata of the Eocene age.29 The present day Lotus has changed very little from its ancient ancestor.

It was through Lutea’s discovery that I realized she was a message from the ancestors; she is ka soli weleetak, my dream helper. When I resourced Richard

Applegate's’ Atishwin: The dream helper in south-central California, I accepted Lutea as ka soli weleetak. Applegate illustrates that traditionally, South-Central Indigenous

California people sought an assistant from the spiritual world through dreams and visions. I do not believe I was consciously seeking an assistant, but I do believe Nelumbo

Lutea came as an ancestral relative and teacher in the dream. Like Indigenous cultures and languages, Lutea is considered endangered. Like Nelumbo Lutea, Tamalko culture and our visibility had gone dormant. In this research, Lutea’s story is a comparative metaphor and example to North American Indigenous survival and resurrection.

Methodology

The approach to this research is through an Indigenous spiritual, ecological lens.

From an Indigenous perspective, it is the regional landscape that holds the inherent knowledge of the people and the connections to ancestors. After fifty years of invisibility, Tamalko ʾinniiko are rapidly re-cultivating their existence upon their lands.

Though many Tamalko are not active or communicating traditionalists, some are re-

29 Leo J. Hickey. Stratigraphy and Paleobotany of the Golden Valley Formation (Early Tertiary) of Western North Dakota. Boulder, Colorado. 38

cultivating the culture and Tamal Machchaw (Coast Miwok Language). As an advocate

for Indigenous California endangered languages and a seeker of traditional life ways, I

chose to seek out research participants who were Culture Bearers from the Tamalko

community and neighboring Penutian language based communities.

The Penutian language family makes up the majority of North Central Indigenous

California landscape as Figure 3 on page 46 defines. I felt if I could connect to Culture

Bearers who were from the Penutian ancestral language family, we might share similar

ways of being. Perhaps willing participants might assist in re-enforcing knowledges or

offer insights to discover our common Indigenous consciousness? I chose to research the territorial range concentrated within the parameters of San Francisco Bay north to

Siskiyou County. I was gifted to visit with Penutian language family members of the

Maidu, Nomlāqa, Ohlone, Tamalko, and Wintu communities. Figure 4 on page 47

illustrates traditional indigenous territories for regional reference.

A Tamalko Indigenous methodology that I utilize in this research is hinti wuskin

ʾona, what the heart says or reframed as “following an Indigenous knowledge from the heart and from within.” Hence, hinti wuskin ʼona is an action of respect. Linguist of

Tamal Machchaw, scholar Richard Applegate, has helped to coin the word respect as wuskippa. Applegate’s definition:

To respect, and honor someone/something; respect (noun) — coined (on the analogy of yaawe ~ yaweppa “key” ~ “to lock”) from wuşki “heart” + -pa “directed action,” in the sense that respect is holding someone/something in one’s heart.30

It is through wuskippa and hinti wuskin ʼona that I include Tamal Machchaw ancestral language in this research. There are no fluent speakers amongst us. Those of us

30 Definition sent through email. 2015. 39

that participate in studying Tamal Machchaw are honoring our ancestors. As an

endangered language learner I used the language in phases that can open the door to the

ancestral consciousness. I position Tamal Machchaw in front of the English definition.

Most Tamal Machchaw phases are not literal definitions but references. The most important aspect of using the language is to install the Spirit of the ancestors within the text of this documentation. I italicized all Tamal Machchaw because I want it to stand out beyond the rest of the text. Through this research, I have searched for principles that reflect Indigenous North Central California consciousness. With their retrieval, I will work with Tamalko language learners and Dr. Applegate to construct the principals into

Tamal Machcahaw and for the future of my ʼinniiko (relatives).

Through this research journey, I have also learned that modern Indigenous traditionalists avoid using the term “sacred” because of its association with religion per se, as it alludes to religion’s paradigm of hierarchy and dominion. Maidu Alan Wallace adds:

That is piety. That’s’ what that’s about. The sacredness, where are you guys coming up with all this? Where’s this stuff coming from? It is all invented. (Wallace)

Elizabeth den Boer also relates similar ideology to Australian Aboriginal perspectives, “[B]ecause in these societies the sacred and profane belong to “distinct yet not separated” areas (195).” Furthermore, within the Indigenous ontology, all life and inanimate beings on the Earth are blessed and equally valued. Whereas, Western conscious man has defined the sacred as “particular creations” that are considered holy and sanctioned by God, or the Divine sanctioned through a Neo-Platonic and Christian doctrine. Therefore, the term sacred will not be referenced within this document.

It was through the methodologies wuskippa (respect) and hinti wuskinʾona I used for conducting my visitations with participants; I kept an open dialog during research visitations. If I did ask questions, it was to prompt them to tell their stories. I saw all my

participants as my ʾinniiko (relatives) and believed to be on a journey to the ancestors.

Journies towards ancestral connections are personal and recounted through compelling

life stories. I was honored to hear and collect the personal stories shared. Their histories

give value to Indigenous identities and well-being.

I have utilized within this dissertation references to Indigenous consciousness

through Indigenous theories that are foundations for the inner journey espoused by

Indigenous scholars Ermine (1995), Momaday (1969), Dumont (1977), Graveline (1998)

within this myth-story. This research re-enforces and acknowledges the value of

Indigenous inner consciousness. Indigenous theories that support the spiritual journey

are:

• Ancestral Memory or sometimes referred to “Memory in the Blood” that

connects Indigenous peoples to familial relationships within their heritage

and community through the inner journey process and experience.31

• Metaphoric Mind – an Indigenous theory that supports a state of

consciousness that merges the physical and nonphysical awareness.32

• The Physical world and its spiritual and sensorial connections - illustrate

Indigenous consciousness within the natural and non-physical worlds.

31 Scott Momaday. House Made of Dawn. Momaday retraces his Kiowa ancestors’ migration from Creation Stories and taps into and terms “Memory in the Blood”. 32 Greg Cajete, Native Science, Natural laws of interdependence. 41

Within each particular section of this manuscript is a parallel link between the

physical senses: sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste to the Non-physical: Dream,

imagination, vision, spirit travel, and memory. 33

Design

In referencing Indigenous parallels regarding the sacred to the Lotus, Griffins indicates [that] in some contexts; the Lotus signified divine as well as secular power (63).

Indigenous Nelumbo Lutea is considered a spiritual being within the context of ʾununni

ʼunu to Indigenous North Americans because she is a food source/life sustainer which is a primary and fundamental factor within “sacred ecology.” The “Sacred Lotus” Nelumbo

Nucifera is known throughout the world as a symbol of spiritual consciousness as well as a food source.

To honor Nelumbo Lutea as ka soli weleetak, (my dream helper), I chose to design the body of this dissertation as a model of the Nelumbo Lutea’s biological anatomy and emergent life process and transformation. I use Lutea as a metaphor for illustrating the re-cultivation and emergence of Indigenous North Central California consciousness in parallel with Lutea’s life process of awakening from seed to flower.

Section I: This section introduces Nelumbo Lutea and Indigenous theories used in

this research. Section I represents the seed that contains all knowledge of the Lotus as it

dreams of life.

Chapter Two articulates understandings of the conceptual framework of

Indigenous Dream and how Indigenous people see the world based on creation stories

and oral histories.

33 Joe Sheridan and Dan Longboat, The Haudenosaunee Imagination and the Ecology of the Sacred.” 42

Chapter Three illustrates a short background on Euro history in North Central

California and the differences between consciousnesses.

Section II: represents the Lotus peduncle (stalk) and its long journey through and out of the water. This section focuses on the knowledge and contribution this research provides within Indigenous spiritual consciousness.

Chapter Four articulates understandings of the conceptual framework of Spirit

travel and how Indigenous people journey towards spiritual knowledge primarily within

the participation and consciousness of ceremony.

Chapter Five contains a discussion of Indigenous Research and a description of

the process in methodologies used to conduct this study.

Section III: represents the Lotus leaves that give shelter and nourishment to the

plant and its environment. This section features Indigenous North Central California

researched regions and participating Culture Bearers.

Chapter Six addresses and articulates the conceptual framework of Indigenous memory and offers an understanding of memory within Indigenous history of the land and its environment.

Chapter Seven discusses what has been passed down from ancestral Elders and

the narratives and teachings of research Culture Bearer interviews.

Section IV represents the Lotus rhizome/roots and the central place it makes in the

environment. This section references research findings and their connections within

Indigenous North Central California spiritual consciousnesses.

Chapter Eight articulates understandings of the conceptual framework of

Imagination and how Indigenous people have the consciousness of belonging.

Chapter Nine is a deliberation of a future Indigenous paradigm. This section also illustrates pieces that bring us together as a collective.

Conclusion

This chapter reflects on the beauty of the Lotus flower. This section articulates an

understanding of the conceptual framework of Vision and concludes the dissertation.

Indigenous North Central California communities have survived the Dark Ages of

extermination by invading foreigners up to the most recent intruders, the U.S. Federal

government. Today Indigenous people are thriving through a re-cultivation of their

Aboriginal consciousness. Indigenous cultural and ethical consciousness is a product of various methodologies and aspects of knowledge within the physical and spiritual worlds.

This dissertation strives to clarify this understanding through Indigenous theories and

ways of knowing. The sections and forthcoming chapters will delve into introducing

Indigenous theories utilized in this research.

Figure 2- Map of Marin and Sonoma Counties CA. Contemporary and traditional territories of the Tamalko (Coast Miwok). Boundaries: north of the Golden Gate Bridge and North Bay of San Francisco to the north of Geyserville in Alexander Valley and East to St. Helena and Sonoma towards Napa County. Source: Illustrated map is a public domain map from CleanWaterSonomaMarin.org website. June 2015.

Figure 3 – Source: California Linguistic Groups Map. Reproduction permission granted by Lillian Castillo-Speed, Head Librarian of the Ethnic Studies Library, UC Berkeley. Map originates from California Indian Library Collections, UC Berkeley Archives. 20 May 2015.

Figure 4 – Source: Pre-Contact California community regions. Reproduction permission granted by Lillian Castillo-Speed, Head Librarian of the Ethnic Studies Library, UC Berkeley. Map originates from California Indian Library Collections, UC Berkeley Archives. 20 May 2015.

SECTION I – Soli: The Dream

Figure 5. Source: Nelumbo Lutea (Indigenous North American Lotus) Seeds © DMarcus 2013

CHAPTER 2 – Introduction Nelumbo Lutea: Indigenous North American Lotus

An Invasive Species

Is/Aw’te (people), our dreams, our original purpose, our thought powers were not destroyed by the invading colonizing powers. Each native child born is wrapped in the dream, the original way, our intended purpose. Sul’ma’ejote Darryl Babe Wilson34

When I left Ontario, Canada, I was traveling with research Nelumbo Lutea

(Indigenous North American Lotus) rhizomes that I cultivated at Fernhill Farms in

Bailieboro, Ontario. They were authorized and certified by the Canadian Government. I

left Canada in a December snowstorm believing if I bundled the rhizomes and protected them, they would survive the ten-day trek across the continent to California.

At Detroit customs, I carried in the small bundle of rhizomes, puzzling everyone because the typical freight at Detroit customs is diesel-trucked cargo. It was evident to me the inspection staff were inexperienced with plant importation. They mentioned that plant inspection for their office was out of the ordinary. It took the office some time to find someone to attend to the rhizomes. During the wait, I had to leave the bundled rhizomes outside the border office in snow storm temperatures waiting for inspection. 35 The

rhizomes were out of their natural conditions and vulnerable to the foreign experience. I

blamed myself for bringing them across the border. I later learned that their wait in the

storm was the beginning of the end of their journey home with me.

34 “Dr. Darryl Babe Wilson. With Respect:, AKA Sul’ma’ejote (Itamki Is/Aw’te) November 1, 1939 – May 4, 2014.” News from Native California: The Women and the Land issue. Vol. 27, Number 4. (Summer 2014): 49. 35 During winter rhizomes protect themselves and reach deeper into the Earth beneath the water. The research rhizomes I carried across the borders had to have all Earth removed from them for inspection and could only be covered with wet cloth and paper for inspection. They were unnaturally exposed to the elements. 49

In a conversation with ethnographer Daniel Swan of the Oklahoma Museum of

Natural History, I discovered that Nelumbo Lutea rhizomes are extremely delicate. The

natural environment for the Lutea is quiet and undisturbed. With their removal and

journey out of Canada, first by Canadian inspection to cross the border, and then the

additional American handling in Detroit, it was their guaranteed demise. Like many

Indigenous peoples, they do not do well nor survive the arduous forced journeys when

removed from their homelands.

Ironically, left in their natural environment, the Lutea rhizomes are unyieldingly

strong, resilient, and caretakers within their natural territories. The border crossing

experience was again one of my age old attempts from western consciousness, to try to

experiment in cultivating the plant into my homeland territories. Many Indigenous

peoples who were forcibly removed from homes and endemic environments died or

suffered to the ends of their days. I was the colonizer in the rhizome ordeal, and I felt

resigned not to recultivate the Lutea in California after all the rhizomes I cultivated from

Canada died in their forced migration.

On the other hand, the border experience gave me insights into the colonial

phenomena of territory and land ownership. Colonial imposed ownership of lands and

resources had created inhuman protocols towards all peoples. Inter-cultural borders constructed in North America did not exist pre-contact. How Indigenous peoples traveled upon the Earth was cautious, just as I had to research on the protocols I had to adhere to in bringing my precious cargo of Lutea rhizomes into the United States.

Indigenous people traveled from time immemorial for trade and to build liaisons in North

America. Indigenous travelers also knew how to approach neighboring homelands with

wuskippa (respect). Most importantly, the attitude regarding relationship building that

has been instilled within the consciousness of the people, whether those who were

traveling or those living on land across the border, is that they most likely were relatives

or soon to be.

Even though there were sightings of the Lutea in California’s Lassen National

Forest in 2005, the Department of California Agriculture hypothesizes that cattle brought

Lutea to California, and, therefore, considers Lutea a foreign invasive species, as Lutea

was not cited outside the vicinity where they were discovered. 36 Coincidentally the

sightings of Lutea in 2005 were brought to the attention of the United States Department

of Agriculture for Lutea’s extermination.37 I question why land management does not

educate themselves on endemic species which only reside in areas that give them hinak

towis hennak, and to learn to respect and appreciate their needs of survival.

The reasons why Lutea would be considered an invasive species is when Lutea is

found growing in areas where wetlands and waterways became tourist attractions, and/or

when Lutea is found growing in waterways designated for municipal and agricultural

purposes.38 Unfortunately, Lutea is considered invasive by agencies and organizations

who are determined to control the environment. According to research done by PHER,

the International Center for Public Health and Environmental Research, Nelumbo Lutea

36 Jepson online exchange documents plant status. http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi- bin/get_consort.pl?taxon_name=Nelumbo+lutea&county=06103. The hypothesis was verbally given to me via a phone conversation with the Department of California Agriculture, April 2014. 37 I made a call to the Department of California Agriculture in April 2014 for details on the sighting recorded in 2005 at Table Rock in Red Bluff CA. The sighting call was made so the rancher could exterminate the plants on the land. I called the ranch so that I might visit the area. My call was not returned and I was not granted access to visit. 38 Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health. The University of Georgia. Invasive.org. http://www.invasive.org/species/weeds.cfm/ 51

is threatened and endangered in three U.S. states.39 Whereas the U.S. Department of

Agriculture: Natural Resource Conservation Service considers Nelumbo Lutea an

invasive species, and weed in 48 states.40 The Jepson Flora Project through UC Berkeley

gives California’s appraisal of Nelumbo Lutea:

A strong argument against including Nelumbo Lutea Willd. as a naturalized element of the flora, based primarily on uncertainties about the identity of the plants reported and the fact that they do not appear to have spread beyond the point of their initial introduction(s). Rejection. Not naturalized in California. A waif”.41

Nelumbo Lutea is considered an invasive species in the U.S. yet is rarely known,

neither identified nor recognized. She is related to the famous Nelumbo Nucifera, the

“Sacred Lotus” known throughout the world. According to the United States Department

of Agriculture Research Service Nelumbo Nucifera is indigenous to Western Asia (Iran),

Caucasus (Azerbaijan), Russian Federation (Amur, Primorye), China, Japan, Korea,

Taiwan, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia,

Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Australia Northern Territory, and Queensland.

Nucifera is also considered “naturalized and cultivated” “elsewhere.”42 In other words,

the Lotus has been adopted but not endemic to countries that have made her quite

famous. An example is her celebrity in Egypt.

Evergreen, an Ontario environmental organization, has established that Nelumbo

Lutea is on COSEWIC, the Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada

39 “Nelumbo Lutea”. International Center for Public Health and Environmental Research. Discover Life. 20 May 2015. http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q39 See Jepson online exchange. http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_consort.pl?taxon_name=Nelumbo+lutea&county=06103 40 “Nelumbo Lutea Willd. American Lotus”. USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service. 5 May 2015. http://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=NELU 41 “Nelumbo Lutea Willd”. Jepson Flora Project: Jepson Interchange for California Floristics. 2006. http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_cpn.pl?34498&expand=1 42 Distribution Range. USDA Agriculture Research Service. 20 May 2015. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi- bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?25110#dist 52

candidate list.43 I am grateful Canada recognizes Lutea and that I was able to cultivate

Lutea in Ontario. I also supported and studied with Elder Edna Manitowabi who honors

relationships with ancestral medicines; and Elder Shirley Williams, who prays and

advocates for the water protection in Ontario.

Shirley Williams is an advocate of Anishinaabemowin (language) survival and

continues to teach the language at Trent. Shirley’s homeland is on Manitoulin Island

where she developed a respectful relationship with water since her childhood. I am

grateful that I was able to participate and support Shirley’s Water Walks while I was in

Peterborough. The Water Walks Shirley led has gained attention and respect from the

Ontario communities. Ontario, land and water management organizations, include

Shirley in meetings and discussions.

Through the exposure to both honorable Anishinaabekwe Elders Edna and

Shirley’s affirmative actions, I was inspired to take the initiative in reclaiming our lost

and “homeless” relative, Nelumbo Lutea within Ontario’s pro-active environment. In

returning to California, the experiences in Ontario have given me renewed vigor to

champion advocacy for California’s endangered wetlands, a natural habitat to Nelumbo

Lutea.

Within the Earth is Indigenous consciousness, and for each one of us, it is a

territory and region from whence our ancestors came to be, live, die and return.

Indigenous living consciousness is developed by deep, long-standing, respectful

relationships with territorial life forms. Edna has developed relationships with certain

plants that have given her the ability to utilize them responsibly for the benefit of

43 “Nelumbo Lutea”. EverGreen Native Plant Database. 2014-2015. http://nativeplants.evergreen.ca/search/view-plant.php?ID=00822 53

establishing hinak towis hennak for the health of her family and community. Shirley has

gained spiritual and intellectual relationships with the water and its environment. Her

efforts have given her the ability to bring awareness to southern Ontario communities so

that necessary actions can be taken to help clean and protect water systems.

Supporting these women deepened my relationship with Nelumbo Lutea. Edna

and Shirley have demonstrated their innate Indigenous consciousness and intelligence

deeply connected to ʼununni ʼunu. Nelumbo Lutea is an Indigenous medicine that needs

water to live. While residing in a wetland environment, Lutea helps to purify the water

and give protection, home, food, medicine and healing to its environmental community.

The Lotus’s rare capacity for growing in poorly oxygenated conditions and for translocating heavy metals and other pollutants has led to it being introduced to contaminated lakes and wetlands in the Far East and in North America as a vegetable purge which will cleanse these failing ecosystems and prepare them to receive new life. (Griffiths, 24)

If Indigenous beings are where they belong and responsibly live by spiritual

consciousness, they have the potential to be powerful gifts like Anishinaabe

grandmothers Edna and Shirley and Lutea, who benefit their communities. Our conscious

existence is crucial to hinak towis hennak.

Unlike Nucifera, who is known throughout the world, Nelumbo Lutea is native only to North America. Living in the Boreal ecosystem in Ontario Canada and as far

south as Honduras, she looks like and has identical properties to Nucifera. While

Nucifera is cultivated to produce many different colors, Lutea’s distinction is her large

yellow bloom. Lutea is considered the largest blooming North American wildflower.

The oldest Nelumbo Lotus fossil found is Nelumbo Aureavallis. She is the ancestor to

both Lutea and Nucifera and was unearthed in North Dakota in the U.S.44

Nelumbo Lutea is a metaphor for all Indigenous North American peoples as her unique characteristics reflects theirs on Daryl Babe Wilson’s mirror, the shattered associations that were once held together by Indigenous interconnecting relationships in

North America. Lutea is only indigenous to North America. Indigenous North American

languages do not exist on any other continent. Though many ethnographers try to

associate Indigenous North American ancestry with Asiatic peoples, Indigenous North

Americans are unique upon themselves, though there are similarities.

For Nelumbo Lutea, she may look quite similar and possesses similar attributes to

the Asian Lotus, Nucifera. Nonetheless, Lutea is unique unto herself as the Lotus

Indigenous to North America and found nowhere else. As for all Indigenous North

American peoples, the possibility of hinak towis hennak is founded only in Indigenous

North America.

Perhaps the uniqueness of Indigenous North American culture has advocated the

term “sacred?” Within the context of Indigeneity, everything is considered sacred. I

believe the term may equate to the understood wisdom and goodness that a being may

bring to the Earth and its people.

According to Daniel Swan, Lutea has been a “sacred food” to the Osage as well

as to many Indigenous North Americans. Perhaps she was an ancient food to

Klamath/Modoc ancestors? A traditional food for the Klamath is Nymphaea pollysepala

44 Leo Hickey. Stratigraphy and Paleobotany of the Golden Valley Formation (Early Tertiary) of Western North Dakota 55

or what the Klamath refer to as Woka. Nymphaea pollysepala is the same relative to what Anishinaabe Elder Doug Williams refers to as akandamoo in Ontario.45

Hall and Penfound in The Biology of the American Lotus speculate that before the

“white man” “aboriginals” cultivated Nelumbo Lutea in the Tennessee and Kentucky rivers and carried the “species” North and East (744). I would also speculate with the suggestion made by Daniel Swan that the Native American cultivators used the seeds as traveling food as well as food for trade. I believe that North American travelers and traders went to all directions of the continent and that Nelumbo Lutea is like her human relatives, Indigenous in all of North America.

This research is giving Lutea recognition. Like her human relatives, Lutea’s existence has been a shard from Wilson’s mirror reflecting back yet another Indigenous story. Her myth story helps to sharpen and reflect the multi-dimensional facets of

Indigenous consciousness.

For Nelumbo Lutea, her re-cultivating process of life comes from a seed that falls from the sky from an elevated seed pod suspended several feet above the water. The seed then descends into the water and the Earth. “

These tungsten-tough beans have evolved as time machines. In order not to compete with their parents, they lie dormant in the muddy beds on which they fall. Freed from competition and given ideal conditions, they will spring into life; otherwise, only a big sleep awaits them. (Griffiths, 18)

45 Elder Doug Williams gave the name to use: akandamoo for an exhibit in Jiigbiig: At the Edge Where the Water and the Land Meet. Peterborough Art Gallery. June 2012. 56

Soli ʼEchchen Weyatto: Dream within the Seed

With wuskippa (respect), Nelumbo Lutea does not overshadow her Elders. She

can slumber for thousands of years if the conditions are not conducive to a thriving life.

Deep within the land, in the Earth’s underground dream world, she finds protection and

safety. Lutea dreams of a new time when she can return to the living environment, just as

the ancestors dreamt of the time for Indigenous people hinak towis hennak (to make a

good life).

Griffiths states that Nelumbo can sleep for thousands of years. Nelumbo’ seed embryo can repair itself “with compounds that maintain tissues and make good of damaged protein (19).” 46 According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders

and Stroke, humans sleep 1/3 of their lives illustrating that the dream world is extremely significant for life. In the article Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep:

Deep sleep coincides with the release of growth hormone in children and young adults. Many of the body's cells also show increased production and reduced breakdown of proteins during deep sleep. Since proteins are the building blocks needed for cell growth and for repair of damage from factors like stress and ultraviolet rays, deep sleep may truly be ‘beauty sleep.’ Activity in parts of the brain that control emotions, decision-making processes, and social interactions is drastically reduced during deep sleep, suggesting that this type of sleep may help people maintain optimal emotional and social functioning while they are awake. (NIH)

Indigenous North Central California ancestors valued the dream world, for its re-

cultivation of body and spirit, and the time for reflection in what I believe gave them an

attitude of living in a thoughtful manner of existence. They intended a gentle and

peaceful world, a paradise.

46 Compounds are ascorbic acid and l-isoaspartyl methyltansferase (MT). 57

In Native Science, Greg Cajete explains a world of reflexivity that supports a

dream/metaphoric consciousness that induces cooperation and compassion. He tells the

story about the Mimbre “hunter of a good heart,” a mythic construct for the teaching of

Indigenous peoples throughout the world (39).

This realization underlies the development of some implements and hunting methods that were not as painful or disruptive to the animals as others. It also forms part of the understanding of animals as a people, a community that needs certain terrain to live and reproduce. One could say that Native peoples developed ecological empathy. (40)

Reflexive consciousness and ecological empathy are brought to a deeper

understanding within the ceremonial process. Within Tamalko ceremonial protocol, our

procession into the ceremony is counter-clockwise, a motion that reflects our connection

to the planets’ orbit around the sun. The ceremonial fire represents the sun on Earth and

reminds us of the power of the inner journeying within ceremonial consciousness. The

process into the ceremonial roundhouse is a decent into the inner sanctum and to the heart

of the solar system and the unconscious. Similar to Lutea’s seed as it falls deep into the

Earth, the decent within ceremony attunes our towis wuski, (good hearts), to that of

ʼununni ʼunu.

According to Cree scholar Willie Ermine, an Indigenous “discovery” is not a

quest for the mastery of control and to obtain hedonist comfort upon the Earth, but rather

it is a personal discovery, an inner journey of consciousness.

One [the colonizer] was bound for an uncharted destination to outer space, the physical, and the other [the indigenous] was on a delicate path into inner space, the metaphysical (Ermine, 102).

Indigenous epistemology is the inner journey. To describe this, Ermine uses a metaphor

of Columbus’s 1492 journey of conquest and frontier discovery in contrasting

comparison to the Aboriginal inner discovery of the self. Ermine clarifies transformation

as a journey of self-discovery.

For Ermine, the transformation is a process of Indigenous Knowledge towards

wholism, meaning, and fortitude. Whereas, the acquisition of knowledge within the

Western paradigm has been a weapon to use for dominance, power, and control. Ermine

states that Western science’s objectivity has fragmented external space to try to

understand all of it (103).

Indigenous epistemology sees the inner space as a place where many ancient

cultures have explored as self-realization. When traveled, this actualization emerges to

what Indigenous scholar Joseph Couture has coined the “life force”, which is manifested

in “the laws of nature, the laws of energy, or the laws of light (1991, 208).” “Life-force”

is in all forms of nature, and it is where all legislation of wisdom exists. In other words,

it is the Great Mother/ʼununni ʼunu and to whom we belong.

The Earth and its substance, the powerful life-force energy, ʼununni ʼunu, contain an abundance of resources for all living beings. As a mother who nurses her child, there is a powerful bond and connection that prevails between the two. The child’s need to feed, to live, yearns for its source, its mother, and it is her rich and abundant resource of milk and refuge she so willingly gives. They are linked intrinsically by participating in life.

Seeds of a particular indigeneity reside within each given homeland territory. For

Indigenous peoples, it is from the land and its natural resources where the language, songs, and spiritual practices are cultured and acknowledged with gratitude toʼununni

ʼunu. ʼUnunni ʼunu is the Spirit of the Earth, and her environments and environmentals

are considered Elder relatives to traditional Indigenous people. Elder relatives assist the

journey to travel deeply into the realms of inner consciousness.

In an interview with Indigenous Wave Radio, Leanne Simpson states that an

articulation of Indigenous perspectives is what develops from the journey of self-

discovery and the seeking of assistance from spiritual helpers. From these perspectives

are cultured: metaphor, multidimensionality, and the ability to re-contextualize ourselves

within our myth-stories.47

Dreaming is the cradle of Indigenous ontology as it acknowledges Simpson’s

Indigenous perspectives of articulation that were an intrinsic part of the ancestors’ lives.

Instead of utilizing tools of technology for intellectual power, the ancestors existed within

the mystical and metaphysical experience.

Julian Lennon, musician - filmmaker and ally to Indigenous consciousness, recollects in Whale Dreamers that before he had a mystical experience in his ancestral homeland of Scotland, he thought he had a comfortable life. He was successful in his career, possessed a beautiful home and partner, but was deeply unsatisfied. Lennon did not have a relationship with the dream world or his ancestors. When he journeyed to

Scotland in search of his heritage, he had an experience with a dolphin in Dingle Bay.

Julian’s consciousness transformed. Lennon felt that to continue his spiritual journey he needed to connect with Indigenous people. He says, “Indigenous peoples have a wealth

47 Leanne Simpson, “Islands of Decolonial Love with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson”. 30 Jan. 2014. Indigenous Waves Radio. http://indigenouswaves.com/2014/01/30/islands-of-decolonial-love-with-leanne- betasamosake-simpson/ 60

of understanding of the planet we live on.” Lennon has become a supporter of

Indigenous causes.48

Long before psychology, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell,

Indigenous people paid concerted attention to mythology and their dreams and visions.

Knowledge of spiritual life was direct; there were no go-between priests to teach the understandings of the inner world.

In Walking in the Sacred Manner: Healers, Dreamers, and Pipe Carriers by

Mark St. Pierre, Oglala Lakota, Good Lifeways Woman, explains, “A spirit helper came to me in a ceremony and told me, No one man will be your teacher. You will not have a human teacher; the spirits will teach you directly (St. Pierre, 105).” She also interjects that Oglala Lakota children were taught early about dreams.

[They] learn to remember, talk about, sort, interpret, catalog, and recall specific details of virtually hundreds of dreams. The most talented can recall vivid detail twenty, thirty, or forty years later. (St. Pierre 106)

Ethnographer/Psychologist, Anthony Wallace’s research in Death and Rebirth of the Seneca, notes Jesuit missionary Father Fremin’s observations in 1668 of the Seneca and their attitude about dreaming.

The Iroquois have, properly speaking, only a single Divinity-the dream. To it they render their submission and follow all its orders with the utmost exactness. Whatever it is they think they have done in their dreams they believe themselves absolutely obligated to execute at the earliest moment. [They] would think themselves guilty of a great crime if it failed in its observance of a single dream. (Wallace 59)

Clarified by the Haudenosaunee in their understanding, is that truth and reality in the world were from their dream experiences. Jesuit Father Ragueneau in 1649 says of the

Haudenosaunee,

48 WhaleDreamers. Documentary, 2006. 61

They believe our soul makes these natural desires known using dreams that are its language (Wallace 61).

Anthropologist Isabel Kelly’s ethnographic field notes taken from 1931-1932 on

Tamalko dream consciousness indicate that most undertakings did not happen unless

there was a dream regarding the venture. If there was a dream, then there would be a

Dream Dance or a healing (241). Collective dreaming accomplished healing. “All the

people who belonged to the dance house slept together to see what they would dream

(Kelly 241).” Such groups were healing visionaries who dreamt to determine who was ill

or to find ways of healing to benefit the community.

A similar healing practice took place in ancient Greece when a patient stayed in a

Temple dedicated to the god Asclepius to obtain a dream of the god. The difference is

that the following morning priests of the temple came to interpret the dream with the healing administration, instead of the dreamer coming to her or his knowledge obtained from the dream. 49

Today, many North Central California Indigenous communities do not have a

traditional ceremonial center called the “Roundhouse.” The roundhouse is a spiritual gathering structure commonly used within Indigenous North Central California, discussed further in Chapter 7. A prominent person within the population’s political as well as spiritual sectors must have a dream of the roundhouse, or the community will not support all its details and purposes.

In order for a roundhouse to be built, it ﬁrst had to come in a dream to a healer. In the dream, the person would get instructions about how to build the structure, as well as instructions for each part of the building and the meanings of its parts. Instructions for the accompanying rituals and ceremonies would also be given in

49 The first hospitals http://www.historywiz.com/didyouknow/asclepius.html 62

dreams. New songs, dances and regalia were given in the dreams, each speciﬁc to a certain ceremony. (Dowdall and Parrish, 106-107)

Achumawi Darryl Wilson describes a teaching from his father about how to prepare for the hunt by asking for a dream to determine if it was the right thing to do.

Daddy said to sleep and to dream about the dose (deer) we would get tomorrow. ‘Dream and ‘see’ them tonight just as they will appear tomorrow. To dream and not see the dose is a sign that we should not go hunting. We could go hunting, but we never would come close. (Wilson, 32)

Wilson’s example of first seeking a dream to assist in important life tasks, like the hunt, was a necessity within traditional Indigenous lifeways. Such protocol is mandatory and the respectful process for many Indigenous people who are looking for a reality of living and walking in the footsteps of their ancestors.

Documentation of high profile “medicine” people who shared their dreams and

visions with anthropologists and who had become celebrity are truly the few and far

between. Such individuals may or may not have been spiritually adept healers and resources within their communities. Many needed the money to survive within the oppressive colonial environment. Willing “informants” were categorized as the “last” of their people and voices of “authentic” cultures. Ironically, these informants were identified as fluent and original speakers while laws had prohibited the use of indigenous languages for decades. Perhaps they were the last who were willing to share with the tootoyko (white people). They could not have been the last of their populations.

Otherwise, my ʼinniiko would not be here.

Culture Bearers within this research shared their thoughts on the subject of

“medicine” people or people with power. Some people possess phenomenal spiritual abilities. They, however, are very inconspicuous. They do not surface until they are

63 needed. Nomlāqa/Hawaiʻian Cody Pata, Culture Bearer shares a cultural insight regarding this very concern:

We have a shell called kūpeʻe we gather on the moonless nights during the low tide. They’re snails, sea snails; they are large. If you shine your light, and you look away, and you go back, you might hear a little ‘pop’ and they pop out. They are well camouflaged. That is why they are called kūpeʻe. Kū means “stand for” but “peʻe” means hidden. We are always taught no matter who we are; we are supposed to be kūpeʻe, ‘stand hidden.' One of my teachers said if a person of status should be standing next to you; you would never know. It is the same thing over here, (re: Indian Doctors). (Pata)

Living amongst family Elders, no one spoke of people who had great knowledge or “powers.” There were no conversations along the line of settler attitudes that concentrate on the display of their accomplishments and knowledge. I heard stories about relatives who experienced spiritual journies and encounters, but I do not remember anyone professing to have knowledge or abilities because this personal display of accomplishments was not appropriate. Everyone I knew had knowledge about the Earth.

They worked the land; foraged wild foods, and fished and harvested seaweed in the oceans.

In the past, all Indigenous families had a powerful Elder, who was a healer.

When colonization diminished Indigenous populations, some of the healers made themselves available to offer the people hope. Winnemem Wintu Florence Jones was one such traditional healer, within Indigenous North Central California. People came from

Oregon and Nevada to see her. Tamalko/Southern Pomo Jacquelyn Ross recalls,

[Florence Jones], was one of our greatest spiritual leaders in California. She was extraordinary, dizzyingly powerful little lady. You could just feel it pouring out of her. She was something. I never really talked to her, but I was around her at a couple of places. It was incredible. (Ross)

In contemporary Indian Country, the need for seeking spiritual leaders is transitioning back to the development of individual responsibility, as it was in the past. 64

The central focus of life had always been the family. Mature members held the responsibility of administering and teaching family members the ways of hinak towis hennak. Nomlāqa Cody Pata emphasizes this concept regarding his Paskenta community, “But now the families each have their heads and their ways to do things.”

Jacquelyn Ross comments on the contemporary issues and concerns regarding traditional

Indigenous healers.

These traditional doctors that we have around, they have a significant burden. They get tired because people go to them for everything. I know just a handful and one that I go to when I get in trouble, and he is tremendous. The one thing that is lost is that reciprocity. One day his partner pulled me aside and said, ‘People, they are not bringing stuff the way they used to.’ We always take something, pie or chicken or whatever because you never get out of there in less than half an hour. She said, ‘It is getting hard since we retired we don’t have a flexible income anymore. People are just showing up. We don’t expect to be paid, just the idea of supporting the visit. (Ross)

If we do not reciprocate in our world, as in all relationships, relationships cease to be.

We will be called to take up the responsibility ourselves by petitioning to the spiritual powers. As we regain a connection to our dreams, Spirit will grow again in our lives.

When nature emerges into our world as a metaphor, (like Julian Lennon’s dolphin encounter), our dreams speak to us, and our consciousness broadens. A dream is truth; a dream is power, and no one can dispute a person’s dream. If we listen to the voices and messages of the dream world, we can find the mystical in living. Reflecting on dreams when we return to our waking world gives us the opportunity to re-contextualize our place to achieve more balance and healing in our lives.

Scholar Richard Katz, in The Wisdom of Ancient Healers, says about the

Zhu/twasi of the Kalahari consciousness, that “Healing is not a once-and-for-all process; healing becomes part of everyday life (259).” Through the healing process, balance and harmony within relationships are restored in the world to hinak towis hennak (make a 65

good life). Hinak towis hennak is to have peace in one’s heart or to listen to hinti

wuskin‘ona, by following inner guidance.

Australian Mirning Elder and song man Bunna Lawie says, “The Dreamtime is

the deepest well of our collective memories … our futures are all joined together

collectively (Whaledreamers).”

The dream, like the Lutea seed, embodies all possibility of knowledge and wisdom. This knowledge encompasses theoretical foundations imperative to the

Indigenous physical as well as spiritual survival within a multidimensional universe. The dream within the seed is like a voice of truth within the consciousness of hinti wuskin

ʼona, or as Wintu Elder Frank LaPena says, “When you follow your dreams, you have respected your heart.”50

Our dreams help us to understand what Haudenosaunee scholar John Mohawk

refers to the “Real” person in us.

They are the manifestations of the real spirit of the Human species, brothers and sisters of all the living things of the Earth because they follow and participate in the real ways of the Creation. (qt. in Barreiro, 11)

The dream forms a bridge of connection to the “real” inner person with its spiritual

source, ʼununni ʼunu (Great Mother). The dream reminds us to acknowledge that the

inner journey is imperative to meet ʼununni ʼunu.

Ma Soliiko: Our Dreams

In my youth, I remembered my dreams, and particularly the prophetic dreams. At

eight years of age, I dreamt that my mother did not love my father. I cried for days

because in my dream, my father had died and my mom was not at his grave to mourn

50 Personal visit Dec. 10, 2014 66

him. After thirty years of marriage, my parents divorced. Five years before my father

died he returned with his second wife to the Philippines. My mother was not at his

funeral.

Tamalko culture bearer Jacquelyn Ross spoke of possessing the knowledge of

dream guidance.

I remember in a dream; there was this arrowhead, a small one. I remember waking up. It was almost like I was in a trance, and going into the kitchen. My mom was saying, ‘How was your nap’? ‘It was great, but there’s an arrowhead out there I need to find.' Within 20 minutes, and I had never found an arrowhead on our land before. You’re not suppose to mess with them, what I heard. This one was a little different right there waiting. I don’t think it’s anything special. I think we all have that sitting there, depending on our state of quietness, balance or its time. (Ross)

The state of quietness that Ross refers to is reflexivity. When I reflect on dreams, I see they tell stories of transformation.

I had several dreams that had been building upon each other over my lifetime.

Long ago I dreamt I had killed an Indigenous child. I did not know what it meant at the

time because I was too disturbed that I had dreamt of killing a child. After I had reflected

on the dream, I realized that when I drove over the little girl, (in the dream it was a car

accident) she represented the pure spiritual Indigenous heritage I was abandoning in my

life at the time.

Many years later I was shaken by another dream. I believe it was another

metaphoric connection I have with my ancestors. I dreamt I was sitting at a computer in

the darkness. It would not shut down. No matter how many times I tried to turn it off, it

kept coming back on. The full moon was shining in the window. Suddenly I felt a tiny

hand gently remove my hand from the computer mouse and take hold of it to lead me

away from the desk. In the darkness, as I was led into the hallway, I thought, “If I could

direct the little dark ‘being’ into the moonlight, I would get a glimpse of it.” The moment

I tried to maneuver the lead, my visitor gripped my hand with the strength of a powerful being. With tremendous force, it yanked me off my feet and drove me plummeting down

into the depths of the Earth. Immediately, and strangely, I felt an instinctual sensation that this little being was leading me to where it belonged, to its mother. We were traveling with such force, and into a most unfathomable depth that I was terrified. My husband who was frightened for me by my muffled screams woke me.

The dream revealed to me my longing for a connection to my Indigenous ancestral roots. The computer represented the colonial establishment and the power it had over me. It would not shut off. I had no release from colonial bondage. When

Grandmother Moon rose to reveal her face, she awakened that inner power of her true child to come back home to her. Grandmother Moon has the authority to call us away from the dominant colonial paradigm. An awareness of her was just awakening for me at the time. I was unsure of what was happening. The powerful and emotional sensation I was experiencing revealed that her ʼununni ʼunu wisdom and presence is incredibly awesome and was much too overwhelming for me to understand then. She, just like

Elders, and mentors, was teaching me by non-interference. As long as we are living, our ancestors will continue to connect to us most significantly through dreams. If we listen, we will find our way back home to them and ʼununni ʼunu.

Tamalko David Carrio had a significant dream that changed his life and began his journey towards recovering his ancestral connections.

It was after my 40th birthday. I was drinking, and I took drugs. We were up partying. I went to bed and dreamt I was in the woods the next day. I was looking around and man, it was like redwoods, big ferns, and everyone was standing around there like in a little grove. It was packed with Indians. I know

now they were all relatives. When I'd get off the path, they'd grab my elbow and lead me back to the path. I think [on] the path Elder people are waiting. I woke up. My friends were doing drugs, and they were still up. They said, ‘What's going on? I said, ‘I don't know, but I think my life is going to change.' I had a dream. I've been waiting for this dream all my life. I went back to bed, and I had the same dream again, and I went down the path again, and they were waiting for me and pointed at the ground, like 'take your spot'. Then I woke up. I got the phone call that my mom died. (Carrio)

David began his journey towards sobriety and sought out Indigenous knowledge

from his other side of Indigenous heritage, Yaqui medicine people in Southern California.

Since that dream, David has continued a spiritual and ceremonial lifestyle.

When I had created the Nelumbo Lutea dream artifact, I began to decolonize my life. Within seven years, I was no longer attached to the dictates of the colonial paradigm, and that is when the little girl came back in a dream. She asked to be in my life. It was her desire to move to Hawaiʻi and to return to academia there. I felt most comfortable and accepted in Hawaiʻi, with a dominant ethnic majority population in Hilo.

Since that move and choice, the little Indigenous girl has remained.

Within Ph.D. Indigenous Studies course work at Trent University, the ruling

principle of Indigenous Thought is transformation. My pre-colonial ancestors did not

have to journey through dense fog and smoke screen filled layers of lies, betrayals, and

outright disregard by their neighbors like we must today in a colonial society, they

understood that life is a continuous cycle of change. They were adept with their dreams,

and that is the legacy we have inherited towards hinak towis hennak, within the

contemporary context of the settler environment. Anishinaabe scholar Leanne Simpson

clarifies:

Indigenous Thought is known through the personal; this is because our greatest influence is us, and because living in a good way is an incredible disruption of the colonial meta-narrative in and of itself. (Simpson 2010: 41)

Even though dreams can be a very riveting factor in many Indigenous peoples

lives, it is not an aspect of who we are that is publically exposed to either Indigenous or

non-Indigenous populations. Jacquelyn Ross has a talent for prophetic dreams, and she learned early that it was harmful to her reputation even as a very young child to expose this very personal side of life.

I made the mistake in the 6th grade of sharing what I had seen to a friend of mine. I pointed it out to her, and she saw it too, or she thought she saw it. The next thing I know her mom is at our house, telling my mom I am a devil worshipper, and to watch out for witchcraft and all this stuff. It was serious. Really ugly, I can still bring that feeling up. You don’t need to be telling everyone everything you see. It is not all show and tell. Some of this is just for you. You’ll know when it's supposed to be used. (Ross)

Jacquelyn Ross’s incident is not unusual. Conscious Indigenous people have

great respect for the spiritual aspects of the living world; it is not something spoken about

openly. In the past ancestors spoke openly about their dreams. What they knew of

common practice has become a very humiliating experience when someone who does not

live within such a paradigm reacts with fear.

As a child, I would have dreams and try to share them with my sister. She was

not comfortable and would tell my parents I was attempting to scare her. I eventually

learned to keep my dreams to myself. Interestingly, I also became adept at understanding

their meanings and utilized them appropriately and honorably as great gifts.

Maidu knowledge keeper Alan Wallace says it quite well:

Dreams and all that other side are just as real as this. It’s the same; it’s still yours. Even though, you’re traveling in that subconscious realm. Whatever you call it. It’s still real. I always believed that. I don’t know why I believed that, but I’ve always believed that. (Wallace)

Huuke Michchako: First People

When we live by a paradigm that embraces ʼununni ʼunu, there are distinctly rigid and powerful protocols that are practiced. Indigenous ancestors acknowledged that everything in the world had a spirit, soul, and consciousness. Therefore, there were considerable deliberations before taking any action towards modification or impingement upon the landscape or to the minutest inhabitants within it.

In a conversation with Mohawk scholar Dan Longboat, he mentioned that

Indigenous people (referring to his Haudenosaunee relatives) did not infringe upon the environment to make their lives easier with technological improvements. If an action affected any part of the landscape detrimentally, the idea would be aborted. Probable effects derived from “ideas” were investigated starting with the impact on the present and into the future three generations forward, as well as taking into consideration the effect on members who were three generations removed from the present. Hence the term seven generations.

An analogy of this concept is a pebble tossed into a lake. In a visual, the stone creates reverberating waves of concentric water rings that are distributed out into the lake as well as the plummeting stone that falls to the depths of the lake. The pebble represents the present action (or you). The reverberating rings of water are the residual effects upon the present and past generations regarding their situation in the environment. The stone falling to the bottom of the lake is the action that lays waiting for the future generations that has not been born. If it is a positive and lasting benefit to the peoples of the environment, then the change and action would take place. If the consequences

deliberated upon were detrimental to hinak towis hennak (make a good life) for all the

region and Earth, the action would not be initiated. See Figure 6 page 78.

Larry Merculieff relates this responsibility to the connectedness his ancestors had

with the spiritual world centered in the heart.

[The] consciousness that exists today is a disconnected consciousness, generally, from the perspective of those peoples who have maintained this profound connection with creation. This disconnected consciousness simply functions in the head. The Elders say that traditionally we used to teach how to live. Now we teach how to make a living. We’ve reversed the paradigms for what is called a real human being, the conduct being a real human being, and behavior and thoughts. Today instead of the heart telling the mind what to do, the mind is telling the heart what to do, and so that paradigm is reversed. (Merculieff, 3)

This research is an advocacy from the implementation of a heart centered

paradigm, and to encourage that it is the responsibility of everyone living in the world

today to listen to hinti wuskinʼona. I understand how difficult it is when one sees the world from a colonial perspective. Therefore, learning about and utilizing a primary

Indigenous perspective is imperative.

The fundamental reality that grounds a North American Indigenous perspective is

that the human being, (even though we strive to be a full and real person) is not the most

intelligent creature on the planet. Because of the wisdom of the “peoples” who came

before us, we have the opportunity to become who we are as human beings. Within an

Indigenous cosmology, “peoples” refer to human, plant, animal and mineral people.

Traditionalists like Haudenosaunee Six Nations Faith Keeper Oren Lyons speak for all

peoples.

Who is speaking for the waters of the Earth? Who is speaking for the trees and the forests? Who is speaking for the fish—for the whales, for the beavers, for our children? It is our duty to say that we must stand for these people, and the natural world and its rights; and also for the generations to come. It becomes important because without the water, without the trees, there is no life. (Lyons 105)

Within Indigenous North Central California epistemology, we are not the original

peoples of our lands. We are the creations of the original people, or termed “First

Peoples.” Our ancestors were not human beings. They were far superior beings who

were similar to the gods of Egyptian mythology. Like the Egyptian gods, these peoples

were spiritual beings who embodied combinations of animal, mineral and elemental

aspects in their compositions. There is no language in which to articulate who they

were/are because they are extremely ancient entities who chose to be part of our creation.

All ancestral relatives show us how to understand the Earth and have been a

support to our human existence. The ancestors, ma hammako he papʼoyyisko, immensely love us. They choose to remain with us by taking on living forms on the planet in order to participate with us in life and to herald in the next peoples of the Earth.

There are no arguments within the biological sciences that our planet evolved perfectly for human habitation. Traditional Indigenous people believe we have benefitted from this beautiful world, and we are part of its evolution. (Marcus, 2016: 360

Thus, we share in the responsibility for being part of the evolutionary process to benefit

and usher in the future generation of peoples whether human or of a new evolving

species.

Indigenous North Central Californians know about the First People through

narratives that address them. They had existed before Indigenous communities began to

live upon the Earth. These narratives were very similar to Biblical creation stories.

Indigenous Northern California artist Lyn Risling comments on the value of her ancestral

Karuk/Yurok and Hupa myth stories.

Many of our stories take place before human beings came, in a time when there were spirit beings, and we had different names in our languages for people who lived upon the Earth before human beings came. There was a time when they were getting ready for the human being to come. So many of those spirit beings 73

transformed into the things that would make our lives good as human beings, from the mountains to the streams to the foods that we eat to the ocean people and the birds and all the things we would depend upon to survive. (Lyn Risling, 16- 17)

Traditional Indigenous people depend on Culture bearers for their survival on all accounts, intellectual, emotional, physical and spiritual. Jacquelyn Ross states that

Indigenous spiritual healers are tired and are fewer than ever before. Perhaps this is a sign for those that value Elder ancestral legacies, to support and care for Elders so that their responsibilities are acknowledged, valued and transferred into the future.

Griffiths reminds us that Nelumbo seeds are conscious of the life cycle, and do not germinate until the Elders are gone, they do not compete amongst themselves or with their Elders. They are mindful of the life cycle. When the cycle of life wanes, Elders know it is time for another generation to learn from them and to take on the responsibilities of creation, by participating in life. Ethnographer Lowell Bean reminds us that such a consciousness is also required by humans to maintain balance in the universe.

The universe exists in a state of dynamic equilibrium with power. While there is a constant opposition between power sources and a struggle among them to acquire more power, no one source of power has the ability to obtain superiority or to alter the condition of the universe irrevocably so long as man conducts himself in a manner that aids in maintaining the equilibrium. (Bean, 23)

I must correct Bean in regards to “man’s” conduct. Equilibrium is a keyword, and its egalitarian principle is an ontology for most North Central Indigenous Californians. In a very similar context as in ancient Egypt, Indigenous North Central California’s ancient ancestors were usually paired male and female.

Lyn Risling says of the First Peoples, “Oftentimes, they transformed as a pair, as a female and a male, so together there was that balance. It wasn’t just one or the other

(17).” In Tamalko narratives, Coyote, a creation deity had a wife. She was frog

woman.51 Such demonstrations within our narratives show us that there are no

boundaries between species when it comes to understanding that all living beings are

equal, valuable and spiritual. Such mindfulness has enabled our peoples in California to

continue to work with and welcome newcomers since the first contact no matter how

difficult it has been for us. Our ancestors and their original spirit still live amongst us.

Traditional responsibilities are actions that honor covenants made in wuskippa

(respect) for sustaining harmonious relationships. An example is the Winnemem Wintu,

whose ancestral relative, Salmon, resided alongside them for thousands of years in their

McCloud River territories. It was Salmon who prepared the land for the Winnemem before emerging through the artesian spring on Mount Shasta. The human Winnemem’s

did not have a voice at the time, so Salmon gave her voice to the Winnemem. In return,

the Winnemem promised to speak for Salmon.52

Linguist Sean O'Neil explains another relative ideology:

Many animals and plants are seen as present-day embodiments of spirit deities, who chose to remain in this world after the time of the transformation. Some would provide medicines; others protection; still others, who had become infested with some great evil, would cause suffering or disease. The dog, for instance, is widely regarded as a stranded angel who chose to remain in this world, after the creation era, in order to watch over people. Originally the dog could speak but elected to forfeit this power when humans entered the world while still retaining a passive comprehension of the spoken word. Yet, if a dog should ever speak again, the end of the world will be at hand. (O’Neil, 314)

Within an Indigenous hermeneutical perspective, this particular mythology has a

profound meaning instilled within it. The hayussa (dog) was not stranded. Like other

ancestors, the hayussa chose to remain in the world with humans. Like the salmon, hayussa gave his voice to the humans to take on a sovereign place upon the Earth.

51 Isabel Kelly, Interviews with Tom Smith and Maria Copa page 423. 52 Dancing Salmon Home. Film 75

Because of this positioning, humans have the responsibility to care for and respect this ancestor, much like the Winnemen regard the salmon.

When we forget our responsibilities and disregard who we are and where we

come from and why we are here, our precious ancestral ʼinniiko (relatives) see that we are no longer human beings. The human people have then abandoned their place in the matrix of the universe. Therefore, hayussa will have to take back his/her voice that

would relate to his/her position of power and responsibility in the world. Thus, if we

have forfeited our place amongst those that have evolved into responsible consciousness,

then it will be a sign that the end of the world is near for the humans. Many North Central

Indigenous Californians who buried their dead also buried their dogs with them,

illustrating their bond with our hayussa ancestor.53

There is an additional element to the previous story retold by O’Neil regarding the

“evil” plant. From an indigenous perspective, there is a purpose for all things hinak towis hennak (to make a good life), and “evil” plants are used with conscious awareness.

Death is as valuable in the world as life and such plants that traditionalist would call

“poison” were utilized within society with care, just as there are concerns regarding potent chemicals today. Anishinaabe Edna Manitowabi has demonstrated in her medicine camps in Ontario Canada, that powerful plants are used for medicinal and healing practices. For instance, pennyroyal is employed in small doses is an excellent remedy for colds, flu and throat ailments, though fatal in large amounts.

53 Brian F. Byrd, Anna Cornellas, Jelmer W. Eerkens, Jeffrey S. Rosenthal a , Tim R. Carpenter e , Alan Leventhal, Jennifer A. Leonard, “The role of canids in ritual and domestic contexts: new ancient DNA insights from complex hunter-gatherer sites in prehistoric Central California.” Journal of Archaeological Science. 40 (2013) 2176e2189. 76

Conclusion: Nelumbo Lutea and the Dream

Within Indigenous North Central Californian epistemology, the dream is a

powerful principle. It is a spiritual font or what Mirning song leader calls a “deep well of

Indigenous collective consciousness” (Whaledreamers). A metaphor of the dream

journey for Indigenous people is like the transformational process of the Lutea seed. The

seed falls into the waters of a quiet lake or river bed to begin the incubation stage of

gestation. It eventually retreats into the thick dark mud of the Earth. There are several worlds that the seed must journey through, the air, the water, and the land. What better

place to be is in ancestral homelands that contain the bones and blood of Indigenous

ancestors from their beginnings? Like the fetus in the womb, the seed absorbs maternal

DNA and recalls its true spiritual consciousness as a medicine.

By acknowledging the epistemology of Indigenous people who have honored the

relationship of life and creation for thousands of years, there is a chance for all

humankind to work together. All peoples can benefit from and have the opportunity to

develop relationships with ʼununni ʼunu. For the Indigenous, the Dream is where the

world of ancient mythology and contemporary living converge with ʼununni ʼunu to

reveal how to hinak towis hennak.

Figure 6 – Source: Seven Generations. © DMarcus 2015

CHAPTER 3 –Hinti Katu Ma Pichas (How We Know)

Protocol

You have to be involved in intention, and you have to be involved in interest. You have to be involved in trying to observe to see what’s going on, and then you have to have some sense of what it's for. (La Pena)

When waking, I remain still to reflect upon the dream state. During these times, glimpses, images rise to the surface of waking consciousness. When an object drops into a pond, it is visible through a glimmering shaft of light. The object is within a different substance, a different realm. The water world and the dream world have a unique quality that demands wuskippa (respect). Traveling through various environments may bring

confusion, misdirection, and fear. Therefore, waiting and reflecting are constitutions for

patience and the underlying protocol needed for the development of respectful

relationships no matter where one travels.

There is much power in the ability to establish respectful and reciprocating

relationships. Within Indigenous consciousness, power is not exclusive to political

leaders. Kashaya Pomo/Tamalko Greg Sarris states that “Anyone, man or woman, might

possess the formidable power, generating not fear but, in my estimation, respect (1993:

57).” Tamalko ancestors were very adept with the ability to traverse the boundaries of different worlds. They held great respect for their environment, and they did not fear it.

I had a fear of being in water because of a near-drowning experience when I was

eight years old at a public swimming pool. As an adult, I learned to swim while I was

living in Hawaiʻi. I now delight in being with natural environments where water resides

because my interests are to develop relationships with the ecosystems of the environment.

Respectful intention makes a difference in any manner of relationship building. There is

no fear or confusion for anyone when there is a clear intent. 79

As a member of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s Kekalahea newspaper staff,

we were invited to a taro harvesting that I participated in. Before our arrival, we had heard stories of water worms and swampy critters that reside in the taro patch. Because of a desire to develop a relationship with the taro, (a venerated Indigenous Hawaiʻian

ancestor), wading in a murky three-foot deep taro patch, and sinking into slimy mud

tangled with submerged vines was an adventure for me. My colleagues did not venture into the water.

Likewise, when studying with Edna Manitowabi on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, she mentioned that there were times when she went to harvest water lily medicine and had to deal with leeches. Knowing what to expect buffers the deterrence from

beseeching medicines of plant relatives, and the repulsion of uncomfortable imaginings

are repressed when there is respect and honoring in the harvest.

Protocol is an Indigenous lifeway. A primary initiative within Indigenous protocol

is to learn wuskippa (respect). When the manner of action is by hinti wuskinʼona (what

the hearts says) for hinak towis hennak (making a good life) with wuskippa (respect), the

possibility of establishing new relationships in the new realm are probable because the

perspective visions one intends are those also held by ancestors.

Karuk traditionalist Bobby Lake-Thorn addresses the importance of respect and the knowledge of knowing and dealing with the power of different environments. He gives an example of developing relationships with mountains, as it is imperative that one be familiar with an environment to expose and surrender themselves during vision quests and fasting initiations.

Mountains have their own kind of personality and power. A person must know exactly how to introduce himself to each mountain, or he can get hurt. The mountain also has its own family of Spirits that serve as guardians. (46)

When Lake-Thorn says “hurt,” this does not translate to immediate injury. Greg Sarris explains this further.

We had a system that saw in everything, even in a rock, the potential to protect itself and take care of itself. There was so much power in everything. Everything had spirit; everything has power, such that if you violated it in some way, it could come back on you. (Sarris, 2010)

In other words, repercussions could occur, like illness or accident caused by the elements, or intervention by spirits connected to the environments, or retaliation by the living beings that were not respected. Repercussions would not stop with the violator; there was an understanding that the injury would most likely visit the family and community of the perpetrator. Therefore instead of abusing the environment, human beings developed relationships with the environment to obtain allies for medicines and powers. Though these relationships were quite subtle and for the most part not outwardly visible, they were more valuable to the ancestors than any weapon or aggressive act of power and domination.

Sarris reminds us that this was not a relationship built upon superstitions and fear, but one of respect. “We were constantly reminded that we didn’t know everything

(Sarris, 2008).” Therefore, we have inherited from our ancestors a continual state of learning and striving to become respectful, responsible, and reciprocal human beings.

“Becoming” is Indigenous knowledge based upon the contextual framework of transformation and its process within the creative life force of ʼununni ʼunu. Greg Cajete equates Indigenous knowledge of this kind to the “Chaos theory”. Chaos theory is the reality of a continual moving, changing creative force within the passage of events. It is

the reality of the universe, as opposed to the underlying premise of Western science that

seeks to harness and control this pulsing force of life: Cajete comments on modern

man’s search for guaranteed outcomes.

The modern obsession is being in control and the dream of eliminating uncertainty through the control of nature. (Cajete 16)

For the Indigenous, the foremost objective in hinak towis hennak (making a good

life) is to understand to wuskippa (respect) relationships with the spiritual energies of the

world. Cody Pata gives a Nomlāqa explanation about the human body in relationship with the spiritual through traditional narrative.

To us, energy exists in all things. We have a story, the purpose of the backbone. People are the only ones that have the backbone facing this way, [vertically]. When we interact, we are connecting here and do things this kind of way [vertically]. When we sleep, our backbone is this way [horizontal]. We do things in that time, this type of interaction [horizontal]. Four-legged creatures and fish and others, their backbones are attuned to this way [horizontal]. They are attuned more to the energies of the land that tell them where to move or when to move. (Pata)

The natural horizontal placement of the backbone for human beings happens

when in sleep. There the human being can travel as horizontal peoples do on the planet,

however, not in a migratory physical manner, but rather in the dream time manner. As

animals attune themselves to ʼununni ʼunu in their seasonal transformational and

migrational journeys, humans in their dream journeys also attune to ʼununni ʼunu for

timely transformational purposes. Pata reveals that indigenous people understood from a pragmatic worldview that they are here for an intellectually spiritual purpose. Again Pata reiterates,

Everything has a function. There’s no extraneous wasted energy. Our ways are always about the efficient management and the manipulation of energy. (Pata)

Therefore, dreaming was a significant experience for obtaining Indigenous intelligence.

The dream time was an experience of purpose. Physicist and Indigenous ally David Peat supports this concept. He says:

[C]oming to knowing, in turn, gives him or her access to a certain sort of power, not necessarily power in the personal sense, but in the way a person can come into relationship with the energies and animating spirits of the universe. (55)

What Peat describes as “Coming to knowing,” from an Indigenous perspective, is the world of IK, Indigenous Knowledge, which is vast, and would take volumes of discourse to understand its intellectual conceptions. For these reasons, Indigenous

Studies and the gamut of Native American Studies and American Indian Studies has been forged to establish value in this knowledge within the Academy. There is a fundamentally spiritual and physical dimension experienced in IK that is personal and studied within the context of the community and with community-based Culture Bearers.

I offer valuable basic concepts within Indigenous consciousness that suggest how the ancestors saw their world. The dream world holds a tremendous influence on the dreamer’s ability to conceive subtle imagery. Through this ability, coupled with humility and wuskippa, the ancestors have left a legacy and the means to weave and establish

relationships in the different environments.

ʼOssa Sut ‘Ute: Two Eyes Seeing

From Eskasoni First Nation in Atlantic Canada, Mi'kmaq Elders Albert and

Murdena Marshall have collaborated with Cape Breton University in Nova Scotia to help promote Mi’kmaw culture, language and cross-cultural understandings, reconciliation and healing. Together, they have developed KECCA (Knowledge Education & Culture

Consultant Associates) to better their work and to encourage a healthy future for the

Mi’kmaw Nation. "Etuaptmumk / Two-Eyed Seeing," is a phrase that Albert coined for 83 the gift of multiple perspectives. Albert and Murdena encourage the use of this guiding principle for the co-learning journey of different cultural pieces of knowledge working together.

[T]his philosophy/ideology is so ingrained in your subconscious that you are constantly aware of not creating an imbalance. Key concepts within this understanding are: co-existence, interrelatedness, interconnectiveness, and community spirit. (two-eyed seeing)

Film star of “Smoke Signals”, Coast Salish Evan Adams, now Evan Adams M.D., is also an advocate for the principles of “two-eyed seeing”. Adams feels that the people of First Nations have a cultural focus that is binary, one that is racially Indigenous, and the other as citizens living within the dominant colonial paradigm. The majority of his patients are Indigenous peoples. Adams is trying to bring balance to the health care system. He stresses, “It is immoral for any racial group within a country to have better health than another, and we should fight for equity and equality (Adams).”

The Marshalls and Adams are building bridges by weaving back and forth between the Indigenous and Western perspectives representing goals devoid of domination or assimilation. Many Culture Bearers wish to continue to build bridges similar to the Marshalls and Adams across the cultural divisions. It is clear that such a voyage is imperative. For most of us, we are mixed races; we live varied lifestyles as well as embrace divergent spiritual practices. Another intent of this dissertation is to contribute to supporting bridges and or to help build bridges towards healing and growth.

For this research, from an Indigenous perspective, there are no binary constructs.

Seneca philosopher Anne Waters interjects in Language Matters: Nondiscrete nonbinary dualism, that an Indigenous perspective is a non-discrete and non-binary dualism. Waters reiterates how Greek philosophies brought about the dualist bifurcated or separatist

84 ideologies where “objects were evil because they drew attention away from the ‘purity’ of abstract thought (99).” Therefore, the world of matter is considered an illusion and not to be respected, but the ideal “other” spiritual realm of God where abstract ideas are the only truth, is valued above all else. On the other hand, Waters clarifies Indigenous thought:

A nonbinary (complementary) dualism would place the two constructs together in such a way that one would remain itself, and be also a part of the other. In this way, a hierarchical valuing of one being better, superior, or more valued than another cannot be, or rather is, excluded by the non-binary logic. (98-99)

Hence, Waters emphasizes a primary and essential quality of Indigenous thought: opposites in life on Earth are equal; the physical and the spiritual, day and night, dark and light, men and women. In other words, within Indigenous philosophy, dualistic concepts do not exist, but rather like what Russell and Pearl Means expressed about the Indigenous perspective on gender, differences are honored and respected for what they are, unless analyzed by dominating Western philosophy.

Western ideologies have established divisions of the outer worlds, and the quest for political control over the living. Western science also has assigned properties of value to the inner workings of the brain. In a neurological study of the brain and its faculties, the left side of the brain governs the rational, analytic aspects of life. The right aspect of the brain governs the abstract and creative aspects of life. In Mind Matters by psychologist Michael Gazzaniga, reports on Neurological research done on patients who have the right brain hemisphere damaged, determined that without the use of the right brain hemisphere, a human being could function relatively normal in society.

Additional neurological research by Julian Jaynes suggests that the right hemisphere of the brain was highly active in the preliterate human being. 54 Jaynes believes symbolic mythopoeic consciousness was prevalent before language. He says that with the development of language and literacy, technological advances accelerated to what we are now familiar with in the 21st century as the intelligent, dominant rational, logical and functional aspects of human consciousness.

Further, Jaynes’ thesis stresses that preliterate people of the world did not have self-consciousness. Their understanding of the world was in trusting the phenomena of the spiritual, or rather; they gave their power of consciousness to their gods. Through

Jaynes’ perspective, humans’ ability to think for themselves evolved towards a left hemispheric brain consciousness

I speculate that Jaynes addressed a non-Indigenous audience, and primarily white male philosophers. Little does he mention Indigenous cultures except for the sharp contrasting analysis he gives of the Inca in comparison to the Spanish soldiers under

Pizzaro’s command during the Spanish - Incan conquest. Jaynes questions how it was possible for a “mere” set of Spanish soldiers to dominate and seize an entire Inca empire.

Jaynes theorizes that the Inca could not think for themselves. That they were, “Not subjectively conscious, unable to deceive or to narratize out the deception of others, the

Inca, and his lords were captured like helpless automatons (Jaynes, 160).”

Jaynes does not consider the indigenous perspective; that thievery, betrayal, and subterfuge were not prominent deliberations within the consciousness of the Incan empire. Sabine Hyland of St. Norbert College comments about the Inca in Rise of the

54 Julian Jaynes, The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976) 86

Incas: Mankind, the Story of all of Us, “They were able to forge an empire notable for

their peace and prosperity.”55 This analysis suggests that contact between the Inca and

the Spaniards was a clash of consciousness between the Indigenous and the European

ethical perspectives.

Further historical research exposed in The Great Inca Rebellion, illustrates that the Incan populace was reduced by rivaling neighbors from a recent civil war before

Pizarro’s entrance into Peru. Moreover, the close neighboring rivals became allies to

Pizarro,who assisted the Spanish to subdue the Inca further.56 Ultimately, the Incan

empire was reduced by smallpox brought on by the Spanish. Such findings do not support Jaynes theory regarding Incan consciousness and their inability to think rationally

for themselves.

Jaynes feels that man’s evolution out of unconsciousness from what he coined as

the “bicameral mind” is what he believes has given humans the intelligence and a

“superior” consciousness of today. Conversely, I believe that the loss of what Jaynes

terms the “bicameral mind” through the selfish and aggressive use of technology that has

manipulated and abused nature has propelled a consciousness of destruction over what

was a wholistic human consciousness. Modern civilization destroyed for all of humanity

a balanced yet slowing and naturally evolving consciousness with nature, as well as the

disruption of Indigenous societies.

It is clear that Jaynes’ attention centers on the evolution of consciousness within

the white Eurocentric population. He is ignorant of the knowledges of Indigenous

cultures and has no jurisdiction to discourse on Indigenous Incan consciousness. Jaynes’

55 “Rise of the Inca”. Documentary - Mankind: The Story of All of Us. 56 The Great Inca Rebellion. Nova. 87 theory of the modern evolvement out of an ancient and balanced yet developing consciousness was a profound loss of encompassing perception within the mythopoeic that all human ancestors possessed.

From Jaynes’ perspective, the door to universal spiritual consciousness is closed to modern society. Perhaps this is the reason for the non-Indigenous widespread interest in the mysteries of spiritual concepts, and unknown worlds and the peoples that contain them. Civilized ideologies have impaired a natural order of evolutionary consciousness.

However, for Indigenous societies within the colonial paradigm, the impact has been a mere five hundred years of consciousness manipulation. Damage initiated by modern

“civilized” evolution, may not be as extensive for culturally connected Indigenous people. Whereas, in comparison to the colonial Western cultural memory, settler consciousness has been manipulated and influenced for thousands of years.

Anishinaabe scholar James Dumont explains a similar analysis through Ojibwe narrative in Journey to Daylight-Land: Through Ojibwa Eyes. Dumont’s narrative explains that the Redman and the White man were traveling on the same road and came to a point in the path where it split into two divergent directions. The road the White man chose was one offering knowledge through accumulation and to what could be seen immediately ahead into the future. This path was a fast and straight journey, a linear perspective, or what Dumont called a 180-degree vision. The road the Redman chose was not as attractive. It was a slower and longer traveled road, but it offered a comprehensive circular perspective or what Dumont termed a 320-degree vision that included the physical as well as the spiritual perspective of knowledge.

So by actually focusing so intently in a scientific and linear fashion, modern man has limited himself – to the extent of perhaps losing entirely a whole way of seeing. (Dumont, 31)

For Jaynes, there is no going back to what he calls the “unconscious state” of the

mythopoeic “primitive” and “hallucinogenic” religious experience because of the breakdown of this ancient consciousness. Ironically, Indigenous people have never completely evolved out of what Jaynes calls the bicameral mind. They have naturally evolved along with Jaynes “bicameral mind” as well as had to adapt to the colonial manner of thinking. The mythopoeic knowledge within Indigenous intelligence that hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart says) stimulates are factors of sustainability in Northern

Central California Indigenous consciousness.

The use of the right side of the brain is where humans comprehend symbols,

metaphors, dreams and the access to the creative process. Here is where art and

semiotics flourish while language is silent. Artist instructor Betty Edwards recalls an

example of right brain dynamics given by psychologist David Galin: “Try to describe a

spiral staircase without making a spiral gesture (35).” Furthermore, Edwards advocates that drawings provide us with the pictures of our perceptions. Aldous Huxley comments on the overvalued use of the left hemisphere:

To make biological survival possible, mind at large has to be funneled through the reducing valve of the brain and nervous system. What comes out of the other end is a measly trickle of the kind of consciousness which will help us to stay alive on the surface of this particular planet. (qt. in Edwards 37)

An Indigenous conscious society is not only to survive on Mother Earth but to flourish and live a whole and complete life with a consciousness of the myth story of Her

creation. Perhaps Huxley is addressing Western civilization and its focus on survival.

There is a concern in contemporary society over the significant underdevelopment of the

right hemisphere of the brain. Such a society has primarily based its intelligence on a

mentality of survival contingent upon reaction rather than deliberation.

The nervous system sends messages to the brain from our bodies. Interestingly,

our autonomic nervous system is divided into two subdivisions, the parasympathetic, and

the sympathetic nervous systems. The parasympathetic system automatically regulates

internal organs and glands. The sympathetic system is always active to maintain

hormonal balance. It is this sympathetic nervous system that kicks into the “fight or

flight” response caused by an adrenal rush. The sympathetic system’s primary function is

for survival. Alternatively, the complimentary parasympathetic system puts the brakes

on the impulsiveness of the hormonal triggered sympathetic system.

Is this the foundations of the dominant culture? Is the nervous system a potent

factor in modern consciousness, to stop and go, to do or do not consciousness?

Alternatively, is this what we feel within colonization and why we strive to have more

meaning in life than to just exist through a binary existence?

Attawapiskat scholar Jacqueline Hookimaw-Witt believes that Indians use all their brains, as opposed to “White men” who value the left hemisphere of the brain.

The right side of the brain, the seat of intuition and emotions, withers in non- Native education because it is not considered valid for a reason I really do not understand. If the creator has given us two brains, why would we only use one and desperately try to shut off the other? (24)

Indigenous ancestors have not lived in a brain separated consciousness. Both hemispheres have been functioning side-by-side respectfully together since their origins.

Our ancestors have learned to use their minds in a manner that harmonizes with their internal and extended environmentally reactionary nervous systems.

Ethnographer Keith Basso says of Indigenous thought, “ It is the responsibility of individuals to critically assess their own minds and prepare them for wisdom by cultivating the qualities for smoothness, resilience, and steadiness (133).” The equanimity of a peaceful mind engenders a scope of vision which can encompass ideas and realities beyond what only the physical sight emits.

[I]n order to understand certain phenomena we have to go beyond logical, analytical thinking, at least sometimes, and by this we will have to try to also understand the world with our emotional/spiritual mind. (Hookimaw-Witt 25)

Indigenous Theory

To focus beyond such concerns is to travel directly to the truth of Indigenous spiritual knowledge, creation. Creation and the bifurcation process from an Indigenous perspective are not acts of separatism but convergence. Greg Cajete illustrates a scientific perspective where the bifurcation point is a consciousness between ideologies.

This consciousness between worlds transforms spiritual energies of creation. This enactment is the shift that takes place in nature and exists everywhere in life. Cajete gives an example of water and its transformational boiling process. Cajete calls this merging of the positive that amplifies, and the negative that depresses the process, as the eye of the storm where the connection of two distinct aspects of energy in balance, become consciousness and create.

Like the birth of a child, or a bolt of lightning connecting the sky and Earth for a moment in time, these are the infinite moments of both chaos and order. This is the precept of Native science, for truth is not a fixed point, but rather an ever- evolving point of balance, perpetually created and perpetually new. (Cajete 48)

As living beings, we are a part of a world full of potentially active possibilities in which to engage. Our brains are not the only organs that retrieve knowledge. In a discourse at Trent University, Anishinaabe Elder Michael Thrasher illustrated that

Indigenous knowledge is alive throughout every cell and fiber of the body.57 Personal

experience through the body must be acknowledged and developed to establish

confidence in the teachings of the Earth. Also, dream time and its language of imagery

and metaphor are imperative for Indigenous knowledge development.

Without this wisdom, there can be no intelligent engagement with the spirits in the middle world of the Earth, as well as with the upper and lower spiritual dimensions.

Without this development, we are only conscious of one time and dimension when we

live in a universe of infinite awarenesses. There are no separations within Indigenous

consciousness. We can be divided from this awareness if imposed by those who believe

one dimension is reality and that others are not.

The understanding of the experience of reality and its aural representation validates the congruence between nature and mind in their primal symmetry and the renewal of their intellectual engagement. Dismissing this process as imaginary keeps those assimilated by modernity content with their condition by dispelling this numinous heritage much as colonization misjudged Aboriginal teachers as childish or naïve in trying to naturalize neo-American minds. (Sheridan 370)

Indigenous ontological factors of consciousness include metaphor and vision along with

the entire sensorial intelligence of the body. This all-encompassing perspective is what

Dan Longboat defines as the 720-degree vision. 58

There are two significant Indigenous theories appropriate for supporting

Indigenous perspectives. Metaphoric Mind and Ancestral Memory/Memory in the Blood

are theories that pertain to a priori, as well as posteriori knowledge. According to

German philosopher Emanuel Kant, there are laws of space known to the mind. Laws

within us since birth termed a priori are brought back into memory by external

57 Michael Thrasher. Keynote Speaker in Indigenous Knowledge Seminar Course. Trent University 2012. 58 Dan Longboat food systems lecture. Trent University. 2013 92

circumstance, and there is knowledge from experience that comes after an event,

posteriori59. Both Indigenous theories bring a priori and posteriori together spiritually in

consciousness as a mythic Indigenous ideology.

Tewa scholar, Greg Cajete suggests that the use of the Indigenous metaphoric mind gives a broader scope and depth to consciousness.

Because its processes are tied to creativity, perception, image, physical senses, and intuition, the metaphoric mind reveals itself through abstract symbols, visual/spatial reasoning, sound, kinesthetic expression, and various forms of ecological and integrative thinking. (30-31)

Hawaiʻian scholar Manulani Meyer identifies metaphoric intelligence in triangulating our way to meaning, from an interdimensional perspective.

Through our objective/empirical knowing (body) into wider spaces of reflection offered through conscious subjectivity (mind) and, finally, through recognition and engagement with deeper realities (spirit). (Meyer, 265)

Spirit placed in the center of all things is wholistic consciousness, the space between spaces, where unlimited potential and creativity exists. From the heart of Spirit, any direction is equal to the rest. Spirit at the center brings everything together; it is the sacred hoop.

To know we are more than body and thought is to acknowledge how those ideas expand into wider realms of knowing and being. This is a spirit-centered truth that is older than time. (Meyer, 274)

Metaphoric thinking allows images and timeless experience such as myth to continue in the life experience and to live on for future generations. Robin Ridington gives this example in Trail to Heaven, by retelling a story of a Dunne-za Elder Japasa

(70-71). Japasa continued to carry a bond between his peoples’ histories and their relationship with the animals and with the environment they held for thousands of years.

59 Kant, Emmanuel Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics pages 36-38. 93

Many of Japasa’s myth-stories were experiences about animals he lived with as if they

were human beings. He respected them as people. He could understand their language

and their songs. He said he visited frogs who would gamble beneath the lake.

While visiting with Wintu Elder Frank LaPena, he demonstrated a fundamental

aspect of mythic consciousness. We were walking out to the car and there in front of us

sat a squirrel intently addressing us. Frank said, “Oh, excuse me, I’ll be back in a

moment.” He unlocked his front door while the squirrel patiently waited behind him.

They both entered the house together. Frank said their language of communication was

in images.

Dumont offers an Anishinaabe myth-story regarding an undocumented event

during the War of 1812 on Manitoulin Island in Ontario. Two Anishinaabe Warriors

were selected to go on a mission to learn about the English battle strategy. Through

ceremony, the men were transformed into bats to accomplish the operation at night

(Dumont, 35). Dumont describes Native history as one that embraces the way of seeing a

wholistic reality, and that is participating in the dream and vision.

Ridington offers an another analysis on the Indigenous myth-story:

Western events happen once and are gone forever. Mythic events return like the swans each spring. The events of history are particular to their time and place. They cannot be experienced directly by people of different times and places. Mythic events are different. They are true in a way that is essential and eternal. In mythic time, a person can be a frog or fox and still be a person, In mythic time, a child can be led toward the place where knowledge and power will come to him naturally. (72)

Within Indigenous consciousness, mythic time and story are emersions with the

Earth. It is a natural experience. Ridington uses the term “naturally”. What evolves

naturally is within an environment supported by endemic relatives and ancestors. Time

allows the imprint of memory to absorb and coalesce within the landscape. 94

Ancestral Memory or Memory in the Blood is an Indigenous theory significantly

coined by Kiowa N. Scott Momaday in his Pulitzer Prize novel House Made of Dawn.

Indigenous “ancestral memory” was (and still is considered) a controversial and political

concept that surfaced during the Civil Rights era. It began as a response to Indian authenticity. 60 Within Momaday’s imaginative/remembering literary style,

“ancestral/memory in the blood” has inspired and been further developed by many

Indigenous authors and scholars. 61 Ancestral Memory theory challenges the non-

Indigenous within Western Scholarship as to what Indigenous memories mean to

Indians.62

What this means for the Indigenous is the value of identity and a reconnection

with family and place. Again within this “mythic space” an Indian can travel not only

between worlds but, through the bloodline, and between generations, thus bringing the

connections of memories and stories together and owning them all. In doing so, a

disconnected Indian can feel like being plugged back in. For descendants who have little

tangibles left from their ancestors, these theories are tools of agency for the purpose of

resurgence. Indigenous theories are necessary for the analysis of Indigenous spiritual

consciousness, particularly for this research within Indigenous Northern California

communities. The people are recultivating identities and heritages with little to work

with from the outside world and with a few of surviving Elders. When the Elders offer

their memories, they are infusing the rest of us with Indigenous ancestral consciousness.

60 Federal blood quantum requirements as to how much “Indian” is in the blood was another colonial control mechanism imposed on Indian people to determine who was qualified to be a real Indian. 61 Works accomplished by celebrated Indigenous authors as Leslie Anne Silko, Ceremony. Jo Harjo She Had Horses, and Gerald Vizenor, Heirs of Columbus. 62 Chadwick Allen page 1. Blood and Memory 95

Unfortunately, Indigenous theories confound non-Indigenous literary critics

because they do not understand them. They want everything regarding knowledge to

conform to Western theoretical analysis. Literary critics fear that if literary theories are

excluded from Native American literature, they will have limited engagement with

Indigenous literature criticism. 63

Non-indigenous Arnold Krupat Native American literature critic, who has based

his career on the Native American culture, criticizes Indigenous autobiographies; he calls

them egocentric individualism, and historicism (29). Unfortunately, such critics who

make their living on Native Americans are not concerned about the value Native

American literature offers to Indigenous peoples and their identities. Rather it seems that

some non-indigenous literary critics’ concerns are about their ego-centric status within

the academy. In his essay Personal Reflections, Momaday says

The Indian and white man perceive the world in different ways. [E]xistence of intrinsic variables in man's perception of his universe, variables that are determined to some real extent on the basis of his genetic constitution. (1987:156)

For the Indigenous, there is a personal connection to everything that they

genetically belong to or they would not be considered Indigenous. Is it the “trickster”

enigma, the mysterious aura that Indigenous theories emit, that tends to agitate non-

Indigenous critics?

Tamalko are descendants of the Trickster, Coyote. Our legends tell us Coyote

made our ancestors from various parts of the Earth and feathers, representing both the

tangible physical world and the intangible spiritual realm. In Tamalko myth-stories,

ʼoyyin ʼoye (old man coyote) is always getting someone to help him acquire what he

63 Krupat’s Voice in the Margins argument against 13-14 96

thinks he needs in the most foolish ways. What eventually works in the end, is always

for what the people need, and is accomplished by an element of simplicity and surprise,

(mostly to Coyote, who even surprises himself with his intelligence). Today, with the

help of ʼoyyin ʼoye (Old Man Coyote) Indigenous people are making claims to what they

create such as their own intellectual property, within their own intellectual paradigm, and

operating on their own terms.

Ma ʼAkkalaako: Our Stories

A primary focus for many Indigenous scholars is to be the protagonists who re-

write American History. More truthfully, that they inject an ethical lens into the inducted

historical annals of documentation. For Indigenous people, we are opening up our

mouths so that our voices, and those who frightfully endured tremendous atrocities, can

be acknowledged and heard. Their spirits can then rejoin us in healing so they can make

the final trail to heaven across the universe, and so we can all transform in peace.

Transformation is inherent in Indigenous consciousness. A symbol of

transformation is the Lotus. Lutea, Indigenous North American Lotus, connects to and

lives by the sun. Her blooming timeframe occurs during the hottest month of the year,

July when she needs direct sunlight. The summer solstice is the most celebrated time of

the year in many Indigenous cultures as the sun is an all-encompassing Indigenous

symbol of transformational consciousness.64 Metaphorically, Lutea is a representation of

the sun on Earth symbolized by the ceremonial fire. Lutea’s yellow bloom is another

allegory of the sun with her petals resembling flaming rays.

64 Plains tribes practiced traditional Sun Dance during the Summer Solstice. Many North Central Indigenous communities in California celebrate the traditional Big Head ceremony on Summer Solstice. Winter Solstice is an indicator for a time when many celebrations and ceremonies can be conducted during permissible weather as well. 97

An Indigenous understanding of the power of fire and its connection to the sun has utilized its presence as an imperative foundation for all traditional spiritual practices.

In the traditional practice of the sweat lodge or purifying ritual for initiation and transformation, fire is used to help cleanse and bring balance, clarity, and spiritual protection to the initiate. Fire is present in all traditional gatherings to remind us the power of Spirit and its intense reflection within us of hinti wuskin ʼona i (what the heart

says).

Akwesasne knowledge keeper, Skahendowaneh Swamp teaches that the

Onondaga Nation holds the position of Fire keeper or central council within the

Haudenosaunee Six Nations Confederacy. After deliberation has taken place between the Mohawks, Senecas, Oneidas and Cayugas, a proposal is sent to the Onondaga Central

Council consisting of 14 chiefs. If for some reason the Firekeepers unanimously feel there may be anything that would be harmful to the peoples, they will send back the proposal with their concerns for further deliberation.

For the Anishinaabe, fire represents the cycles of transformation and prophesies.

Eddie Benton Banai illustrates in The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway, a

journey of the seven grandfather teachings. Anishinaabe education is the traditional

ethical teaching for conducting Biimaadiziwin (living a good life) or hinak towis hennak.

Founding principles for the Anishinaabe are Wisdom, Love, Respect, Bravery, Honesty,

Humility, and Truth. Also in the teachings, Anishinaabe have a Seven Fire Prophesy

based upon the wisdom of the Midewiwin Grand Medicine Society. Midewiwin

prophecies foretell that each new age of consciousness has a chance to uphold the

teachings. The present cycle of life is at the last stage of the 7th fire. Prophesy says the

teachings must be embodied as a living consciousness in the world, or the world will

cease to exist.65

Life and the spiritual living experience essentially represent Fire, and is expressed

through creativity, as spoken word, songs, and performance. For Indigenous peoples who

are conscious of the prophecies, they are piecing together the broken sequences of living

practices that draw their wisdom back to its source, the Fire of Spirit.

Creek scholar Craig Womack states that “If one remembers these story

connections, the act of memory itself is a cleansing and rekindling of old fires (235).”

We tell the stories to rekindle our spirits and to reconnect to the consciousness of our

ancestors. When we make mythological connections, we can transform from all that has

kept us from touching life. The act of participation in life is what Indigenous consciousness is all about, and it is through the stories that bring back indigenous lives.

Cree playwright, Tomson Highway professes the value of Aboriginal mythology.

In Aboriginal mythology, there exists not one God as in Christian mythology, nor many gods, as in Greek mythology, but, rather, the concept of ‘God in all’ or ‘God in everything’ – in Aboriginal mythology, that is to say, we speak not of monotheism” or of ‘polytheism’ but of ‘pantheism,’ the Greek word ‘pan’ meaning all, as in ‘panorama,’or in ‘pan-American.’ Meaning that all of nature – virtually pulsates with divinity. In the field of cellular biology, they call the notion, I do believe, animism, in mythology and theology, we call it pantheism. (42)

The terminology “pantheism” brings the Earth and its spiritual aspects forefront in the consciousness of Indigenous peoples. All of life, and what comes from the tangible and living world is valuable. What makes the world phenomenal, is that life and its tangibles

65 I learned of the 7 fire prophesy through oral transmission from Elder Edna Manitowabi as well as Elder Anishinaabe Michael Thrasher. 99 are powerfully connected to the spiritual universe and to ʼununni ʼunu, who brings everything together.

Like the tangibles in our waking world, dreams have given many Indigenous people gifts. Indigenous North Central California ancestors knew such gifts were extremely powerful as living entities.

It is as if the song were a being, and it came to a person, almost like an animal might come to a person. The song was thought of as a living thing that would allow itself to be sung. (Margolin 83)

When the ancestors told a story, that story was considered an entity that was respected and handled with care. The Culture Bearer took the responsibility to know how to utilize the wisdom and power of the spirit of the story, song or any creative endeavor.

The art of weaving heeded prayer and ceremony as a connection to the supernatural for the assistance prior to proceeding to the task. Greg Sarris writes about his Auntie Mable, renowned Pomo basket weaver in Mabel Mackay: Weaving the Dream and how she sang for spiritual guidance to begin her basket weaving and throughout the entire process. (Marcus 2011: 34)

As cultural connections, myth-stories hold valuable life. Marcus reiterates, “Myth is a living legend, and can be useful in any age; its transformation is what reveals its immortal power (Marcus, 2010: 46).”

Anishinaabe scholar Leanne Simpson shares in Islands of Decolonial Love, that it is the responsibility of the middle age people to make sure the Elder’s stories are relevant to the younger generation. She refers to this process as creating the bridge between generations. Storytelling is fluid; it is an act of resistance, a display of traditional teaching. Simpson says this is the best way to use the story as an act of rebuilding the

100

Aboriginal nation as a resistance against the legacy of colonialism and to revive, sustain,

and encourage the connection to traditional cultural practices.66

To rekindle Tamalko myth-story wisdom as a bridge-maker for the contemporary context, I take the responsibility to illuminate a Tamalko myth story within contemporary

Indigenous consciousness. The myth-story is based on a version from ethnographer C. H.

Merriam’s collection of Miwok stories, Dawn of the World: Myths and Tales of the

Miwok Indians of California. I have written a play, and I have named it Wuki Ma

ʼInniikoomu: Fire from our Relatives, from the original Tamalko myth story, How we got fire, or Hummingbird Steals Fire retold in Merriam’s text.

The story described the world when Tamalko were new upon the lands. They did

not have Fire. Old Man Coyote wants the people to have a fire. He calls out to the First

Peoples to help him bring fire to the Tamalko. Many of the ancient ones came to help but in the end, they agree that Kuluppis, Hummingbird, is the quickest and best choice.

Kuluppis is to steal a burning coal from the monster that tends the large fire in the north.

Kuluppis is small and not easy to see, and fast enough to bring the fire to the people, so

the coal stays hot. The play is on Page 401, Appendix B.

From an Indigenous hermeneutical perspective, fire is consciousness. When

Spirit warms us, we are at peace with the world. It is holding a spiritual life that is

represented by fire as a metaphor when we seek hinak towis hennak. Perhaps there was a

time in the early days when fear enveloped Tamalko consciousness. Perhaps it was a story used many times when the people had lost hope, and all they could see was the darkness and nightmares. The myth-story reminds us that when external historical events

66 Leanne Simpson, Islands of Decolonial Love. 101

besiege our consciousness, it is the time when we need to rely unequivocally on trusting

our ancestors and their stories.

One by one, they will come to help us along our journies until there will be that

one, like Kuluppis (when we are ready and able), who will have the solutions. The helper

may be small and seem inconsequential like ka soli weleetak, (my dream helper) Lutea.

When many people have dreams of eagles, bears, or wolves, I dream of a flower as ka

soli weleetak.

When we know she is the one to help do the job, then there will be an initiation so

we can confront the monster/s to survive. In Hummingbird Steals Fire, the original story’s concept was an act of theft, “To steal fire.” I have changed the idea of stealing fire in the play. I believe consciousness cannot be stolen from another source. Instead, when practicing traditional protocol, we must initiate a petition. Again, something jealously hoarded by an oppressor is not something that would be beneficial in the long run. Moreover, would we want to possess an oppressor’s possessions? Especially if examined for the benefit of the seven generation duration, is it something we need? We all know through European fairy tales that when a giant or monster has something of power or monetary value and stolen, there are problems attached to the object, through stealing it. With fire, we know we need it to survive. To help the younger generation towards the way to hinak towis hennak, and to break away from the dominant settler

consciousness of “stealing”, I have made a change in the story/play.

I felt very comfortable in substituting an ancestral relative “for the monster” who

tends the fire in the north. Matah Kagmi, is the Modoc name for Big Foot, and the

102

ancestor in the revised play.67 He is a kind relative from the regions of the high forest

country of Northern California and from the Modoc and Klamath homelands of my great

grandfather. From an emergent Indigenous perspective, Matah Kagmi would be happy to

offer Kuluppis a burning coal.

Since writing the myth-story play, Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk shared a

Wintu song (at a Winnemem council fire) for what the Wintu refer to as Yeti (Sasquatch).

To the Winnemem, Yeti is a beloved living spiritual ancestor whom the Winnemem pray

and sing for survival in the world. To the Winnemem, the Yeti’s life presence is a reminder of the “real” people’s presence as well as who the Winnemem are in the world.

They are together struggling for the delicate balance of Indigenous survival.

Wuki Ma ʼInniikoomu: Fire from our Relatives is a reminder of the immediate

survival of spiritual consciousness needed for hinak towis hennak in the contemporary

context. We can not regain this by ourselves; we must petition the ancestors. Elders in

Ontario represented ancestors I found along the way. Then I met Chief Caleen of the

Winnemem. Like Kuluppis and her journey to obtain fire, Elders and Culture Bearers

have gifted me a small burning coal to bring back to my ʼinniiko.

Tootoy ʼAkkalaako: Colonial Stories/History

Historical Facts are pieces of information much like Darryl Babe Wilson’s broken mirror metaphor, scattered and detached. In the past, it had been the practice of

historians and anthropologists to take pieces of information and fit them into a historical

67 Big Foot is a traditional ancestor in my Klamath Modoc Great grandfather’s traditional homelands. Big Foot did not exist for what I know in Tamalko Myth story but in the original story, Kuluppis, Hummingbird is elected to steal the fire from a monster that has the fire in the north. 103

tale even if they do not belong. At other times, as revealed by Amerian historian Howard

Zinn, facts are excluded from the text for political reasons.68

I made a discovery during research by uncovering a long-standing family

mystery, the identity of my great grandfather. My mother’s maternal grandfather came

from the Modoc and Klamath communities in Siskiyou County California and Klamath

Oregon. Through the adventure of finding my great grandfather, I became a member of

the Siskiyou Geneology Society. Yreka genealogists shared stories about unethical

research practices regarding ancestral histories where identities are injected into history,

even though the people and stories are incorrect. Anxious historians and researchers use

names and identities merely as pieces to fill up a gap to get a book written or research

finished.

Primary historical and ethnological sources used in this research are from Sir

Francis Drake (1652), Heizer R.F. (1980), Cooke S.F. (1976), and Kelly I., (1996) to illustrate fragmented colonial histories of Indigenous North Central California myth- story. 69 Indigenous narrative fills in the spaces.

The earliest historical documentation about North Central Indigenous Californians

was in regards to the Tamalko in 1579 by Chaplain Fletcher of the Golden Hind, an

exploratory ship Captained by Sir Francis Drake under the crown of England. Accounts

68 Howard Zinn, for an example of a hidden history in A People’s History of the United States .Zinn’s focus is on the people’s history instead of the leaders. 69 Drake, Frances Sir. The World Encompassed. Noted by Chaplain Frances Fletcher. London: Nicholas Bourne, 1652. http://www.spirasolaris.ca/sbb9we.pdf, Robert F. Heizer and Albert B. Elsasser. The Natural World of the California Indians. 1920. Berkeley: University California Press, 1980, Sherburne F. Cook, The Conflict Between The California Indians and White Civilization. Berkeley: University California Press, 1976, and Isabel Kelly, Interviews with Tom Smith and Maria Copa: Isabel Kelly’s Ethnographic Notes on The Coast Miwok Indians of Marin and Southern Sonoma Counties, California. Collier, Mary E. and Sylvia B. Thalman, Compiled and Edited. San Rafael: Miwok Archeological Preserve of Marin. Second Printing. 1996. 104

of the Tamalko were examinations of a “species” not a record of visitation to the shores

of Tamalko homelands. Drake, known as a pirate to the Spaniards was in search of

Spanish Manilla Galleons, to replenish provisions, make ship repairs, and bring back

booty to the Queen. While visiting the shores of Oregon and California, Drake later

commissioned Tamál Húye and the surrounding regions as New Albion, or New England,

as a future colony of the British Crown. Drake’s landing on New Albion’s shores later

became known as Drake’s Bay. Elizabeth the 1st knighted Drake in 1587 and shortly

after summoned him to fight the Spanish Armada invasion in 1588. Neither Drake nor

England returned to California’s Pacific.

After Drake’s encounter, there is little documentation on North Central

Indigenous California until the Spanish Crown sent clergy to establish Missions. All

California peoples were tremendously affected. At a Sonoma County Gathering of

Native Americans in 1999, visiting Elders from Dry Creek and Round Valley

communities spoke about the impact of the disease that Drake’s visit brought to them.

From oral narratives, early contact of foreign infectious diseases dramatically decreased

the populations of North Central California Indigenous peoples.70

North Central Indigenous people did not isolate themselves from neighbors.

Many recognize each other as relatives. Diverse languages and dialects existed within communities, in particular through intermarriage. Contraction of disease would have widely spread amongst Indigenous peoples in North Central California. Population counts that were documented by ethnographers in the early 1900’s could not have been

close to the actual preexisting Indigenous peoples.

70 GONA conference at Indian Health Center in spring 1999. 105

In 1999, I attended and volunteered at G.O.N.A., Gathering of Native Americans

conference at Sonoma County Indian Health. Elders at the conference believed early

contact with Drake’s party brought pandemic disease and death. The Elders also believed

their ancestors worked to counteract the “power” of these tootoyko (white) people with

“poison.”

Isabel Kelly’s ethnographic notes reveal from Tamalko Tom Smith and Maria

Copa that “poisoning” was an active participant in Tamalko Indigenous life. Poisoning is

an Indigenous term for using power in a selfish way, in other terms, witchcraft. Perhaps

it was a part of life for many centuries amongst Indigenous peoples throughout the globe

as the Haudenosaunee admit to a history of witchcraft and war. However, for the

Haudenosaunee, along with the disposal of hatchets of war, went the practice of

witchcraft. The Haudenosaunee peoples transitioned into a consciousness of the Great

Law of Peace. What is witchcraft but a personal act of vengeance, power and control?

I remember narratives from my Filipino father about “witch doctors” who put curses on unsuspecting people and also “poisoned” them, and also about the stories regarding the journies the victims made to find another “witch doctor” who could remove

the curse and heal the poisonings. Was this practice active during pre-contact throughout

the Indigenous world, and then escalated with the tootoyko encounter?

An early 19th century Inupiat legend tells a story about a prophet called Manillaq,

who like the Haudenosaunee Peace Maker, brought the people messages of love and

peace so that they would be inspired to break consciously away from the control that the

sorcerers had over them. The story illustrates that the Inupiat magicians became selfish,

106 and power crazed and resorted to witchcraft. Eventually, the people chose Christianity to break away from sorcerers’ control. 71

There are no accounts as to why hundreds of Tamalko in the early 1800’s entered

Mission Dolores in San Francisco for baptism. Could it have been disease and loss of population? Did the people loose faith in their healers who could not protect them any longer, or was poisoning rampant in communities? Alternatively, did the Tamalko come to realize that foreigners would continue to invade their homelands, as many witnessed the Russian - American trapping company along with their Aleut helpers descend into

Bodega Bay in 1811?

The Russian-American Company took Tamalko and Pomo women as wives and concubines at the Fort Ross settlement. Cook states that in the 1840’s, gold miners and settlers seized about half the Indigenous female populations for their wives and concubines (332). Could this have been going on during the mission period with the

Spanish as well? Could it have been a safer place for Indians to be in the missions than on the outside? Did the mission system look more attractive to the Indigenous people than their communities at the time?

Eventually, all Tamalko and coastal Ohlone villages became engulfed by Spanish mission and settler properties. Many Tamalko ancestors who entered the missions remained there for the rest of their lives. Those who did not, the Spanish called the

“wild” Indian resistant groups. Kroeber suggests in Handbook of Indians of California

(1925:275-278) that the Tamalko transitioned into the Pomo community.

71 Anderson and Terry. Maniilaq: Prophet from the Edge of Nowhere 107

In 1769, Spanish priests, missionaries, and settlers went into Indigenous villages

to obtain converts to join the mission community.72 In the beginning, the mission system

was a peaceful exchange until the Indigenous converts realized that they had become

absorbed into the Catholic ascetic paradigm. They became unsuspecting slaves,

susceptible to contagious diseases and epidemics, lacked adequate nutrition and housing,

and became dissatisfied and depressed early on.73 Unfortunately, there was no going back to the village for the converted. The only way out was to escape, and this was a dangerous enterprise as fugitives were hunted down by Spanish soldiers. If any villages harbored fugitives, the entire village would be hauled into the mission as neophytes

“slaves”.

Spanish Missions bordered along the California coastal front, from San Diego to

Tamalko territory. Figure 7 page 119.

In the brief span of 65 years of mission operation, extending from the first founding (1769) to the secularization of the missions (1834), 81,000 Indians were baptized in the missions, and 60,000 deaths were recorded. (Heizer, 226)

High death tolls within the missions devastated the Indigenous populations. At the end of the mission era, Indians were taken beyond the mission walls back to their homelands that had turned into a foreign landscape and culture. Subsequently, Indigenous mission inmates released diseases to the outside “wild” indigenous populations while also being

72 Pope Paul III promulgated Sublimis Deus in 1537, a papal bull that recognized Indigenous people as human beings therefore they possessed a soul that could be converted into Catholicism. This was a rebuttal to the treatment of the slave trade Columbus was intending for North American Indigenous peoples that Dominican Friar Bartolomé de Las Casas championed against. Hence the Church’s mission was to Christianize all heathens across the globe. However, the Indians became slaves within the missions. See. Rand-Parish, Helen. Las Casas as Bishop: A new interpretation based on his holograph petition in the Hans P. Kraus Collection of Hispanic American Manuscripts. Washington, DC: Library of Congress. 73 Cook, The Conflict between the California Indians and White Civilization.(56-157) 108

exposed to additional epidemics that were brought in from the constant stream of foreign newcomers.

Archeologist Glen Farris offers Pomo Indigenous narratives regarding the Hudson

Bay excursion into their homeland territory in 1833. According to the Pomo, more than

100 Metís and Canadian Indigenous trappers traveling through Northern California showed signs of lost traditional values and protocol. The large traveling group did not send an envoy to seek permission to travel to the lands.74 Traditionally there would be a

runner who would sing his entrance for the traveling envoy's admission into the territory.

José Barreiro describes a similar Haudenosaunee example that John Mohawk had shared

with him.

These songs were traditionally sung to let a village know that you are coming toward them. That are then answered from within the village to let the visitor know that their announcement has been received and that it is safe to enter the clearing. (Barreiro, Afterward)

The Hudson Bay party had also kidnaped a Pomo fisherman who later returned and

died of illness shortly after. When the Russians and Aleuts gave the Hudson Bay group

flour, it was found discarded on the ground farther north. Herman James shares with

ethnographer Robert Oswalt in 1958:

This, my grandmother, told me, she also saw herself. She said that when they came by she was terribly frightened. (Farris, 471)

James’ grandmother could identify that the group were Indians but were nothing of the

Indians she was familiar. The man who died had contracted malaria that decimated entire

Indigenous communities from the Sacramento River and the lower courses of feeder

rivers from the Sierras. Hietzer confirms the devastating malaria event:

74 Glen Farris. “Recognizing Indian Folk History as Real History: A Fort Ross Example.” American Indian Quarterly. 109

By Hudson Bay trappers coming from Fort Vancouver, where malaria had been transmitted by persons coming on trading ships from the Hawaiʻian Islands. (Hietzer, 229)

Cook (207-216) describes that the epidemics continued to devastate California

Indigenous communities in waves. After mission secularization, Indians were released.

Unfortunately, both Christian and “wild” Indians were ravaged by smallpox, cholera, and

many other contagious diseases. Foreigners from all over the world who made their way

by land and sea through a constant influx brought death to many California Indians by

disease. Many ethnographers come up with the similar consensus as Cook that the

depopulation of Indigenous Californians was because of the “innocent” introduction of

European diseases.

The effect of disease in destroying the wild native population was, therefore, approximately five times as great as the effect of physical assault, warfare, and homicide. 70 percent of the population reduction among the unconverted Indian subject to the influence of Ibero-American colonization was due to physical shock and introduced infection. (Cook, 216)

Ironically it was less than one hundred years after the covert strategy of using infected smallpox blankets against the Indigenous Great Lake Communities at the siege of Fort Pitt Pennsylvania had occurred. Colonial war strategists aimed at exterminating

Indigenous populations. Carl Waldman's Atlas of the North American Indian makes

reference to the siege of Fort Pitt (Pittsburgh) by Chief Pontiac's forces during the

summer of 1763:

Captain Simeon Ecuyer had bought time by sending smallpox-infected blankets and handkerchiefs to the Indians surrounding the fort – an early example of biological warfare – which started an epidemic among them. Amherst himself had encouraged this tactic in a letter to Ecuyer. (108)

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Not only was there a letter to Captain Ecuyer but a letter was posted in 1763 to

Colonel Henry Bouquet at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from General Jeffery Amherst which

stated:

Could it not be contrived to send the smallpox among the disaffected tribes of Indians? We must on this occasion use every stratagem in our power to reduce them. (Peckman, 226)

Bouquet did not want to use biological warfare because he was afraid he as well as other

non-Indigenous soldiers and civilians would also get infected. Amherst’s reply was:

You will do well to try to Innoculate [sic] the Indians by means of blankets, as well as to try every other method that can serve to extirpate this execrable Race. I should be very glad your scheme for hunting them down by dogs could take effect, but England is at too great a Distance to think of that at present. (Anderson F. 2001: 542, 809)

Obviously, the quickest and cost efficient manner of extermination was by

biological warfare. It is a clear fact that the Indigenous population of California was

reduced by disease perhaps “innocently” by Drake and his crew in 1579. However,

during the western expansion approximately one-quarter of the immigrants came to

California for TB rehabilitation reasons alone, thus exposing the Indigenous populations to fatal disease:

Western states … advertising to city-bred sufferers that clean mountain or desert air was far superior to Eastern locales. By 1900, one-fourth of the migrants to California and a third of those who came to Colorado made the trip for health reasons. Towns such as Pasadena (CA), Colorado Springs and Denver (CO), Tucson (AZ), El Paso (TX), and Albuquerque (NM) were settled by large numbers of TB patients and their families. Some smaller towns were founded by TB sufferers: Sierra Madre (CA), Silver City (NM), and San Angelo (TX) are included in this group. (Garstka)

By the time Mexico had gained their independence from Spain in 1821, there

was a devastated homeless Indigenous population in California. The newly acquired

Mexican regime had some sympathy towards homeless Indians, and plans were made to

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allot land to them. Instead, enormous land parcels were given to Mexican Nationalists

and American settlers who then utilized the Missionized Christian Indians for their labor

forces. Christian Indians were the paid laborers. Indian youth outside the rancheros were sourced for an Indian slave trade practice that lasted, according to Milliken, from 1830’s

to the 1850’s.

Among those who sold captured children in the 1840s was Augustus Sutter, who sold Indian children to his Hispanic creditors around San Francisco Bay (Bancroft 1886: IV:544). Many others also engaged in the practice, including Hispanic families and some of the North Americans who settled along the northern frontier in Sonoma. (Milliken R., 166)

By the end of the Mexican era, Milliken stresses that every Hispanic household

(within the Central Bay area) had servants. They consisted of captured/orphaned Indian

children, and the referred Chrisianos Antiguos, the “emancipated” Missions Indians

(167).75

Heizer (229-231) claims that the Mexican regime was mild in comparison to the

Gold Rush era and beyond. Whereas most of the Coastal Indians were dispossessed

before the Gold Rush, the interior Indians were renegades as freedom fighters against the

slave trade. Hence, many interior Indians were gathering forces and making raids upon

the Rancheros. When gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill, Indians living in the interior

were brutally massacred, starved, and infected with disease. American settlers, as well as

their presidents Andrew Jackson and John K. Polk, were determined to have California

absorbed into the Union.76

75 Parents of Indian children were murdered so the perpetrator could possess the child for sale. 76 Jackson tried to purchase California in 1835, and John K. Polk in his inaugural address spoke of annexing Texas. Frederick Merk, History of the Westward Movement. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, 1978. 112

The Treaty of Hidalgo (the settlement between the Mexican Republic and the

United States), ended the Mexican-American war in 1848. The Mexican Republic

granted the U.S. lands that comprised of 10 states: California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona,

Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. Mexicans within the new

territories were given U.S. citizenship.

Cook refers California’s transition to an American state as the “American

Invasion” (255-348). In 1851, California’s first governor Peter Hardeman Burnett famously stated, “That a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the two races until the Indian race becomes extinct, must be expected.”77 Burnett financed an

extermination campaign against California Indians, establishing a legacy of murderous

Americans decorated for their greed and violent appropriating abilities. Millions of

dollars from the state and government created militias that carried out massacres

throughout California. Federal soldiers, miners, incoming and resident settlers were

engulfed in the frenzy of brutally exterminating California Indians.

In 1850, an Act for the Government and Protection of Indians was passed by the

state. In five years, it was rejected. Instead of giving protection to the Indians, five

reservations were established, and by 1870, a reserve system was set up in California.

The Federal Indian Appropriations Act of 1851 authorized the establishment of legally

recognized reservations in the U.S. Trafzer explains pp. 1-30, that a stolen male child was enslaved until adulthood. Indigenous girls were appropriated for prostitution, and women were raped and killed or held captive as concubines and sex slaves. California

77 Peter Burnett. The Governor's Message (Transmitted January 7, 1851) 113 was the first state to endorse the proposed Emancipation Proclamation. Unfortunately, there was no change for California Indians. Stacy Smith writes in the New York Times:

At Round Valley Reservation, one critic observed in 1874 that ‘compulsion is used to keep the Indians and to drive them to work.’ Indian workers received no payment for ‘labor and no opportunity to accumulate individual property.

My twice great maternal Tamalko grandparents lived in a segregated region (not an official reservation) in Analy, Sonoma County California, now the town of Graton,

California. Both were born in the 1860’s. I imagine they came from the mission system because they had entrepreneurial skills running a boarding business for laborers. My twice great paternal Modoc and Klamath grandparents were also born during the ‘60’s and lived their youths amongst the miners and U.S. cavalry in Siskiyou County. They also lived through the Modoc War.

The Modoc War, 1872-1873 was the end of the battles in California but the beginning of the revolts and massacres of Indian peoples throughout the nation. A fight of 53 warriors led by Modoc Captain Jack to protect 150 Modoc men women and children fought for their survival against 930 U.S. troops (approximately 18,600 men) during the two-year war.78 The war cost the government $400,000. The Modoc were asking to live on their land (lava beds uninhabitable to whites) as a reservation community worth $20,000. Subsequently, the Modoc lost their battle, and Captain Jack was hung and his head taken to the Smithsonian. It was not until 1984 that descendants reclaimed Captain Jack's head for a proper burial. The remaining Modoc were shipped out to Oklahoma as prisoners of war until 1909. After, some Modoc moved to Oregon to the Klamath Reservation, while the others stayed in Oklahoma. By 1910, my twice great

78 A cavalry troop is the equivalent of a platoon that consisted of approximately 15-30 men. 114

California Modoc and Klamath grandparents moved to Oregon. Boundaries for Klamath

County extended into California until 1874.

The Termination Act, known as Public Law 280 during the 1950’s stripped North

American Indigenous communities of their identity in California, Nebraska, Minnesota,

Oregon, and Washington. Indigenous presence was submerged, either by repressing their heritage or by outright assimilation into the colonial structure. Klamath, Modoc, and

Yahooshin communities address their termination experience in Southern Oregon in the video My Land, Your Land, wherein community members share their thoughts on the history:

Then all at once someone discovered that the Indians had a lot of property of great value. And all at once we have an Indian problem. (My Land Your Land)

The Klamath of Oregon and the Menomonee of Wisconsin were the first to be terminated in 1954. Their termination was just the beginning of 12 termination bills that would eventually eliminate 61 communities. The Rancheria Act was an amendment that terminated California communities.

After California statehood, many Tamalko grew ashamed of being Indian. Many designated themselves as Mexicans. On the 1910 census, my twice great grandparents identified themselves as Mexican when in 1900 they were on the Indian rolls as Indian.

Hence, the clarity gained regarding the confusion I had about my heritage during my youth. To the non-Indigenous California settlers, Indigenous Californians did not exist.

In documented history, we were considered exterminated. We were living always on our homelands, hidden in plain sight.

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Conclusion: Dormancy

The term “submersion” relates to the knowledge I have gleaned from Lutea, soli weleetak and her relatives of the plant kingdom. A conversation I had with Daniel Swann had illuminated the intelligence of our plant Elder when he mentioned his study with biologists on wild rice. From what they determined, the environmental conditions were conducive to sustainability and growth. However, during the season, the rice plants stopped growing and went dormant. The research team could not understand the situation until they later discovered that water from the environment was gradually being siphoned out for electrical company purposes. The plants consciousness knew the environment and instinctively directed them to stop growing, as they would not hinak towis hennak (make a good life).

All of life has an imperative to survive. From a colonial paradigm, survival is not in alignment with Indigenous ways to hinak towis hennak. Dominant colonial society tends to see with the vision of what Dumont explained as a forward-looking vision where the goal has been to the satisfaction of immediate and instant gratification. Examples clearly are drawn from the documented racist California history as seizures, dominations, tyranny and sadistic violence, no doubt an exact inheritance of European ancestry from the Dark Ages.

Why do human beings become racist? For the European “discovery” it was a necessary ideological paradigm for conquest. Tunisian Jew, Albert Memmi defines racism in The Colonizer and the Colonized.79 Memmi says racism stresses real or imaginary differences between the colonizer and victim. The colonized further assigns

79 Albert Memmi, The Colonizer and the Colonized. pages10-17 116 values to these differences to benefit the racist and hurt the victim as an essential colonial tactic, and then generates from the differences reasons to justify all current and future aggression and privilege.

Rudyard Kipling's White Man’s Burden: The United States and the Philippine

Islands was a poem published in McClure’s Magazine in 1899.80 American Patriots celebrated the poem after absorbing the Philipines from the Spanish-American war. The poem commemorates empirical and privileged status of Eurocentric man and his inherent responsibility to rule over Indigenous peoples for their benefit in order to be civilized.

White Man’s Burden exonerates Christianity’s Manifest Destiny and racism as a means to confiscate what one covets from their neighbor with the justification that doing so is their right as White people. Racism is a barbaric mode of operation executed by Christians for centuries. How does an Indian survive within such a societal paradigm? First, by denial, and then by pretending to be something else, closer to “white” to gain privileges and acceptance.

In a typical contemporary garden fashion, plants are gardened in plots and rows for their designated living and growing environment. When uncultivated plants emerge from the Earth, they are immediately removed so that they do not take up the nutrients or space needed for the valued specimens. To the gardener, the unwanted plants are invaders in their designs. Clearly, the undesirable plants are indigenous plants that are considerably more robust than the foreign and weaker plants. Indigenous plants are

“residing” in their homeland region and are strong by their relationship and knowledge base of the land.

80 Rudyard Kipling. See Figure 8 on page 120 117

After a time of weed removal, plants in the area start to look very similar, and they have to be very carefully observed to determine if what is pulled out of the soil, is a cultivar or weed. Plants will adapt in appearance and character to their neighbors. What makes Indigenous peoples survival mannerisms any different? Hence, we have been silently living side by side with our foreign transplanted neighbors for hundreds of years in California.

Robin Ridington’s experience with the Dunne-za of British Columbia explains how he was able to understand how the Dunne-za existed amongst the White men.

The white people seemed foreign and unapproachable. Their world was only the background for the Indian world that had brought me here. I must have been equally invisible to them staying as I did within the Indian camps. (16)

I remember being close to my immediate family and looking forward to visiting my aunties and cousins for family gatherings. The rest of the world was like a screen saver on my computer, allowing the time and space to consume a meaningless communal social positionality. Daily life and its activities were for existence, but dreaming and the anticipation of spending time with relatives on the land, such as when picking berries and gathering seaweed, were hinak towis hennak moments of my life. Like Nelumbo Lutea, she dreams within the safety of ʼununni ʼunu for the most appropriate moment to live a good life. Time does not stop Lutea from dreaming. Dormancy is not death; it is a way of life in a world that denies hinak towis hennak.

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Figure 7. Source: California Spanish Missions 1769-1834 “Historic Missions, Presidios and Pueblos of California” Courtesy, California Missions Resource Center (www.missionscalifornia.com), © 2015 Pentacle Press.

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The White Man’s Burden: The United States & The Philippine Islands, 1899 By Rudyard Kipling

Take up the White Man’s burden— Send forth the best ye breed— Go send your sons to exile To serve your captives' need To wait in heavy harness On fluttered folk and wild— Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half devil and half child Take up the White Man’s burden In patience to abide To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple An hundred times made plain To seek another’s profit And work another’s gain Take up the White Man’s burden— And reap his old reward: The blame of those ye better The hate of those ye guard— The cry of hosts ye humour (Ah slowly) to the light: "Why brought ye us from bondage, “Our loved Egyptian night?” Take up the White Man’s burden- Have done with childish days- The lightly proffered laurel, The easy, ungrudged praise. Comes now, to search your manhood Through all the thankless years, Cold-edged with dear-bought wisdom, The judgment of your peers!

Figure 8. Source: ”Rudyard Kipling’s Verse: Definitive Edition (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1929).

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SECTION II - SPIRIT TRAVEL

Figure 9 Source: Nelumbo Lutea Seedlings Courtesy of Gail Gates owner of The Pond Plant Girl http://www.pondplantgirl.com/index.htm [email protected] (409) 422-4778

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CHAPTER 4 - ’Ununni ʼUnun Yayyu: Great Mother’s Call

Knowledge This Research Provides

She sings and speaks to us, from deep within her being The voice she speaks to us are visions of the land … yowamu … The Spirit of her voice in the song she is singing Come through circles on the land that we may understand …. That She loves us, Nosʾus yomu ʾopu The people of the land, this we understand, nis ma ʾopun pichas By D. Marcus, lyrics of Nos ʾUs Yomu ʾOpu: She Loves Us)

Reflecting on the dream, when I was propelled deep into the Earth, I realized that the “little being” that was pulling me into the Earth was the Spirit of my great- grandmother, grandmother, mother and me, all returning to ʼununni ʾunu. I realized that I had begun my transgenerational healing when I journeyed back home to California.

Ancestral Memory and the dream brought us all together.

Scott Momaday illustrates the transgression of worlds, time and space through

The Way to Rainy Mountain.81 Native Studies scholar Chadwick Allen’s research on

post-World War II Native American and Maori literary activists emphasize Momaday’s

integration of the Indigenous triad of blood, land, and memory in Blood Memory.

Blood memory thus tropes the conflating of storytelling, imagination, memory, and genealogy into the representation of a single, multifaceted moment in a particular landscape. Blood memory also names the process through which Momaday “beads” the ‘memories of fathers and sons’ into a single, integrated text. (Allen 181)

For mothers and daughters, our text is creation. Our link is the Earth. Like Larry

Merculieff’s “Divine Feminine” concept of the Earth, ʼununni ʼunu is the force or active

81 Momaday sees himself in a vision within the landscape of Kiowa homelands as his father when his father was a child, in the Way to Rainy Mountain. Page 72. He reminds us of Indigenous memory as it is reactivated upon the lands of the ancestors. 122

spiritual substance and essential principle of life that traditional Indigenous people have

always honored.

In the process of analysis, I had to think about my role as an Indigenous

researcher. In support of my research question, how has Indigenous North Central

Californians maintained hinak towis hennak (making a good life) within the colonial

context, I act as a bridgemaker to inspire new pathways for the ancestors to help us

maintain hinak towis hennak.

To embody the Indigenous consciousness of hinak towis hennak, encompasses

wholism. Thus, I include the physical and the spiritual aspects of life as functional

elements to the foundation of this research. Joseph Couture defines the inherent

properties of Indigenous consciousness.

The primal ‘experience’ embraces the inner and outer worlds. In Native cognition, these are together and all equally real and functional. The sense-world, as well as the spiritual world, each has something to reveal which only each can express. The spiritual and the physical are both acknowledged as inseparable and recognized as belonging centrally to the sphere of Native, human knowing. (1991: 58)

A wholistic and balanced consciousness allows us to live fully in a three- dimensional environment in peace and honesty. As we learn to reclaim and grasp the abilities of life in a three-dimensional world with wuskippa (respect) and hinti wuskinʼona (what the heart says), we seek ʾununni ʾunu as the foundation for

understanding the fourth-dimensional consciousness familiar to the ancestors. This

research supports Indigenous theories and methodologies as essential tools towards re- cultivating an ancestral balance within contemporary indigenous consciousness for the benefit of all our futures.

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Section II illustrates Indigenous spiritual consciousness as a critical and necessary

pathway for assisting the evolution of Indigenous intelligence. Though colonization has

disrupted this intelligence, an Indigenous consciousness is regaining a presence in

Indigenous lives. I believe many Indigenous people are reaching for that little hand to

lead them to ʼununni ʼunu. We want to rectify the divide between the relationships of

histories, families and homeland. Western historical documentation reveals the

horrendous history of the ancestors. Therefore, the fear of traveling into unknown

territories to retrieve connections to the broader truth found in spiritual records during

spiritual journies is a small risk in comparison to what the grandparents endured.

When there is a cessation from culture and its belonging, there is a loss of

principles and a loss to hinak towis hennak (making a good life). When we lose our identity, we lose our connections to our relationships. With no meaningful relationships, what is wuskippa (respect)? With no foundations, how can anyone have a regard for

reciprocity towards a family, community or society?

I remember an indelible incident when I was a child living with my family in the

Philippine Islands. We were returning to our home on Clark A.F. Base after a visit to my

father’s, Vivencio’s, homeland village, in Sorsogon, (a mountain province near

Mindanao). We became engulfed in a typhoon. I remember my mother Diane, running

with my baby sister in her arms, and my father Vivencio behind her carrying my toddler

brother and pulling me along by the hand. I was running so fast that my feet were flying

behind me. My heart was pounding as I leapt across huge deep holes in the ground while

water from the streets surged down into them. All the while I was thinking, if I lost my

grip on my father’s hand, I would plummet down into the darkness of the pits, and be

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gone forever. Fortunately, Vivencio was in the U.S. Air-Force and knew where to find a

ride on a military amphibian to get back to Clark A.F. Base. He never let go of my hand.

During that terrifying experience, I knew that we, and all the people that were running, were running for our lives. This memory is one that I have never forgotten because it had been one of the most frightening experiences in my young life. I knew we had no control over the situation. We either lived through it or died. The only safety I had in the five years of living at that moment was my father’s firm grip and the connection I had always known of his abiding love. Though I have not endured what my ancestors had through massacres and murders, I understood down to the core of my soul what it meant to face the potential loss of my family and my life.

An emotional connection within relationships is extremely valued in Indigenous cultures. Jacqueline Hookimaw-Witt speaks from her Attawapiskat-Winis consciousness,

“The spiritual side of the human being is that of the senses, the emotions or the feelings

(23).”

My father, from a Southeast Asian heritage, was far less emotionally demonstrative than my Tamalko ʼinniiko (relatives). In memories of the past, Tamalko male Elders held no shame when they released tears to expose their vulnerability. I witnessed this through Tamalko Elder Lanny Pinola’s example during the ceremonies he facilitated. I saw Vivencio shed tears once when the memory of his brothers’ torture by the Japanese in WWII unexpectedly surfaced. Otherwise, he appeared to be emotionally

distanced.

Maori scholar, Linda Smith, iterates the importance of connections.

Connectedness positions individuals in sets of relationships with other people and with the environment. To be connected is to be whole. (1999:148)

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In an exclusive interview with the Special Edition of the 2009 film Rez Bomb,

Russell Means conveys that spirituality is the connection that Indigenous people have

with their ancestors. Means calls the ancestors the “wisdom keepers.” The knowledge

Indigenous people honor and find a distinct aspect of their consciousness that connects all of life and spirit is the nurturing of emotions. Means says what psychologists refer to as intuition, is the sacred knowledge of being able to feel.

A valuable aspect that manifests a wholistc Indigenous consciousness is Love.

Without love, there is no hinak towis hennak, no spirit, and no belonging. Eddie Benton

Banai made the effort to commemorate the values of Anishinaabe principles originating

from Seven Grandfather Teachings in Mishomis. According to Banai, for an initiate to

know about the Grandfathers’ principles, s/he must ask to journey to the specific grandfather to learn from him. The first grandfather teaching is wisdom. Section I has been a reflection of the wisdom path, the balance of the mind as an essential teaching for hinak towis hennak. The second essential Grandfather teaching is love.

North American Indigenous people survive today because they continue to reach

for and hold tightly to the hands of those whose strength we trust and love. In my family,

when the hand that we were holding onto was removed from our lives, another stepped in

to keep the connections. Without the love and commitment of our ʾinniiko, we would forget who we are and truly be lost.

Yahi Ishi, of Tehama County in North Central California, was a survivor of the

extermination process that took place after California became a state. Ishi witnessed the

massacre of his entire community. He escaped with his immediate family and fled to the

forest regions of Wa ganu p'a (original Yana Name for Mount Lassen). After 44 years of

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hiding when everyone in his family had died, Ishi emerged in 1911 to the settler public

who had assumed that all the “wild” Indians were extinct.82

During the remaining five years of Ishi’s life, interesting phenomena occurred

while he was living as a research subject at the Phoebe Hearst Museum. Ishi continually

told a story about Wood duck. Wood duck was a hunter who was unfortunate in finding

reciprocal love and companionship. Wood duck eventually does come to love a woman only for her to be stolen away by an enemy. At the end of the story, Woodduck is eventually killed by the enemy antagonist.

Celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Ishi’s emergence, during the 2001 World

Media radio broadcast, there was speculation about the Wood Duck story expressed by anthropologist Ira Jacknis.

It’s quite interesting that Ishi tells a story about someone who’s died and then is resurrected. He must have been very aware of the genocide of his people, and he must have thought of himself as sort of being reborn into – Being sort of dead to the Yahi world, and was sort of reborn. That’s a striking detail that resonates with me (Johnson)

Later, Anishinaabe Gerald Vizenor is brought into the conversation. Vizenor reminds the audience that California Indigenous peoples did not make a distinction between mythology and ordinary life. Vizenor says, “Therefore it makes no sense to separate Ishi from his stories. Instead, we should try to focus on Ishi’s humanity and his incredible generosity.”83

Ishi represents the California North Central Indigenous peoples’ consciousness of

survival and resilience. Indeed, it is understandable when all is gone and lost; there is

82 Ishi was considered a “wild” Indian because he was not a Mission Indian. This was the time period when my great grandparents were identifying themselves as Mexicans. See Ishi Last of his tribe by Theodora Kroeber 83 Nathan Johnson, Ishi Speaks. http://loe.org//shows/segments.html?programID=01-P13&segmentID=10 127

death. Accepting death through a mourning ceremony helps us to heal and move back

into life. I believe Ishi was a living enactment of the ceremony as he finished his life on

Earth apart from hisʾinniiko. Transformation is accomplished through a complete

submergence within the grieving process, thus upholding qualities of patience and love. I

believe transformation does not occur until one comes to a place that honors hinti wuskin

ʾona (what the heart says). Through Ishi’s example of transformation and resurrection, he left a legacy for the rest of California Indigenous peoples’ consciousness.

I read Theodora Kroeber’s book Ishi, Last of His Tribe when I was twelve. Ishi’s

story touched my very soul. Ishi, as an ancestor, speaks through dimensions and time. He illustrates through his final days an example of dignity, and how to emerge from immense loss to a rebirth as Indigenous peoples. It was not through defiance or an act of reclamation, but by walking with a great love for the ancestors. Ishi’s new life was a dedication to those who died so they would continue to live in his presence and example.

His life is an inspiration in how to live through the spirit of hinak towis hennak. In

singing and continually telling his story of Wood Duck, Ishi was honoring the story of his

people as a living ceremonial testimony in the world. Ishi was answering the call of

ʾununni ʼunu as a living demonstration of great love for all of life. Ishi shows us how to

emerge from a submerged place of darkness.

As we reach the deepest dark of our history, we have the potentiality to grasp onto

and cherish the Spirt of ʾununni ʼunu. With ʼununni ʼunu we can transform out of

sadness and despair, we can remember who we are, and whence we belong. By rekindling our love for ʾinniiko and their love for us, we are brought into a new life as we emerge to help co-create a new world.

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Ceremony and Transformation

The ceremony acknowledges connections to ʾununni ʾunu and our dependence on the wisdom of our spiritual ancestors. Frank LaPena explains the value of the Maidu annual Bear Dance:

The Bear Dance is a time of confirmation of family ties and friendship. It establishes our ongoing actions with the universe and puts us in touch with the land and animals in our immediate surroundings. The attention to human beings such as death, birth, love, and friendship are connected in the ceremony to Spirit and the New Year. The Bear Dance ceremony is an expression of thankfulness for the New Year. Many people, friends, and relatives are involved in helping to make the dance work, providing food and necessities. One comes away with fond memories and ready for the Maidu New Year. (LaPena, 5)

Many Native Americans say ceremony brings the people together in “a good way.” This “good way” is a deep connection to not only the physical and temporal changes in life but a time to come together to remind ourselves we are part of a powerful universe. The ceremony is the agent that brings together the reality of an Indigenous

720-degree consciousness in action. As Castellano imparts:

All of the senses, coupled with openness to intuitive insights, are required in order to plumb the depths of Aboriginal knowledge. Ceremonies are the primary means of instilling the attitude of expectant stillness which opens the door to full awareness. (109)

As a traditional ceremonial singer, I believe the spiritual and emotional energy links the heart and mind together in balanced consciousness when we honor our relationship to the Earth and our environmental ʾinniiko. With a consciousness of conscience, what we do affects the rest of ʼinniiko. The ancestors have always chosen relationship.

The Bible illustrates that Christian first peoples were removed from Paradise because they ignored what the Christian God had ordained as law.

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And the Lord God commanded the man, saying ‘From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in that day that you eat it you shall surely die.’ (New American Standard Bible, Genesis Chapter 2, verse 16, 17)

Most of us know the story. The Christian God decides that man should not be

alone and creates woman. The Bible does not make it clear how the woman knows about

the “fruit rule”, but she knows. A snake tempts the woman to eat the forbidden fruit and

after eating it, she brings the fruit for the man to eat. The Christian God banishes his first

people from their garden home because of their disobedience and because of their lack of

wuskippa, “respect”. They could have discussed their interest in partaking of the fruit instead of outright doing what they wanted.

From an Indigenous hermeneutical interpretation, Christianity’s early couple

chose to give up the Paradise connection they had with the Earth, by their actions. They

desired power, as the snake told them if they ate the fruit:

You surely shall not die. For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (New American Standard Bible, Genesis Chapter 3, Verse 4, 5)

The Christian God’s first people demonstrated their intentions by their choice of eating the fruit. They also realized that they could make choices in their lives that could

bring real consequences. Though they lived, they experienced a death. It was the end of

their entire world, a circumstance caused by their choices.

The Bible’s myth parallels Dumont’s Anishinaabe story of the path the White

Man and the Red Man traveled together. The White Man took another course away from

the road they both traveled. The White people chose to betray the love of life, and all that

is naturally interdependent and consciously evolving together. They deliberately turned away from a gradual path of evolution within the spiritual and the natural world. A

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mind-over-matter people desired self-empowerment before all else. They chose to break

from a spiritual and ethical consciousness to establish a self-established individual

consciousness in order to prove they were as powerful as or more so than the power of

their ancestors.

This story also parallels the two brains 720-degree consciousness theory.

Throughout history, this intellectual man has demonstrated he rules his life through

intensity and drama. It is the faster and more catastrophic route where he seems to feel

his power.

The difference between the two paths is not an essential dichotomy of White Man

vs. Red Man but, the people of the heart and the people of the mind. A California

Chumash myth, Prophecy of the Great Wave of the Heart explains this idea.

Chumash people lived a long time in peace, harmony and abundance. As long as we lived simply, observing the laws of right relation and respect for the gifts of Mother Earth, our lives were well. We were a peaceful people and we prospered. We were warned that a new People of the mind might come some day. And that they will move without respect for this Earth, pushing from east to west like a great wave of destruction without consideration for sacred Earth and right relationship. The legend says that if these People of the Mind got a foothold, there would be no stopping them. As their wave of destruction moves from east to west, the People of the Heart will find themselves pushed to the western edge of this land. When the People of the Heart can be pushed no further, and their backs are against the sea, they will begin to turn around and recognize each other. 84

The door that opens through ceremony brings the awareness of the power of

ʼununni ʼunu. She reminds those of us from the heart who we are to each other. Couture

says,

Native ceremonies are the primary oral literature and remain the main traditional source of psychic energy for thinking, for identity development and control, for survival and its enhancement. (1991: 58)

84 Victor Lopez/Sky Eagle, Chumash Migration and Star People Story. 1 June, 2015. http://mendingthesacredhoop.net/teach_migration.html 131

Chief Caleen Sisk defines ceremony for the Winnemem community:

It would be like if you’re in trouble, or something happens to you and you start calling out for your mom even though she is nowhere around to hear you. Sometimes women can actually hear the child. For Wintu, that is our mother, and if you want help, you call for those helpers. (In Light of Reverence)

Like a seed or embryo energetically and physically connected to the Earth, or a

fetus in the womb, the exchange within that relationship is the life journey that indelibly

reveals its purpose. The seed becomes a “medicine”, the fetus, a “human being”. I believe this bond is held together with what La Pena finds essential to all-purpose as

“intent.”

Anthropologists, archaeologists, and ethnographers can diagram and note with

exact description what can take place in a ritual from a given ethnographic people and

region. All the accouterments, motions and sounds can be documented, yet, without the

essential glue that is the substance of this connection, there is no spiritual connection.

Part of this glue is belonging to the regional environment where Indigenous creation

exists. The other is having a link to a mythical narrative where all the actions and

paraphernalia have meaning that relates to what cannot be explained. Within the

narrative myth-stories, everything is held together collectively.

All Indigenous peoples have origin myth-stories that educate them about how and why they belong to the Earth. We were all either made from the land, were given life and sustenance from the land or emerged from within the Earth.85 Bean describes Indigenous

California middle world cosmology as:

85 Hart C. Merriam for Tamalko California origin stories, Benton-Banai regarding Sky Woman origin story for Eastern Peoples, Meyer, Manulani A., page 98 for Hawaiʻian origins, Berlo and Philips page 37 on Dine emergence myth. See Momady for Kiowa origins 132

The middle world is inhabited by both [humans] and various non-mortal beings with considerable power. Most Native Californians view the middle world as lying at the geographical center of the universe. Usually, it is conceived as circular, floating in space, and surrounded by a void or by water. (22)

St. Pierre further elaborates on the middle dimension:

In Latin, this is called an Axis Mundi or a central axis to the universe, where the various layers of dimensions of creation and reality are brought together. (19)

It is through the middle world upon the land where all forces from all the worlds come together as ʼununni ʼunu. For Indigenous people, ʾununni ʾunu is where meaning and purpose reside. Upon the Earth is where Indigenous peoples experience and learn from tangible relationships, from the physical and spiritual. Through ceremony, appreciation towards the spiritual organizers that support hinak towis hennak is

communicated. It is through an empirical experience within ceremony that Indigenous

people as a nation come together with hinti wuskinʾona. In the ceremony, an identity as spiritually sovereign people who truly know who they are is celebrated. Otherwise, the people are only identified as an ethnic minority within the context of social domination.86

Caleen Sisk speaks of what ceremony does for her people.

Well, it brings people together. Getting ourselves ready to show up to represent those things that we heard and felt as our sacred tradition. I think it comes about from the heart in a ceremony that many people realize what they can do. (Sisk)

Cody Pata mentions Nomlāqa (also a Wintun people) hold important purpose as a people,

and that link of purpose is their connection to the universe.

There’s no connection to that if you do not have a link to it. And our people have been here since the beginning of time. We are the ones, who have had the most efficient way to live on that land. And because we are the stewards, we were placed there to be stewards to ensure the balance between the physical and the

86 Scott R. Lyons, “Actually Existing Indian Nations: Modernity, Diversity, and the Future of Native American Studies”, The American Indian Quarterly, Volume 35, Number 3, Summer 2011, pp. 297.

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spiritual and to ensure that there is no world disaster again or destruction again. We have in our narratives how we are supposed to do that. They were in practice upon contact. (Pata)

Without touching that Spiritual quality of life, we can forget. Spiritual practices

keep an ancient “blueprint” alive. Craig Womack terms this idea as “Touching

Medicine”.

Touching Medicine, as we say at home, cannot be fully explained by social construction and/or human mediation. To my way of thinking; a view admittedly influenced by the religious nationalism of Green Corn practice that has such a long history within the territory, and before the territory in the home county in Georgia and Alabama. (2008: 365)

Ceremonial observance is a necessary practice in my life. It has been through the spiritual experience that I have gained knowledge to what is needed, desired, and directed towards an ultimate purpose. Perhaps I do not understand the science of ceremony, but I understand its process of healing and its guidance that I desire in my life. Cody Pata expresses:

When you have an understanding of why you do something, that is a tradition. When you do something you do not understand why, that is a superstition. (Pata)

Ceremony works because its commitment and experience create a bond of people and purpose as well as a reconnection and appreciation to the environmental place of belonging. Ceremony also builds spiritual and intellectual integrity by adhering to respectful protocols.87 Anishinaabe scholar Kathleen Absolon explains:

The reason why we engage in protocol, is the knowledge gathering and the ethical reciprocity. That’s one of the primary tenants of our ontology. If it takes away from nature, you have to give it back so that there’s a balance. (Absolon, 61) 88

Participating in the ceremony is an act of wuskippa towards all relationships.

87 Diveena Marcus, Indigenous Hermeneutics through Ceremony. 353-361 88 Absolon quotes Dr. Raven Sinclair. 134

By being mindful of our gifts, our talents, and abilities, we become more attuned to serve our community and the environment. Our prayers are for guidance as to how we can best offer ourselves so can we learn to play our part in respect to cultural sustainability. (Marcus, 2016: 359-360)

Craig Womack describes the “glue” that makes the ceremony work.

The singing, the dancing, the proper care of the fire, the medicine itself, and other factors that happen over the course of many days, are part of a reconstitution where ordinary reality is transformed, and spirits become participants alongside humans. (Womack 2008: 365).

It is not in living by the documented merits of our past accolades, but by

consistently living as examples in honor of the benefits of our spiritual connections.

When we walk in balance with our feelings connected to the dynamic forces of nature

consciousness, we know we are blessed as we are fully participating in hinak towis

hennak.

Ka Weeya Muku: My Ceremonial Pathway (initiation)

I facilitated my first ceremony when I was eight years old. I had never witnessed a funeral, but I had a need to enact one for my dead frog. I was responsible for its death.

During one spring in Glasgow Montana, I collected a tadpole from a ditch that had been in a constant state of pregnancy bursting with life, when otherwise parched. I raised the tadpole until its tail had almost disappeared. My plans were to release the mature frog back to the pond from whence it came. It was a manipulated science project of my own volition. Unfortunately, I had a doctor appointment early one morning, and I had forgotten to add water to the environment where the frog lived under a strong light source. I did not return until late afternoon, and the frog had dried to a crisp.

Mortified I found myself in a deep state of mourning. I decided to bury the frog in the front yard and enacted a ritual. Children in the neighborhood were curious, even children I did not know came to participate in the ceremony. When I think about that

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simple moment of clear, purposeful intent through love, children I did not know

understood with compassionate hearts and mourned with me. They collectively gave

comfort, support, and tears. From an elementary level, I had discovered ceremony and the power of spirit travel. I had learned that when there was clear intent filled with love, spirits of similar consciousness come together.

In this study, I am not utilizing the classic reference to Spirit Travel practiced by

ancient shamanic doctors. In the past, Spirit Flight was practiced by specific individuals

who were called to serve the community by journeying into the world of “shadows.”

Such doctoring was very dangerous business as it always requires payment for spiritual interventions.

Danger for a shaman may include the pollution, weakening, or complete loss of their own life force, of their very soul. The shaman may be judged finished or in decline if he or she has serious health problems. Holy people in this situation are even avoided altogether. (St. Pierre 23-24)

This study is an advocation towards a new paradigm of Indigenous sovereignty where the burdens of survival and well-being are not thrust upon selected individuals.

Rather, that each member of a community has the power to establish a relationship with

ʼununni ʼunu to take the responsibility of healing and serving their families and relatives.

Young people today are enamored by fantasy films that elevate the idea of magic

and the spiritual abilities of power. What I believe the majority of human beings aspire to experience, is to be free to express hinti wuski ʼona. However, the hardest task in modern

colonial society is listening to hinti wuskin ʼona. A reasoning behind the difficulties for

Indigenous people to listen to hinti wuskin ʼona is that they are the poorest in North

America and must deal with their survival.

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As greed has overrun the world, Social Services work to fill this gap of inequality

because of the damage caused by dominating self-interest groups who continue to

confiscate resources from the planet. Social Services have been established to provide food, clothing and shelter, for those that lack such resources. Despite this, what can the colonial society honestly offer to Indigenous people that are essentially missing in their lives? In Thinking in Indian: A John Mohawk Reader, José Barreiro Ed., John Mohawk is quoted:

A child welfare agency can see that a child is placed in a situation that provides safety and a degree of material comfort, but such agencies cannot provide the love and sense of belonging that is clearly a necessary part of the socialization of stable adults. (Barreiro, 125)

I was brought up with the basic material necessities in my immediate family environment, though I was confused. Within the colonial context, I went to school, participated in the job market, all the while knowing I was a California Indian but lived within a quasi-Mexican/Filipino culture. I also learned that I lived in a society whose core mode of operational intent is to seduce, misrepresent and make promises that were never meant to be kept. Again Mohawk is referenced in Thinking Indian on this phenomenon:

People of non-Western cultures experience great difficulty dealing with European peoples, especially in the areas of credibility. Native people discover quickly that Westernized peoples often do not mean what they say, and they do not say what they mean. Duplicity is found in every culture in the West; it is expected. In short, they lie a lot. (Barreiro, 261)

Participating in traditional ceremony reconnected me to the ancestors. This awareness has given me the sanity, clarity, and reality for a more truthful life. As I had mentioned previously, I was involved with the New Age movement, prolific in California as well as in Oregon and Arizona. At the time when I started seeking a way back to the ancestors, where there were no traditional California Indigenous Elders accessible to me.

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My parents divorced after thirty years. My mother remarried and moved away

with her new husband. My brother and his family followed them to the Midwest to assist

them in managing a restaurant. My father returned to the Philippines to find a young bride. My sister married a Jewish man and took up his traditions. It was my great Auntie

Kay, a grandmother to me (she had raised my mother), who gave me the support and

direction I needed to meet with Pomo people and to seek out my Indigenous heritage.

Ironically, from a very round-about way, a very wonderfully kind and generous white lady, Lynn Fox, who was the curator at the Jessie Parker Native American Museum at SRJC, Santa Rosa Junior College, befriended me. She took me to my first ceremony facilitated by Tamalko Elder Lanny Pinola. When I heard the ceremonial singing, I could

not emotionally contain the enormity of what I felt. I was moved deeply to tears

throughout the night. Lynne told me I had to continue to attend ceremony so that I would

get accustomed to the sounds and the songs’ power. It was like an ocean of everything I

was missing filling all the empty places within me.

Lynn did not have to convince me. I desperately wanted to learn the songs, and it

was Lynn who directed me further. I am grateful that the first Indigenous ceremony I attended was facilitated by an Elder of ka Tamalko ʼinniiko. That joyful memory has

always been a reference point. When I experience a semblance of what I remember of

Lanny’s ceremony, I become renewed and healed every time because I know in my heart

the ancestors are with me.

I believe our people need to be as Womack describes, “touched by the medicine”

to realize what we have been removed from. It will open up a post-traumatic grieving

process. I understood what Lynn Fox told me, that if I continued to attend ceremony I

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would acclimate to the spiritual power within the experience. When we became

tempered by the spiritual forces within the ceremony that is when the ancestors have fully returned to our hearts and consciousness.

In many Indigenous cultures, there is a mourning or condolence ceremony.

Haudenosaunee Taiaiake Alfred acknowledges the condolence ceremony in Peace,

Power and Righteousness, “Traditionally, the condolence ceremony represents a way of

bringing people back to the power of reason (17).” When a person is still holding onto

their pain, they cannot effectively carry out life in a healthy and balanced manner. I was

introduced to the deeper knowledge of the condolence ceremony’s significance through

Mohawk Akwesasne mentor at Trent University, Skahendowaneh Swamp. The

Haudenosaunee Wiping of Tears Ceremony is an essential process for healing and well-

being that is central to continue hinak towis hennak. In Cultivating a Landscape of Peace

historian Matthew Dennis explains the value of the condolence ceremony:

The condolence served to restore the mystic power, or Orenda, of the group, which was diminished by the death of even one person [and] To preserve order and harmony during periods of stress caused by death in the community. (Dennis 79)

Throughout Indigenous California, the mourning ceremony was an intensely vital

process to the well-being of life in the community. Ignorant whites referred to my

ancestors by the derogatory definition “Digger” because of their distraught grief-stricken mourning demeanor and overall shambled appearance. Ironically the mourning process has been a continual experience for Indigenous people because of white contact. Elder

Dolly Suehead from the United Auburn Community says: 89

89 United Auburn Community consists of Miwok and Maidu California Indian Heritages. 139

The memories I have of it is from when I was young. And I think cries serve a purpose even deeper than we know. I think that’s what’s wrong with the people today. Not enough of us cry. (20)

Tamalko ceremonial singing has been a healing for me. The songs brought forth

tears of healing. The tears remind me of something I know I belong to deep within my

soul. Perhaps it is the memories through the power of the songs held by my great

grandparents that resurrect within me a broader and deeper knowledge of ka ʼinniiko.

Singing Tamal Machchaw (Coast Miwok Language) songs is a very responsible

undertaking. A song is not for singing as we do within the contemporary Western

context. All Tamalko songs are ceremonial and elicit healing and power. There are strict protocols within the act of singing a song, as it is when telling a traditional story. I find

Haudenosaunee protocol similar to North Central Indigenous Californian. Barriero quotes John Mohawk about the Six Nations traditions.

The uninitiated, the acculturated, and the ignorant see only quaint ceremonies and chants, a simplistic philosophy of life, and, at best, curious fables and legends, where there, in fact, exists a complex social order with a legitimate foundation in the human experience. (Barreiro, 252)

Cherokee Lewis Mehl-Madrona M.D., in Coyote Medicine, when teaching through a traditional story, reiterates that ceremony is necessary protocol.

Stories have preferences about where they should be told. This is an important story that you will tell for years to come. The story must be told for the first time in a sacred setting. The animals here will also want to hear it. The stars will listen in, too. (194)

Participating as a ceremonial singer aligned my mind and heart to my ancestors. I

studied with a Pomo Culture Bearer. Since then I have become an Indigenous language learner and advocate for endangered Tamal Machachaw. I find the Spirit of the

Ancestors resided within our very ancient critically endangered Tamal Machachaw,

which is currently being reintroduced in the community. An amazing aspect of the

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language is that it has not lost its integrity or authenticity because it was not affected by

the dominant cultural influences for more than fifty years.

As an Advocate for Indigenous California Endangered Languages, I have become interested in neighboring Indigenous ʾinniiko (relatives) and their revitalization efforts. I

am continually discovering spiritual and cultural connections to neighboring Penutian

language family speakers that resonate with me, despite what ethnographers and

anthropologists suggest, that Tamalko ancestors transitioned to the Pomo culture.

Perhaps many did, but I have the desire to reach for our neighboring Penutian ʾinniiko.

Many years ago I met an Indigenous Californian Elder whose name was Edna.

Her words also spoke to my mind and heart. Her words and actions were powerful examples, and her teachings have been principle foundations for hinak towis hennak in

my life. At Trent University in Ontario Canada, I studied with Midewiwin Anishinaabe

Elder Edna Manitowabi. Edna said what brought her back to her ancestors was the sound

of the water drum. The sound of the water drum affected Edna very similarly to her as

Tamalko Weeyan Koyakko (ceremonial songs) did for me.

Throughout my adult life, ceremony has been an integral part of my life’s

processings. Large ceremonies are not necessary for me unless there is a larger need. In

particular, I am dedicated to supporting the Winnemem for their struggles for federal

recognition and for advocating rights of homeland needs and issues regarding

ceremony.90 Most ceremonies are private for many Indigenous North Central California traditionalists. There are other times when ceremonies are spontaneous and other times when they are very significant.

90 Winnemem have been struggling against the Shasta Damn raising as well as ceremonial rights and protections. See http://www.winnememwintu.us/ 141

I returned to California early 2014 from Canada to commence dissertation field

research. In June 2014, I attended a Breath of Life Conference sponsored by AICLS,

Advocates of Indigenous California Endangered Language Survival, at UC Berkeley. I

visited Mission Dolores for the first time in a special excursion during the Conference.

The visit to Mission Dolores with the AICLS group grounded the realization for me that many Tamalko ancestors lived there, and, therefore, many Tamalko ancestral bones lie beneath the Mission.

Our guide for the group was Ohlone Vince Medina, Native Son to the regional grounds. Vince introduced us to the hidden 1791 mural behind the Mission altar where our ancestors had created in their confinement.91 This knowledge of ancestral spirit was

too strong for me, I could not hold back my voice to honor them.

In the Mission Dolores Chapel, I sang a song in Tamal Machchaw as a

spontaneous ceremony to honor my ancestors as a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing to

their lives. I believe it was the first time in 200 years that the Spirits of my ancestors

were sung to in their Native language there in Mission Dolores. It meant so much to do that honoring upon returning to my homeland. I am grateful that Vince, Andrew Gavan

(Vince’s uncle and curator at Mission Dolores), Leanne Hinton, (prominent scholar of

California Endangered Languages), and other attending Indigenous California Language learners held hands in a circle of joined support.

Incidentally, my Tamalko cousin Jessie Curtis owned a garage across the street from Mission Dolores. On the sides of the building are panels of murals commemorating

the demise of our people by the Rancheria Act of 1958 (Termination Act) as well as our

91 “A History of the Mural” http://www.missiondoloresmural.com/history.html 142

historic restoration in 2000. 92 Jessie and I talked about having me paint the mural, but I

moved to Hawaiʻi before finalization. I believe anyone who did the mural as well as

Jessie’s desire to have it done, were answering the call of ʾununni ʾunu. The ancestors

have been trying to express themselves since 1791 silently behind the altar of Mission

Dolores as well as quietly living in plain sight for nearly five hundred years.

Conclusion: ʼUnunni ʼUnun Yayyu: Great Mother’s Call

ʼUnunni ʼUnun Yayyu is a call back to life. The call is heard in many ways. It

was initiating my first ceremony when I was eight years old, and it was attending my first

traditional ceremony as an adult woman. It was the songs that ignited the pilot light

within me. Once lit, that flame continually urges the fire to grow.

Many Indigenous North Central California ʾinniiko had taken long journeys to

find their ancestors. Many of our parents and grandparents were ashamed to identify as

Indians in California. Even when I was studying in Hawaiʻi where there is a large

Filipino population, many colonized Filipino try to trace their blood to their Spanish

conquerors. When Tamalko people find traces of European, and Mexican blood within

our veins, from our historic contact past, it was predominantly the consequence of

violence, rape, and betrayal. Why would we wish to claim allegiance to such connections

unless we continue to hold shame and the pain of being Indigenous?

Healing and ceremony are the agents to help us move beyond the division of our

ancestors. I believe the West has created their social systems out of a consciousness of

guilt. They know what they have done, despite the truth omitted from history. Mental

and psychological issues are prominent within Indigenous communities because the

92 Richard Blakely “Coast Miwok and California History.” http://www.artandarchitecture- sf.com/tag/mission-district-mural 143

people are immersed in the colonial social system. I believe if we are to truly heal, we

need our people to be the healers, within the context of our traditions. Healing will not

come to us from people raised outside of our culture and who do not wish to live by the

principles of hinak towis hennak within our communities.

When I was interning in South Dakota at the American Indian Women’s Health

Education and Resource Center, I was also living as an advocate in the Yankton

reservation’s Women’s shelter. I discovered through their history that the first building

erected on their reservation was a liquor store.93 Also, there are no protections from outside perpetrators on reservations even after assaults.94 White people own the majority

of businesses on reservations that offers minimal employment available to Indian people.

Within Indigenous communities that have casinos, up to 75 percent are non-Indigenous

employees.95

Hence, issues of alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence, unemployment, suicide and psychological problems plague Indigenous communities. It is through a

traditional Indigenous context that the people can return to hinak towis hennak. How can

a Western psychologist have any clue to the context of our ancestral consciousness unless

they are from our communities? Western “helpers” look at the symptoms of colonial

perpetration, and they assume that modern cures can help what has been a tear in souls,

culture, and lives. Colonial ideologies have no consciousness for what is required for

93 Thomas Lilley, “Regulatory Jurisdiction Over Indian Country Retail Liquor Sales.” Natural Resources Journal. 94 Krakoff, Sarah. “Mark the Plumber v. Tribal Empire or Non-Indian Anxiety v. Tribal Sovereignty? The Story of Oliphant v. Suquamish Indian Tribe. Indian Law Stories.” 95 Dwanna Richardson. “The Myth of Indian Casino Riches.” Indian Country Today. 23 June 2012. 144

Indigenous peoples to hinak towis hennak (make a good life) upon their ancestral lands

and amongst their environmental ʾinniiko.

Unfortunately, Western psychologists and physicians have been the only choices.

Such “medicines” that are solutions for the dominant society are only superficial band-

aids for the Indigenous communities. The only manner of clarity for my confused life was allowing ʾununni ʾunun yayyou to reclaim my spirit and lead me to a road of decolonial recovery.

Many Indigenous people believe in the sacred trail to heaven after they leave the

Earth, or at times when their spirit takes flight after a traumatic experience. It is the trail that takes the soul to the spirit realm through the Milky Way. Frank LaPena gives a

Wintu explanation of recovery through his art.

Green is the path that goes up; it’s like the Milky Way. That path to the Spirit realm it’s green. Just to give you an idea I am going to talk a little bit about this painting. This painting I started. It’s title “The Mourning of the Tenth Day”. You have a traumatic experience of death or something that’s painful that you hurt and cry and cuss and scream and do all kinds of things. After the 10th day, you’ve gotten it out of your system. Then you go out, and nature is just like it was. The sun is there; the moon is there, the stars are there, everything is there, the mountain is still there, the little bugs around. It has not changed, but you have changed. Then I have this little guy the meadowlark; some people call him an announcer of death. But to me, he is a beautiful singer. I have him as a beautiful singer in this new day. (LaPena 2015: 5-8)96

I find LaPena’s illustration similar to Ishi’s transformational process of

resurrection out of the mountain into colonial society. The land and all its memory and

beauty have not disappeared. The ancestors live on when we choose to have them with

us. They and we can live a new existence in our ancestral environment together. With

the ancestors, we can heal. With the ancestors, we can find balance.

96 Fig. 10 Page 151. 145

From an entirely different context, New Age ceremonies have a huge party when referencing transformation or perhaps seeking balance. A popular festival based on this concept is “Burning Man”. “Burning Man” takes place in Black Rock, on Paiute original territory in the Nevada desert. I used to work in an art studio in Fernley Nevada where every year thousands of New Agers would travel through the region to experience a

“Halloween” style party at “Burning Man”.97

I suppose it is to let off the stress of their everyday lives, in what the producers of the festival call “radical self-expression.”98 Visitors join from across the country and also

from outside the country for a week-long party extravaganza. At the end of the festival, a

ritual takes place where a 100-foot tall edifice resembling a man is burned to represent

that all that happened in the desert was erased as if nothing happened. I see this as a

living metaphor of what continues to assault the Earth in the context of settler self-

absorption.

Despite “Burning Man” project’s “Leave no Trace” Policy, Sierra Club has

criticized the event for the thousands of plastic water bottles that end up in landfills as

well as ostentatious displays of flames and explosions. 99

Healing is a very different experience within Indigenous ceremony. The

attendance to condolence and its needed transformations are essential aspects of healing.

The entire process is to honor and come to terms with loss, grief and stress with the assistance of family and friends. Those that are not grieving are to be of assistance to the ones in the process. It is surrendering to the pain and emptiness so that the experience

97 There were 65,000 in 2014. 98 Brian Doherty. This Is Burning Man. Benbella Books. p.28. 99 Matthew Taylork “Burned Out on Burning Man.” Sierra Club Magazine http://vault.sierraclub.org/sierra/200807/burningman.asp 146

can address the imbalance of life so that a new awakening can take place. Dolly Suehead

recalls the critical value of supporting the tradition.

I would say two, three hundred people would come. They’d come from all over the reservations. A lot of times people would find out through word of mouth because we didn’t have telephones. We were too poor for telephones. But a lot of people came who had lost people. But you weren’t prepared for the rest of your life, I guess, until you did that and got to cry, because tradition demanded that you get rid of your hurt feelings. To start life new is I guess what you might say. (30)

“Burning Man” may take the celebrants away from their pain and confusion, but it does not address their stress and anxieties. Their concerns are temporarily burned up and

metaphorically vanish away while celebrating in the desert. Unfortunately only to return

once the celebrants arrive back to the reality they desired to leave.

Ishi came out of hiding with nothing but deep respect and love in his heart for his

relatives and family. Ishi did not hold any animosity towards the whites who had been

the perpetrators for the demise of his entire world. Ishi illustrates that both aspects of life

are acknowledged and respected within a ceremonial consciousness. Sadness and joy both come from an eternal consciousness of balance that we are all bound to.

Recently I had the honor to facilitate a coming of age ceremony for my nephew

Anthony, my brother’s eldest son. Anthony had found an eagle feather when camping

the previous summer with other Tamalko/Southern Pomo children from the community.

My mother put the feather aside to keep it safe for when it was time to return it to him.

Anthony turned twelve, and I realized it was time for him to experience a ceremony that

honors and acknowledges his coming of age, especially when the Eagle Spirit came to

him.

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In all the years of participating and facilitating ceremony, I had not given one for my family. I was extremely nervous, but with the encouragement offered from Frank

LaPena, and my supporting husband, I brought the ceremony to my family.

Both of my nephews lived a good part of their lives away from California. They had no emotional connection to their ancestral homelands other than from the insistent

language lessons I gave them through Skype once a week while they were living in Texas

and me in Canada.

Through the ceremony, I felt welcomed back into the bosom of my grandparents’ heritage and spirit once again. Through Anthony, the family was brought together on the top of Armstrong Woods (a protected forest) in our ancestral homelands, amongst our

ancient Lume ʼalwas Coastal Redwood ancestors. When we can look at the past, despite

the loss and sadness, and honor our connectedness, then we know we are hinak towis

hennak.

David Carrio, Tamalko traditionalist and Culture Bearer, gave Anthony an Eagle blessing at the ceremony. David speaks of the value of ceremony:

It’s about you tapping yourself on the dark side of you. We have so much of that we have to fight. That’s why we need to bring our people back together. It’s not to take things back it’s to show people an example of human beings. That’s what we use to be human beings. That is what our objectives should be. To become a human being again. It takes a lot. It takes everything of your being to be a human being. That is why ceremony is everything to me because it’s the way I live my life. (Carrio)

There are concerns regarding Indigenous traditional knowledge being exposed through research and academia. Powhatan/Lenape scholar Jack Forbes felt that Native history must be told and that Indigenous scholarship was necessary for recognition of

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Indigenous Intelligencia within the academy100. On the other hand, Lakota scholar Vine

Deloria Jr. believed that Native knowledge was to directly benefit the community.

Deloria did not think Native Studies within the academic paradigm could benefit the communities.101 There are divided groups regarding this debate.

As an instructor who advocates ethical history, I find the settler populace has been

kept insulated from Indigenous history and should be exposed to the truth no matter how uncomfortable. Unfortunately, in Native Studies, there is a small percentage of

Indigenous students that enroll in the course. Indigenous students do not discover the benefits of their culture that is accessible to them because they choose to take courses that will teach them skills that can offer success within the job market.

Therefore, as an Indigenous scholar, I advocate Deloria’s concerns. There must be spiritual and cultural benefits for Indigenous community members as well as what has benefited non-indigenous scholars from Indigenous knowledges and history, or we will continue to find an imbalance regarding the welfare of Indigenous peoples.

Mohawk Taiaiake Alfred stresses Deloria’s advocacy towards traditionalists supporting communities because they embody core attributes that define their nations.

These attributes are (Alfred, 171):

1. Defined by their indigeneity, (Indian blood and Identity)

2. That they are ‘free of alternate identities and allegiances

3. [that] they practice their culture and live by the teachings

4. They speak the language, and they know and respect oral histories.

100 Jack Forbes, Intellectual Self Determination and Sovereignty: Implications for Native Studies for Native Intellectuals 101 Deloria Jr., Vine. "Intellectual Self‐Determination and Sovereignty: Looking at the Windmills in Our Minds." Wicazo Sa Review 149

Ceremony resurrects traditions because it connects us to the ancestors, and through their presence and knowledge in the living environment, they are honored.

Ceremony exemplifies ancestral attributes that Alfred reaffirms in Deloria’s teachings.

Indigenous ceremonial practices allow a spiritual life and spirit travel to resound in our lives reminding us of the lifeways inherent within our cultures. It is not just a practice in the roundhouse or the sweat lodge. It is the agency of traveling through life with an

Indigenous spiritual consciousness, an Indigenous lifeway, hinak towis hennak.

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Figure 10. Source: Frank LaPena pictured with his original Painting (Left upper wall) “Mourning of the Tenth Day” © December 10, 2014 (Diveena Marcus)

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CHAPTER 5 - Hennak ʼAlmuti: Tasting Life

Conducting Research Method/Process

For Indigenous people, research is a ceremony. When ceremonies take place, everyone who is participating needs to be ready to step beyond the every day and to accept a raised state of consciousness. You could say that the specific rituals that make up the ceremony are designed to get the participants into a state of mind that will allow for the extraordinary to take place. (Wilson 69)

The raised consciousness that Indigenous spiritual culture in ceremony brings is

the ability to travel with Spirit. For an Indigenous scholar, conducting research is a

personal journey answering ’ununni ʼunun yayyu: Great Mother’s Call. In answering

ʼununni ʼunun yayyu, ceremony is always the process for hinti wuskin ʾona (what the heart says) and the clarity it brings. Cherokee spiritual leader Dhyani Ywahoo explains the metaphysics of the Indigenous heart.

The heart is the mind, in Native American thought; it is where the intellect lies. Around the heart are two electrical fields, one going clockwise, the other counterclockwise, ever moving together. (Ywahoo, Dhyani 212)

In the traditional Tamalko Weeʾa (blessing), the Spirit of ʼununni ʼunu is

petitioned to give strength to the inner consciousness and to balance the mind with the heart. Waya maako towis wuski, hunaa maako towis hinak suk weyyatto (give us good hearts, so that we can do good in this world). Weeʾa (a Blessing) is recited before all

Tamalko meetings and events to help keep and raise the consciousness of the people with the ancestors when they gather together.

Research within an Indigenous perspective and cultural approach is a spiritual

journey that seeks wisdom and knowledge. Kathleen Absolon defines Indigenous

research within cultural terminology in Kaandossiwin: How We Come to Know:

Terms that reflect Indigenous ways of collecting and finding are searching, harvesting, picking, gathering, hunting and trapping. ( 21)

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Within cultural terms, it is understood that discovery is not anything new nor is there a

breakthrough in intelligence. Absolon defines how she conducts Indigenous research.

I now hyphenate re-search, meaning to look again. To search again from our own location and to search again using our own ways as Anishinaabek is Indigenous to re-search. It is the process of how we come to know. (21)

Therefore, researching is an Indigenous journey of “re-looking” for gifts and

blessings, usually left from the ancestors through the spirit of ʼununni ʼunu. These blessings are gifts that belong to us; they come to us because we traveled in spirit with

ʼununni ʼunu in prayer to retrieve what is ours to find. These personal blessings are gifts of knowledge and our own “taste of life”. Cody Pata explains the Nomlāqa process of making one’s way in the world through this consciousness.

Our form of inheritance has nothing to do with things you pass on. Anything I accrue, even to say wealth, we simply say “nequda.” It means “I’ve found it.” You’re at the right place where you are supposed to be. So I can’t pass something on to you. If I die, you can’t take my stuff. It goes into my grave with me or it’s destroyed, burned, whatever needs to be. (Pata)

Cody’s explanation regarding acquisition illuminates a global Indigenous view and well illustrated by the ancient Egyptians, where everything acquired by the deceased was buried with her/him. Symbolically material goods were returned to recycle within the Earth, and also metaphorically the Earth prepares them towards a transformation into the spiritual. Therefore, from a Nomlāqa view, finding knowledge is given when you are in the right place, and when you know your are ready and where you are supposed to be.

How one receives gifts, such as worldly and spiritual acquisitions is a process of protocol.

Ajumawi Floyd Buckskin discusses traditional indigenous appropriation in

Ajumawi Doctoring (237-248). Buckskin relates that power, (like brain consciousness) can bifurcate. Depending on one’s intentions and upbringing, power can be used for beneficial or destructive purposes. One can either walk on a path of individualism and

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self-determinism or one of relationship and love. The quick self-determined route is what

Buckskin says (245), “That’s not real. Indian people usually view that [as] taking the road of witchcraft.” Historian Matthew Dennis explains this phenomenon further.

The line between the beneficent and the malignant, between medicine and witchcraft, was easily crossed. Shamans might turn their abilities to evil, or normally benign rituals might become witchcraft if improperly performed. (91)

The way of the heart is to purify and to be in balance with love. The process of

ceremony is to establish a clean heart and a good mind to honor and proceed with the

desire for hinak towis hennak (making a good life). Therefore, I choose not to undertake serious ventures until I am invited or when I facilitate ceremony. Initiating research and writing this dissertation has honored ceremonial protocol. I offer an example when I first

moved to Hawaiʻi.

My husband picked me up from the airport, and we immediately went to a

secluded beach to offer sawlas.102 At the time, I was ignorant of Hawaiʻian protocol, but

I knew I had to petition for spiritual guidance in a land that held ancient culture that was different from my own. We asked for guidance as to how to live upon the land of

Hawaiʻi. Eventually, we became part of the Volcano community and joined a Halau.103

We visited Halemaʾumaʾu frequently104.

When I was in Ontario Canada attending course work at Trent University, I was

accepted into an apprenticeship to Edna Mantiowabi in the Ph.D. Indigenous Studies

Biimaadiziwin program. I asked Edna how I might prepare to have a relationship with the Peterborough Ontario territory and community. She suggested I do a four-day fasting

102 Bay Laurel, traditional Tamalko Purification herb. 103 A group that practices and teaches the ancient Hawaiʻian Hula dance. 104 Halemaʾumaʾu is the caldera of Mauna Kilauea in Volcanoes National Park Hawaiʻi, a sanctified place for traditional Hawaiʻians. 154

ceremony with her. Through Edna’s facilitated ceremony, my journey to Canada was

clarified.

Initially, the focus of my research was through performance art. After attending

to Edna at subsequent fasting camps and her medicine camp, ka soli weleetak (my dream

helper) and the dream I had of Nelumbo Lutea (Indigenous North American Lotus) returned to my consciousness. In seeking hinak towis hennak (making a good life), by

hinti wuskin ʾona (listening to my heart), I changed my research and direction.

Once back in my ancestral homelands in California, I knew I had to realign my

heart and consciousness again with the ancestors after being away so long. If I were to meet with the Culture Bearers that “belonged” to my research, I needed to ask the

ancestors to help me find them. Winnemem Chief Caleen invited me to attend the

Winnemem’s annual Coonrod renewal ceremony that summer in 2014. I knew through

the power of Spirit travel within the traditional Winnemem process of ceremony, I would

once again be rejoined with my ancestors.

As I waited to join in ceremony with the Winnemem, I prayed and offered tobacco every day to be accepted in Siskiyou territory and for guidance by hintiʾ wuskin ʼona. I

also had gone on a fast when I awaited Trent University’s Research Ethics Board, REB approval to conduct research in California. I did not receive research approval until April

2014. However, during the wait, my husband and I found a place to live in Siskiyou

County. I chose this location as a research base because it was a region I had been visiting for over 20 years. I felt safe and spiritually grounded in the environment of

Bulyum Pulyuk (Mount Shasta).

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Bulyum Pulyuk, for many Indigenous peoples in the Siskiyou area, is a place of creation. In the presence of the mountain is peace. It is to Bulyum Pulyuk I ask for

guidance and blessings in prayer before I write. I also chose to be near the Winnemen

Wintu whose ancestral territories were in the vicinity of Bulyum Pulyuk.105 This research

is focused on Penutian language family communities that include the Winnemem Wintu as

well as the Modoc/Klamath community located in Klamath, Oregon (an hour away)

whom I had also planned to visit.106

As a research method for conducting interviews, I had proposed utilizing the

snowball sampling strategy. I did try the method and found one other participant

through this approach. I ended up using a variety of techniques in the search for

participants.

Petitioning community councils for permission to do research with their members

was a challenging approach as well. After the tribal council had granted me permission

to seek participants in their community, the requisition method for soliciting members

was regulated by an invitation posted on community bulletin boards and newsletters.

Unfortunately, Federal tribes must adhere to the more regulated “westernized”

managerial protocols that remove the opportunity for the community to get to know or

meet the researchers on a personal level. This approach did not work for me. I thought I

would be able to introduce myself to the community members so that they would be able

to meet me. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

105 I had met Winnemem Chief Caleen Sisk while assisting Dr. Paula Sherman producing the Annual Indigenous Women’s Symposium in 2012. Caleen was one of the Keynote Speakers. 106 I did not do research with the Klamath or Modoc. I had first planned on during research in Penutian Northern California regions. I narrowed the region to North Central Penutian communities. 156

Research methods I used for acquiring participants were: snowball, purposive and

random sampling. Through Tamalko Elder Joanne Campbell, I was referred to a well-

known Tamalko Elder Culture Bearer, as well as Joanne’s niece and Culture Bearer,

Jacquelyn Ross. Jacquelyn, an academic, graciously responded to my email introduction.

She set a date for our visit, and she was the only effective participant from the snowball method. The formerly referred Elder did not respond during the two years I tried to contact her. After I had selected my research participants, I eventually met the former

Elder’s sister who then realized who I was. 107

To find my way to Penutian language communities, I contacted AICLS Advocates

for Indigenous California Language Survival and spoke to administrator Marina

Drummer. Marina invited me to an Ohlone Spoken Word event that took place at

Heyday Books in Berkeley, March 2014. There I met Maidu Allen Wallace and Nomalki

Cody Pata.

Later, Dr. Leanne Hinton encouraged me to attend the Breath of Life Conference in 2014 where I would meet potential participants.108 The Breath of Life Conference was

facilitated by AICLS in June at UC Berkeley, where Indigenous California Language

learners came from throughout the state to attend. There, I met with Cody Pata, who was

attending as a presenter, and he was the first to participate in my research.

I was given verbal consent from Winnemem Chief Caleen when we met in

Canada, and also by Tamalko Elder Joanne Campbell. Finding others was not as I had

107 Traditional protocol is to present yourself in person. I was at a far distance so I made phone calls and wrote. Being at a distance is detrimental for approaching most traditional Elders. I had planned to return to California to work with an Elder from my own community for Trent’s Biimaadiziwin practicum but this did not happen because the Elder did not recognize me at the time, therefore did not respond to me. 108 I previously attended the 2010 Breath of Life Conference while I was working on my M.A. degree in Montana. There I was introduced to Tamal Machchaw, and met Leanne and Marina. 157

expected. I did meet active and willing potential participants as Northern California

Indigenous language advocates and Culture Bearers. Unfortunately, they were not from

Penutian-speaking language communities. Nonetheless, I hope to collaborate with them in the future. I consider meeting them all a blessing.

While attending the Breath of Life Conference, I visited with Cody Pata. After, I traveled to Auburn in Gold Country and met with Allen Wallace for our visit. After Alan

Wallace, I met with Jacquelyn Ross at UC Davis. A month later, I made presentations to two tribal councils who were very pleasant and welcoming. Though my requests were approved, there were no responses. I realized I needed to be patient, wait, pray, and attend ceremony for further guidance.

In August 2014 my husband and I participated as helpers in the Winnemem Wintu annual Coonrod ceremony. The traditional ceremony lasted four days. The ceremonial gathering consisted of nightly dances with visitations and ceremonies on Bulyum Pulyuk.

A private ceremony in which we were invited took place at the artesian spring in Panther

Meadows on Bulyum Pulyuk. It was during and after these ceremonies, with the ancestral guidance and blessings I received, that I knew my research situation would change.

Kathleen Absolon defines my experience:

The significance of ancestors cannot be ignored. Indigenous people know the ancestors are watching and waiting to share their knowledge. Many Indigenous people pay homage to the ancestors and turn to sacred ceremonies to tap into and seek out ancestral knowledge. The map to get to the ancestor's knowledge is in Aboriginal protocols and ethics and more specifically within Aboriginal epistemology. (Absolon 66)

I believe being in the traditional Winnemen community village site, and honoring

hinti wuskin ʼona helped to open the door of spirit travel to the ancestors for the support I

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needed in healing and blessings. I received clarity as to what I had to do and whom to call. By the following month, I interviewed all but one remaining participant.

Previously, I tried to contact Wintu Elder Frank LaPena when I first received REB approval, but I had difficulty obtaining his contact information. During a trip to Sonoma

County (shortly after the Winnemem ceremony), to visit the remaining research participants, I met with Filipina scholar Leny Strobel, Ethnic Studies Chair at Sonoma

State University. I had admired Leny’s research style illustrated in her book Coming Full

Circle: The Process of Decolonization Among Post-1965 Filipino Americans. I had read

the book in Canada and when I found she was residing on Tamalko homeland territory I

took the opportunity to meet her in Santa Rosa. At our visit, I also discovered that Leny

was a friend of Frank LaPena. She also informed me that Frank was mixed race Filipino

and California Indian, like myself. Through Leny, I obtained Frank’s contact

information, another blessing from the ancestors.

I began with several phone calls to Frank so that we could get to know each other.

I mailed him a personal research proposal to illustrate my research intentions. 109 Frank is

a traditional Elder, who does not use computers. Our communication is by phone and

mail. In December, we met in person. Before contacting Frank, I thought I was finished with participant visits as my research time was nearing completion. After contacting

Frank, I decided to extend my research with Trent’s Research Ethics Board to make sure

I had the time needed to spend with Frank.

109 This was a proposal of research I created personalize for each of my participants involvement that illustrated why I wished to visit with them prior to presenting them with the REB written consent form. I also brought the REB with me at the visitation for signatures. 159

I completed my research visitations by the end of January 2015. By February, I

had made transcriptions for every participant and send them out for their review. Near

the end of February, I visited with the Tamalko participants who were able to meet with

me for breakfast.110 I shared my research progress with them and thanked them for their participation.

Emergence: Under the Right Conditions (Lutea)

While waiting for participant reviews on interview transcripts, I made a call to

David Swann to discuss Nelumbo Lutea. In our conversation, David affirmed my

assumptions that Lutea seeds could not have clung to cattle as the California State

Agriculture Department representative suggested. Swann asserted that Lutea seeds were

large and cumbersome to stay attached to cattle hair. Also, we agreed that the statement

made by PHER (Public Health and Environmental Research), where Lutea is endangered

in three states and then invasive in 48 states, was a conundrum.

Swann reiterated that Lutea was Indigenous throughout North America. Lutea’s

ancestor, Nelumbo aureavalis’s fossil was discovered in North Dakota. The Dakotas are

presently a plains environment, an arid land. Nevertheless, climatic zones changed from

56 million to 47.8 million years ago during the Ypresian Stage of stratigraphy. At the

time when Aureavalis existed, North Dakota was marsh territory.

Lutea’s emergence in the forest environment of California makes sense.

California coastal prairie ecosystem is predominantly grasslands that hold moisture from

110 I had proposed to facilitate a focus group with my participants but funding did not allow. I was fortunate to get most of the Tamalko participants together including my mother and Dr. Applegate to share my research progress. 160

fog. In California, meadows occur as openings or as large islands within forested

areas.111 Anthropologist Betty Goerke notes traditional Tamalko territories:

Coast Miwok territory included wide expanses of marshy areas, lagoons, and ponds, searching from the Golden Gate to the Northern Shore of San Pablo Bay and extending through the inland areas around river systems in southern Sonoma County and the bays of Tamales and Bodega. (8)

Such an ecosystem is extremely conducive for Lutea to hinak towis hennak (make

a good life) in a healthy wetland environment. Unfortunately, the lush and prolific environment was immediately attacked when Spanish Missions were established along the coastal front.

Louis Gentilcore explains in Missions and Mission Lands of Alta California; that

the early explorers were astonished by the well drained and fertile soil that Alta

California possessed. Unfortunately, when the Spanish designed Mission architecture to

duplicate Spain, they removed indigenous grasslands surrounding the mission complexes

for their domestic animals, and for the desired Spanish plains environment. The removal

of indigenous grasslands created flooding.

The destructive nature of the floods is attributed to the removal of vegetation on the upper part of the watershed by grazing and by fires, and on the lower parts for firewood and to make room for cultivation. The floods in the wake of this destruction would again remove substantial acreages. Beyond this, it is difficult to say to what extent the processes of soil removal can be extended to the whole mission area. It is enough to say that the appearance and extent of the lands available to the missions were not the same as they are today. (Gentilcore, 53)

Such a statement is unimaginable, as the lands of California are continually leached of its

nutrients with agriculture at a $42.6 billion dollar industry that generates at least $100

111 “California Coastal Prairies.” Sonoma State University. No date. 15 June 2015. http://www.sonoma.edu/cei/prairie/prairie_desc/definitions.shtml#grasslands. 161

billion in related economic activity.112 The rich and bountiful soils were the essence and

substance that the ancestors left for the environment to flourish. Indigenous peoples

understand this. Therefore, there are concerted efforts to preserve and re-cultivate

traditional environments today by the efforts of Indigenous communities.113

Swann’s Lutea advocacy inspired me to re-cultivate her again from seed in

California as a “personal act of reclamation” and to reintroduce Lutea’s Spirit to

California. Re-cultivating an ancient Elder is an honor after so many years of her being considered a homeless “waif” in California and whose existence evokes certain

extermination by the Department of California Agriculture. In doing so, I actively

denounce my Indigenous status as a “waif” within my homelands and in doing so I am

regenerating the strength I have inherited from my ancestors. It does not matter what

“official” documents define Indigenous peoples’ identity (and I include Lutea) when we

know the truth we have obligations to it.

I ordered Nelumbo Lutea seeds registered as Strictly Medicinal Seeds, from an

organic farm in Oregon. Cultivating Lutea is not hard, but it is a process. Whereas,

within a natural indigenous process, time and a healthy conducive environmental will

gradually help to revitalize Lutea’s community.

Since purchased Lutea seeds had been collected and therefore were out of the

natural environment, the outer shell developed an armor to protect the embryo. Her

extremely resistant casing must be filed down until the top coat is weathered. Once in the

112 California Department of Food and Agriculture. 113 Federated Indians and Occidental Arts and Ecology Center partner with TEK workshops (Traditional Environmental Knowledge) workshops, tribal organic gardening workshops and land/park preservation on homeland territory). Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. 2015. http://oaec.org/our-work/projects-and- partnerships/federated-indians-of-graton-rancheria/ 162

water, the seed absorbs the moisture because of the thinner filed casing. I chose four seeds to cultivate representing the four elements Lutea travels and lives through; the

Earth, the water, the air, and the sun. I place each seed in a large glass container in the sun to sprout. During this process, I put down tobacco and offered a Thanksgiving as the

caretaker to the Lutea seeds.

The sprouting of Lutea seeds was the ceremony that began the writing process of

this dissertation. Seeing the bright green sprout burst through and crack the hard shell

was like I was witnessing the long-awaited emergence of my identity and culture. It was

a very emotional experience. I felt as if I was breaking forth from a hard and confined

space that I have lived within for so long.

Chickasaw Eber Hampton acknowledges the value of emotions and feeling within

Indigenous research.

One thing I want to say about research is that there is the motive. I believe the reason is emotional because we feel. We do what we do for reasons, emotional reasons. That is the engine that drives us. That is the gift of the Creator of Life. (52)

Lutea’s reemergence within this research is a metaphor for the act of liberation of

California Indigenous peoples into the world that is waiting for them. The world needs to be ready to participate with Indigenous peoples. Like the Chumash legend of the people of the heart, we must look around and recognize each other. When we acknowledge the place of the heart, then the ancestors are alive within each of us. The ancestors have always provided what we needed to survive no matter how long we have been dormant.

Griffiths reminds us that once Lutea resurrects, she has all the attributes of her forbearers:

Unlike those of many seedlings, [Lutea’s] features are not juvenile; they do not differ in any anatomically significant way from the mature Nelumbo; they are simply small and do not remain so for long. (19)

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Regardless of being held down in confined areas of existence in the midst of the

dominant society within obscure regional compounds, and figuratively through industrial

control, nothing can erase the knowledge and memories of the world that Indigenous

people know exists beyond the veils of social illusions, lies, and destructive

consciousness. Like Lutea’s survival mechanisms, a spiritual fire keeps this

consciousness alive.

Quite how the message is sent and received, the information that now is the time to sprout, is another mystery. ‘Just add water’ is evidently not the Lotus seed’s sole motivation for breaking its slumber. Something else must happen to render an impermeable and rock-hard shell capable of breathing, imbibing, becoming twice its original size and softening to the point where a hatchling embryo can breach its hull. (Griffiths 20).

I believe some factors may explain this mystery. There are physical,

metaphysical and evolutionary influences on Indigenous consciousness. The physical

factor is not unlike our beautiful ancestor, Lutea; we are descendants of indigenous peoples who have remained with memories and histories upon regional territory. Like indigenous plants continually growing in their endemic soil, they flourish and cognitively rebuild upon the previous “ancestral memory”.

Dan Longboat says the knowledge and the land infuse rich nutrients and life force into Indigenous plants, and they become “super foods” for the people.114 The power of

this force synchronically travels as spirit into our bodies. As a result, we wuskippa

(respect) our plant ʼinniiko (relatives) and consciously seek hinak towis hennak with

them.

114 Dan Longboat “Food System’s course lecture. Trent University. 2013. Peterborough ON.

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A metaphysical factor is related to the transformational wisdom and history of

longevity within ancestral consciousness. Indigenous Elder Turtle has been a teacher to

many Indigenous peoples and for example offers teachings of metaphysics. Turtle is

featured in Indigenous North American Creation myth stories as a representation of the

Earth.115 Turtle demonstrates the power of creation within Haudenosaunee and

Anishinaabe myth story as Turtle transforms into land for humans to live. Indigenous

Spirit travel is transformational as well as a survival process most profoundly and clearly illustrated in Craig Womack's Red on Red, within the Creek legend behind the Green

Corn Dance (75-101).

Indigenous renewal ceremonies bring the people together. Creek renewal Green

Corn ceremony reflects upon the myth story of How Turtle got his broken shell and the value of transformation. It is within the power song Turtle sings that exemplifies what

the singing of Tamalko songs does for me. They put me back together.

In the story, Turtle desires a woman and calls lasciviously out to her. She does

not see him as he continues to taunt her. She eventually realizes he is under her skirt.

She lifts her skirt and plucks a pubic hair and ties it around Turtle’s neck. Then she takes her mortar and smashes his shell and leaves him to die. As Turtle is near death, he faintly sings a song to bring his broken body back together. The power of Turtles song reconnects his shell’s broken pieces. Like picking up the pieces of Wilson’s broken mirror, Turtle survives with the scars/breaks of his experience.

Like much of Indian chant, from an Indian worldview, the song contains the medicine that sets the cure into motion as the language of the chant releases physical forces in the universe. (Womack 87)

115 Eddie Benton Benai, Mishomis the Sky Woman Creation Story. 165

Also, extremely vital is Turtle’s great hunger, which is an example of metaphor

for the profound and deep desire when Indigenous people are seeking Spirit in their lives.

Matthew Allen speaks of this cultural and spiritual passion even in the face of death.

And this tugging at the soul, this urging of the spirit, makes it almost impossible to exterminate his independent mind, just as it was not possible to exterminate him as a human being. (Statement of Policy qt. in Allen pg. 119)

Until the initiate goes through the “bashing”, s/he does not understand how hard this path is. Once the other “self” is broken, s/he can continue, if willing, to transcend and transgress the boundaries of the impaired older consciousness. One is then healed and brought into another existence, and like Ishi, they will always be marked somehow with scars and memory as a reminder.

As a ceremonial singer, I understand the concentration needed to generate Spirit life force (weya), through the song. The basic process of singing traditional medicine songs is to assist the healing that takes place in the ceremony. As a vital component of the ceremony, the singer’s intent is to utilize the spiritual power of the song and to built its force around themselves. In doing so, they offer its strength to the dancers, so that they have the stamina to continue to dance the prayers into the environment.

The process of singing the medicine song consists of four rounds continually

repeated. In the beginning, like Turtle's faint voice, the song delivery is not loud and has

no velocity. By the third round, the “verse” is sung with a thrust that catapults the

voice/body/spirit of the singer into a soaring height for the fourth round. Such was

Turtle’s intentional focus in his singing that lifted him to meet ʼunuuni ʼunu. She then

carried him through the transformational process, and to his healing. All through the

process, Turtle is singing. The song is repeated until the weya/healing spirit has done its

work. The ceremonial facilitator determines that. The healing ceremony, the journeying 166

to and merging into another realm, is not easy to explain. However,

Choctaw/Anishinaabe Clara Sue Kidwell elaborates on ceremony:

Human energy in the form of ceremony activity gave the stars the energy and incentive to continue their motions. Human thought was a causal agent in the process of the environment. Ongoing relationships between the humans and the spirit world including the sun, moon and stars, were necessary for the world to continue. (Kidwell 16).

Traditional Indigenous people have the wisdom, desire and knowledge to assist

and join with the motions of the universe. Likewise, the universe is connected in

ceremonies and healing to benefit humans. Kidwell quotes Whorf (57-64) regarding the

phenomenon:

Hopi sense of time with ‘anticipation of the heart’. The Hopi speak of that which has manifested itself (present) and that which awaits to be manifested. Their thoughts and the ensuing actions caused things to happen. (11)

When feelings and desires are balanced with Spirit through ceremony, they are agents of

transformation because they have joined with ʼununni ʼunu and all of creation. With

sincere intention in balanced heart and mind, the bridge of spirit travel is crossed.

In Native traditions, they [planets] are living beings, interacting with humans and influenced by human behavior in ceremony and song. (Kidwell 17)

With immense volition under his dying breath, Turtle’s song was heard in the

conscious universe. Turtle’s thoughts through ceremonial action, brought him into the

presence of absolute power in the universe. Healing and ceremonial consciousness is

experienced, and cannot be explained. The other Turtles do not understand, nor will they

ever understand why Turtle wears his pubic hair scarf. For Turtle, it is in honoring what had broke him, that he heals. Womack says “… from southeastern incantations for disease, is to elicit a cure by invoking the spiritual enemies of whatever is causing the disease (241).” Do we not use penicillin and poisons in a similar manner?

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In North Central Indigenous California, within the healing and concentrated

prayer ceremonies, the dancers are men. They are the warriors who dance as the prayers

are sung for all the peoples and the Earth. Fasting all the while, they dance for four days

and nights. The dancers give up as much of their life force as they can to travel

spiritually into the creative vortex of ʼununni ʼunu. Metaphysically we understand

ceremony when we emerge as transformed and renewed people as in Turtle’s example.

Transformation comes in various forms. Some contemporary Indigenous North

Central Californians are traveling within an evolutionary transformational process of

regaining culture through an economic consciousness. Casino tribes are becoming visible

because of their status as viable contenders in the game of Western capitalism. Many

settlers would rather see Indians back in the “teepee” and out of sight. They are

frightened by an Indigenous emerging presence. Protests and racist attitudes are

exhibited against Indigenous people because some are becoming economically solvent, or

have the potential to gain or be on equal status as the privileged non-Indigenous.116

When the Tamalko community voted to become a casino tribe, it took thirteen years to start the building. Bodyguards were hired to be present at our Tribal Council

community meetings because of bomb threats. In our visibility, the non-Indigenous

community is reminded that what they have acquired was established through coercion,

conned by “forked tongues”, and outrightly stolen from the ancestors. It continues today.

When they see us, their emotions get the best of them. José Barreiro quotes John

Mohawk reminding us, “Thus, to the western mind it is not only necessary to steal Indian

116 Rob Capriccioso. Attack of the Indian-Gaming Fighter, and How the Blowback Against Tribal Gaming Has Evolved

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land to meet needs for possession, but it is also necessary to hate Indians for fighting to

protect their land. (Barreiro 263).

“Indian Giver” is a white man’s term placed upon Indians for an action that white

men are known. Nothing Indigenous to North American belongs to the white man.

Stealing has no connection to belonging. How can Indian people be considered “Indian

Givers” in the Western context? Traditional North Central Indigenous peoples did not

steal or lie; they knew the eventual consequences.

Ethnographer Roland B. Dixon noted a Konkow belief (227-228), “the man with a

crooked tongue is like the man with the crooked arrow.” For the majority of North

Central Indigenous Californians, promises were not as necessary because striving to be

honest was a moral and noble objective. Otherwise, the community required a rectified

retaliation either by demanding the same treatment to the offender or exile from the

community. Mohawk quoted in Thinking in Indian says, “Living in a world of lying

people one cannot trust gives rise to another phenomenon: anxiety (Barreiro 261).”

What is the emotional phenomenon of residing in an environment that you or your

relatives had stolen and then observing the victims amass prosperity and wealth around

you? Do you deny their ethical holdings and say they are acquiring their wealth and

possessions by fraudulent means?

In an Indigenous context, Indians who wish to live by hinak towis hennak tell the truth and instill generosity. Generosity exemplified wealth in spirit and character.

Indigenous communities know they cannot take back their lands, but today, they can buy

back what was stolen from them.

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What they want back is their culture that colonialization proclaimed was dirty and

demonic. When Indigenous people in the U.S. and Canada stepped forward during the

Civil Rights movement, their voices were heard and for some settlers, it was an honest

voice. It spoke to their confused spirit. However, some settlers eventually decided to

infringe on the indigenous spiritual culture as well, by misappropriation.

There is much controversy regarding casinos inside and outside Indian

communities. Federal regulated Indian Casinos have foundations based on relationships

built from an economic and political composition that does not come from wuski, (the

heart) ceremony, or ʼununni ʼunu (Great Mother). An investigation into the subject would be a different research project altogether.

For this research, the presence of an enhanced heritage that Casino communities

have developed has helped to inspire non-recognized Native American peoples and has

given them strength to make their voices known and heard. For Aboriginal Native

Americans in California, they are regaining their presence on their homeland. Paul H.

Gelles, the anthropologist for the Santa Ynez Chumash community, states in his book

Chumash Renaissance: Indian Casinos, Education, and Cultural Politics in Rural

California.

As we drove back down Highway 101 from northern California to the Santa Ynez Valley, I was struck by the number of tribes we passed, tribes that have been there all along but that just recently appeared on the map, large roadway signs now announcing their Rancherias and reservations. These new signs point us not only toward the physical territories of a thriving people but to deeper economic, political, and cultural processes at work in rural California today. (Gelles xxvi)

Indigenous North Central California consciousness is profoundly spiritual, and it

is also supported by the peoples’ newly emergent presence in the world that is enhancing

their equanimity within the dominant society.

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Genealogy

Kathleen Absolon reminds us that,

[T]he ‘self’ is central to Indigenous re-search. This includes the re-searcher’s location, memory and search for congruency. (67)

Within an Indigenous ceremonial consciousness, each one of us is in the center generating a force field of love (review Figure 6 pg. 78). With love, we adjust ourselves to the spiritual web that connects us and re-bonds us to the ancestors. Within that knowledge, our identity is empowered. Congruency is found within our communities as we are all related. In Thinking in Indian, John Mohawk reminds us that we need community as all human beings are social creatures.

Only one common factor has been demonstrated universally throughout successful human cultures: adult males and females always seem to live with their children. Something that can be described as a nuclear family exists and has existed in virtually every successful culture in human history. Human beings still need intimacy to remain healthy long after they have ceased being infants. (Barreiro 256)

Indigenous people have not forgotten this innate human biological consciousness to hinak

towis hennak. ‘Inniiko: relations, family, ancestors, hold the treasures of Indigenous

knowledges, spirituality, world view and belonging by placing the family and community

as a priority in values.

In the search for connections to the ancestors, not only do I realize how much

there is to learn about them but knowing more about them informs me more about

myself. For most Indigenous researchers and community members per se, we are not

prepared to live hinak towis hennak unless we go back to reflect and remember where we

came.

Absolon’s research methodology is based on personal knowledge from the Bush

as “looking back”. Looking back at the landscape, as Absolon travels deeper into the

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woods, helps her to remember signs and markers so she can find her way back home.

Looking back is the principal methodology and thesis of this research. As I returned

“home” the landscape forces me to reflect on the past. Whether it is to think about the

ancestors, or on the legacy in which North Central Indigenous California nations have

survived. I cannot deny my heritage, and looking back gives me parameters for journeying either too far in research within the academic context, or too deep into the western paradigm. Again, reflecting on the legacy of the ancestors brings balance and peace to the journey.

Genealogy has been a primary factor regarding federal requirements for

“recognized” Indigenous identities within Indian country. Within Indian country, genealogy is the connection to the ancestors. When I looked back during the searching years for my lost identity, I could not see any landscape with congruency. There were faint connections when I reflected on the broken shards that were shattered and disassociated from each other. Gathering the pieces has taken me most of my life.

Today it is a different story. Today young people have access to online genealogy

programs, archives, and museum artifacts (if from a recognized community) and also the

assistance and support of librarians and academics.

In the past, I came upon many deadends. I struggled through dark underground

passages, gathering clues from word of mouth. The Elders I found held cultural treasures

tightly and secretly.

However, I found I was not alone in the struggle back to the ancestors. I am from

the last of the lost generations who had no tangible references to their origins. The

generations that my mother and my grandmother belonged to were also lost.

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Blackfeet/Hawaiʻian friend Frankie Hayduk shared similar frustrations. When she was

young living in her Hawaiʻian homelands, the Hawaiʻian language was forbidden. Her culture was invisible to her. However, today the Hawaiʻian culture is flourishing.

We both agreed we are very grateful for the outcome but saddened by our experiences of deprivation from our fascinating and beloved cultures. Anishinaabe,

Absolon expresses her anguish:

It was like I was born into a time where the cyclone had hit, and the people were still walking around in states of trauma. No one could explain to me what happened. No one could connect the dots between my personal chaos and the political, institutional and cultural attacks against Indigenous peoples in Canada. No one could explain because everyone was reeling from the colonial aftermath. (18)

The FIGR (Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria) community became reinstated

into Federal Recognition in 2000. Once reinstated in 2000, FIGR community began to

move forward into the future. Shortly after reinstatement, I moved to Hawaiʼi.

Witnessing, as well as actively being involved with the Hawaiʻian cultural reawakening was the catalyst I needed to seek a personal Tamalko re-vitalization. Returning to

California, I was back where I had left off, knowing the names of my ancestors, but not knowing much more.

My great matrilineal grandparents whom I dedicate this dissertation lived briefly in the world. As Indigenous ancestors, they left without a trace because they were invisible to settler society. Indigenous people do not fully move forward when the rest of their ʼinniiko are left behind. Within the contextual reality of having little knowledge of ancestral wisdom and stories, Indigenous people are inhibited from progressing into their futures.

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When I reflect upon my positioning within the context of 7 generations (Figure 6

pg. 78), even though I may place myself as central, I realize I cannot view myself as an

individual. When taken in the larger Indigenous epistemological context, the individual,

the relatives, community, and the environmental relatives are all bound together. They

are a unit.

Cindy Blackstock Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family

Caring Society of Canada reminds us in The breath of life versus the embodiment of life:

If an Aboriginal epistemology is applied, the child, family, community, and world are wholly affected by four interconnected dimensions of knowledge -emotional, spiritual, cognitive and physical informed by ancestral knowledge which is to be passed to future generations (Blackstock, 4)117

With an encompassing consciousness of the reality of the Indigenous ancestral

bond, I was prompted to search to find more about my great grandparents. Moreover, I

believe in another reality, ka papʼoyyisko he hammako (my great grandfather and

grandmother) were urging me to do so.

After interview transcriptions had been mailed and emailed to my research

participants for their review, I had time to study genealogy and subsequently joined the

Siskiyou Genealogy Society. The society membership gave me access to online

resources and libraries as well as to the generous mentorship and assistance donated by

the society's genealogists. To my amazement, I discovered my maternal great

grandfather was from Siskiyou County and also an Indigenous Californian. His mother

was from the Klamath community and his father from the Modoc.

117 Cindy Blackstock. Assembly of First Nations. 1993. RCAP, 1996. Assembly of First Nations (1993). Reclaiming our nationhood; strengthening our heritage: report to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Ottawa: Assembly of First Nations. Page 4 diagram. 174

It has been twenty-five years since I made the first five and a half hour journey to

Siskiyou County to visit Bulyum Pulyuk. Through the blessings of the mountain, while doing research in Siskiyou County, I have found my great grandparents. Interestingly my

maternal non-Indigenous grandfather’s relatives, whose ancestry originate from the

British Isles, settled near Redding in the Lassen Forest area a few hours away from

Siskiyou County. Ironically, my mother told me that when the Curtis family lost their farm in Arkansas, they moved to California in the later 1920’s. They first settled in the

Analy/Graton area living alongside my Indigenous ancestors. It was in this place; my white Arkansas Grandfather met my Tamalko Grandmother.

My white Arkansas relatives have a very similar attitude, and history of survival

within the dominant culture, as my Tamalko relatives. Therefore, I did not naturally

carry inferiority complexes when around colonial whites. I eventually learned to from

outside of blood relations. Mexican-Yaqui-Filipino-American lawyer and novelist

Alfredo Véa Jr. makes a similar comment in his fictional piece, La Maravilla:

Mexican or Black or Indian kids, whose first experience of the white was the migratory Arkie could never thereafter harbor a categorical hatred of white people. (66)

In Analy, non-Indigenous and Indigenous families lived together as marginal and

poor. They did not look upon each other as racial, but rather from within a community.

When my Tamalko/Southern Pomo grandmother Maggie became orphaned at two years

of age, she was raised by her grandparents, as well as aunties and uncles. Even with all

the love and connections grandma Maggie received, she did not continue to value her

Indigenous heritage. Maggie chose to identify with the Mexican culture. Ironically five years before Maggie was born, in the 1910 California census, the family listed their race

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affiliation as Mexican. I believe this was the determining factor that closed the door for

my grandmother to her ancestors.

Have the spirits of my obscure great grandparents Tamalko/Pomo Annie and

Modoc/Klamath John now returned to the web of my family’s historical consciousness?

They have for me. I believe that if the door to our Indigenous heart is open in

consciousness, it allows the ancestors to be accessible to the rest of the ʼinniiko.

Regardless, I am grateful that I keep looking back,

Muwekma Vince Medina shared his journey in rediscovering his ancestors. He

recites the names and villages of his sixth grandparents to bring them forward in his life.

Most of his Ohlone ancestors had long relationships with the Spanish Missions.

The reason I’m going through all of this is because like I said it is important to connect ourselves, where we’re at today to. We have to go back into the past and honor those people who faced challenges but armed with incredible strength and had the incredible courage to keep their stories alive. If she [my grandmother] could remember her mother, who could remember her mother who could remember, it becomes very close, and our connection to this place goes as deep as it was. (Medina)

Medina’s search for his connections through the broken shards was a painstaking process of going through handwritten notes in Spanish, translating them and then learning

to decipher his ancestral Chochenyo language that his grandparents left behind. Medina

believes that there would be no records left if it were not for his ʼinniiko who desired to preserve their heritage by sharing it with the Spanish chronographers. Moreover, there would not be a living Ohlone culture today if it were not for those who had the passion for resurrecting the culture by taking the initiative themselves to find it. Medina describes it:

Yellow parchment paper becomes full of frantic scribbles, an outpouring of heartbreak, family histories, gossip, love and stories that stretch back to the beginning of time, described with such immediacy that they seemed to have 176

happened yesterday; tales of a time when giants roamed the Earth. Coyote left his footprints, bodies of stone were defeated in the underworld, and songs were sung about Mount Diablo. Don’t forget this; I picture them saying. Don’t give up on this. (Linsteadt 74-75)

Vince stepped onto the path of those who chose to leave behind treasures of the heritage

even though they might have suffered from it.

Tamalko/Yaqui David Carrillo, though knowledgeable of his Tamalko origins

longed for the spiritual aspects of the culture. David could not find the traditions living

amongst the surviving community. Therefore, David’s life has been a spiritual journey.

As an adult, he left for Southern California to live and study with spiritual Elders in his ancestral Yaqui community. He then joined with others in the Plains to practice ceremony. In practicing ceremony, even if it has not been with close family, David’s need to be in connection with the ancestors was fulfilled.

Winnemem Ricardo Torres did not discover his California Indigenous heritage until his father died. His mother had kept Ricardo’s Indigenous identity a secret from him because of a promise she made to her husband. For Ricardo, there was always something missing in his life. After hearing the news about his heritage, Ricardo felt relieved but also anxious to find out what community his ancestors originated. He went searching carrying a picture of his grandfather dressed in a boarding school uniform with

“Hupa” written on the back of it. Later he found out that Hupa was written on the back of his photo because the Hupa educational agency was given “credit” for delivering his grandfather to the school. Ricardo began the journey of recovering his connection to his ancestors. The trail to the grandparents took Ricardo to the Chemawa and Sherman

Indian Boarding schools, the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) and then far North to the

Hupa community.

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There are so many Indigenous people from the lost generations that need to know

the myth stories of others who have traveled upon the maps to the ancestors. The

following is from the research visitation with Ricardo September 30, 2014.

Ricardo: Later I found it was the Hupa educational agency, the Hupa police who he’d

been given credits for when he was taken out. In those areas, the Hupa were

the established tribe, and they were used by the government to round up the

other Indians. They delivered him to . . .

Diveena: I did not know that.

Ricardo: Remember, the government established themselves in the traditional home of

the Hupa. They signed over the land, establishing the reservation. Hupa

agents were used by the government to locate and deliver Indian students to

boarding schools. Oh yeah, Indian on Indian stuff they do all the time. Who

else knows where the Indians are. Remember the Hupa came about by, a

major Fort, a major place. When they signed it over to the Hupa, there was

much interaction between the government and the policing. It was not an

equal exchange. So I went to Hupa. I said, ‘I think I’m Hupa, and I said, this

is the information I have.’ They said, ‘No you are Wintu.’ So they gave me his

number. So I went to the BIA, which is here in town. In those days, it was

easy, before 911 you could just walk into the BIA and say, ‘I’m looking up ...”

“Oh yeah, you want a copy of this?’ There was a tribal operation there. They

had his application and documentation, and I was able to get it.

Diveena: Are there several different Wintu Communities?

Ricardo: Originally, there were nine Wintu bands. At the point of contact, there were

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the Nomtipon, the Trinity Center people. Today, however, there is no Trinity

center grouping because so many of them were annihilated, killed in

massacres and poisoning campaigns. Today, many of their descendants ally

themselves with the Hayfork Band of Wintu in Trinity County. Today, only

three of the bands remain. These include the Hayfork, the Winnemem, and a

group that calls themselves the Wintu Tribe, made up of descendants of the

other Wintu bands.”

Diveena: Are any of them Federal Recognized?

Ricardo: No, They are all fighting for recognition. We had to sign a Treaty, but it was

not ratified. The Winnemem are instrumental in that. Our headmen all signed

the treaty. There’s documentation, and, later on, they all got allotments that

are all under Shasta Lake. They are all flooded. We have our own cemetery.

Someone in BIA told me ‘You’ll never get recognized because of your

positions . . . In reference to the fact that our tribal lands are located at the

headwaters of the state’s main water source – the Sacramento River. People

have their Grover Cleaver Allotment papers. Once I found out that I was

Wintu, I went and introduced myself to Emerson Miles. At the time, he was

the headman of the Winnemem. He knew my grandfather and had worked with

him. Although I felt I should enroll with my Trinity Center group, no one

knew my family, so I made the decision to enroll with the Winnemem. I

needed to get grounded. I always felt that I never was who I could be. It was

like finally finding out you were adopted and wanted to meet your real

parents. That was how it was for me. I decided to enroll. I felt I needed to

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spend time and get to know more. Then I heard that one of the other women,

Elder women, Maude Nightingale had photos of my family. I felt at home.

Well, you know that they are very welcoming folks. So I enrolled with them.

Started attending ceremony probably at that point in the early 80’s and had

been ever since. (Torres)

Ricardo’s Wintu father spent years of his youth homeless and disassociated from

his culture after his parents died. Perhaps he enacted a similar Ishi ceremony of death

and resurrection. According to Ricardo, his father took on a new name, job, and wife.

Nothing of Ricardo’s dad’s Indigenous past was part of the family’s oral histories.

For Wintu Frank LaPena, the journey of finding a map did not happen. Instead,

Frank was from the very limited generational group who created maps for others to find their way to the ancestors. Frank’s life was and still is an odyssey of discovery and enfoldment. I was eager to speak and meet with Frank because of his bi-racial heritage.

His father was Filipino, and his mother was Wintu. Frank knew his personal heritage but like so many Elders he was taken from his mother after his father’s death to residential

Indian boarding schools. At the age of five, Frank, along with his sister was taken first to

Steward Nevada, and then to the Indian Boarding School in Chemawa Oregon. Frank explains the introduction of his map making odyssey:

For about most of the first year, I was in the hospital. I think it was my reaction to yet losing my dad and then separating from mom. Then in ‘51, we were taken out of the federal boarding school system and put into the foster home system. I had to wait until I graduated from High School to go and see if my grandmother was still alive. We walk down the east side of the Sacramento River and then once got down to the old barracks we knew we were close to grandma’s house in Castella. The new freeway took out her house. We lost that. It had been almost twenty years by the time I got to granny’s door. When she comes to the door, she says. ‘Who are you?’ I said, ‘I am Frank.’ Well, Frank doesn’t mean anything.

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Granny doesn’t know me from a broomstick. Then I said, ‘I’m Gladys’s son Frank.’ ‘Oh, come on in.’ It was just like ole times. (LaPena)

Frank’s journey was a modern equivalent of Odysseus’s odyssey. After returning

home to Dunsmuir, fitting into the dominant culture as a young Indian man was another

struggle. Listening to his story, I could see that the ancestors guided Frank, much like

Odysseus who was blessed and guided by the gods. As many Indigenous men enlisted in the military, Frank tried but was not accepted. Instead, Frank worked in the forestry and also as an agricultural laborer until he made enough money to go to University. There

Frank worked in the cafeteria to survive as a student. Woven in-between life’s struggles

Frank sought his North Central Indigenous California culture. He tried to contact the

Philippines to recover his father’s family and heritage, but nothing emerged. Therefore,

Frank sought out his mother’s heritage and learned to participate in ceremony.

I was involved in the tradition, history and study, and I knew people. The real dance experience that I can directly say was when I went to Grind Stone. I had met Al Thomas; he was my friend and Al Thomas was the son of the medicine man Al Thomas senior. Al senior was the Elder that first took me to Grindstone. There’s a road that opens to you because you’re interested. (LaPena)

During the early days of Frank’s journey, traditional Indian people from many

different communities were meeting and sharing ceremony. Today traditional

practitioners make long journeys especially to Grind Stone to participate in ceremony and

to connect to the ancestors.118

118 The Grindstone Indian Rancheria is located in Elk Creek, Glenn County, California. The Tribe’s Rancheria was placed in trust with the United States since the early 1900’s. Over one hundred members live and work within the one hundred acre Rancheria. June 22, 2015. See also Frank Lapena, He says, “Grindstone that was the sanctuary”. The people there were the ones who followed the rule in a real hard way”. 181

The map to the ancestors is a purposeful journey. I relate the journey not only to

answering the call of life with ʼununni ʼunu but also in search of and calling to ʼununni

ʼunu for a spiritual life.

Conclusion: ʼAlmuti Hennak: Tasting Life

When Nelumbo Lutea sprouts, she begins to grow stems, and they help build her

rhizome. The stems become stocks as they push through the mud and then transcend

beyond the Earth into the water environment. The stocks form leaves, as they unfurl upon the water. It takes three environmental dimensions for Lutea to expose her leaves, the Earth, the water, and the air. Indigenous North American Nelumbo Lutea reminds the rest of her ʼinniiko that there is a process to living. There is a process for her seed’s hard shell to crack open. Naturally it must fall in the right environment so that it will have a chance to have moisture to live. If it becomes dry, it could take centuries to have the opportunity to awaken.

Like Lutea, many of us can become dry and bitter. We may have experienced too much harshness upon the Earth, and chosen to remain enclosed within our protected hearts and lives. Most Indigenous peoples in the colonial context have not been able to escape the disparity regarding our transformed environment. Those who remember the goodness of ʼinniiko, and the support that is given by ʼununni ʼunu along the way, despite the difficulties, can allow emotions and the heart to be touched to grow pliant. It is in a flexible and open condition that we begin to emerge out of the darkness. The darkness can hold us back because like the mud that is thick and viscid it will take intensive determination to keep pushing through.

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Moreover, like Vince’s mantra, “Don’t forget this”, when we follow hinti wuskin

ʼona and hold onto the knowledge of what we belong to, just as Turtle’s ceremonial song,

softly and intently, Spirit will carry us back into life.

As Lutea’s stock moves through the water, she reminds us to feel the emotions of ancestral heritage, of pain, loss and isolation. Like the song Turtle sings as he lies with his battered shell, in prayer for healing and new life, it is the journey with a warrior spirit

that enables us to face the pain and its harsh reality. Even though a new life may never happen, the journey must be traveled. The song for life is a great desire to merge with the

Spirit of the Ancestors, a powerful force of resurrection as well as transformation.

When Lutea’s stem reaches the surface of the water, and its leaves unfolded, they

lie open as a refuge for other creatures in the environment to rest. The Lotus Pad as a

symbol suggests that when we finally heal through transcending our emotional histories,

we can rest peacefully. We are then open and capable of welcoming others into our lives,

and we will have the strength to be supportive to others who may come into our life.

Therefore, like the Chumash legend, we can see that when we look around upon this

place of rest, we will find others with us. Those who have opened their hearts and lives

through journies of healing will find themselves together.

When Lutea sprouts, she grows a rhizome. Rhizomes grow by numerous sprouts

that emerge from the seed. As one stock reaches up to the surface, so will others as they

build the rhizome foundation of their community. Each stock eventually produces one

magnificent flower, yet not one stock is separate from another. It may look like they are

individuals from the surface of the water, but if inspected beneath the water and into the

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Earth, there is an enormous central rhizome connecting them all together in one community.

How do Indigenous North Central Californians hinak towis hennak in a dominant colonial society in which they are now living? It is clear that we listen for the call of

ʼununni ʼunu and with our participation in spiritual lifeways, it also sets out our call to her as well. Most importantly, we must yearn to taste a life that was honored since time immemorial by our ancestors. Without the taste of a good life, there would be no journey through Spirit. It is only through spirit travel that life is experienced, and held in consciousness.

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SECTION III –MEMORY

Figure 11. Source: Nelumbo Lutea Leaves. Floating and Standing. Photo by © D. Marcus. Summer 2013. Fernhill Farms. Bailieboro ON Canada

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CHAPTER 6 - Hinti Weyan ʼOna: What the Land Says

Nation Sovereignty (Regional Overview)

I found a country still occupied by people whose right to the land was demonstrated, at least in their own thinking, by their knowledge of it. They had not paid for the land or possessed it by changing it. Their right was the right of belonging. It was the right of knowing. Their relationship to the land was complex, more deeply rooted, more spiritual than simple material possession. The Indians acted as if they and their ancestors had been on the land as long as the animals themselves. Their ways of thinking about themselves and their country remained inseparable. In spirit, they were autochthonous, born of the land. (Riddington 19)

Hawaiʻí resounds with ancient 'Ōlelo, the historical musical oration that enshrines

her peoples’ memory of the ancient times when their ancestors traveled the Pacific to

migrate to Her Islands. Anishinaabe migration stories remind the people of their

ancestral journey from Eastern shores. Kiowa myth story recounts that their ancestors

emerged from out of the Earth through a hollow log. Scott Momaday in The Way to

Rainy Mountain further describes that the Kiowa area of emergence was in the Northern plains where it is speculated to have been Montana and where their Absarokee relatives have remained.119 Kiowa further traveled to what are their homelands; now the regions

dissected into Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma.

Migration songs and stories are prolific amongst many Indigenous peoples.

However, for North Central California Indigenous peoples, there are no migration stories.

Instead, they have myth stories about their ancestral creation manifested on the land

where they have remained.

119 This is also deliberated by the Absarokee. Walter Fleming and Watts, Visions of an Enduring People, pages 21-22). 186

This research focuses on the regions occupied by the North Central California

Penutian language families, within the parameters of San Francisco Bay north to Siskiyou

County. Penutian is a name given to label and group together ka ʼinniiko (my relatives) in California so that ethnographers and scholars can easily discuss the group amongst

themselves. This grouping was an idea developed in 1913 by linguists A.L. Kroeber and

Roland B. Dixon to create a core Penutian group out of five language families: the

Costanoan(Ohlone), Maidu, Miwok, Wintun, and Yokuts. Kroeber says (Kroeber 347)

that Miwok and Costanoan used a vocable “uti” for “two” and the others used “pene.”

Thus, early scholars united the terms to combine the languages and communities

into a “scientific”, cohesive, and familiar group. Kroeber further added (347), “There is

no suitable geographical term available, and an artificial designation of some sort was

inevitable.” However, the Penutian family group occupied half of California with the

Yokuts language family in south central California as the largest within the California

Penutian group. For this research, I am concentrating on the territories that converge at the San Francisco Bay Central and travel north to Siskiyou County where their histories, as well as cultures, converge and are identified as Indigenous North Central Californians.

Contemporary scholars and ethnographers emphasize connections with California

peoples and to coastal migrations within the Bering Strait land bridge theory.

Contemporary linguists have recently come to an agreement and have designated

Indigenous language groups in Oregon, B.C. and Mexico into the Penutian, language

family.120 Prior, there had been much controversy amongst linguists as to whether

Southern Oregon, Mayan, and B.C. groups share the Penutian language family per

120 Eshalmen, Malhi, Johnson, Kaestle, Lorenz and Smith, Mitochondrial DNA and Prehistoric Settlements: Native Migrations on the West Edge of North America. Human Biology 2004. 187

Sapirs’ suggestions.121 Through a Glottochronological analysis, ethnographers and

contemporary scholars speculate that Penutians migrated into California at approximately

4500 and 5200 B.P. (Eshleman 56).122 This recent review attempts to compare words

that are presently familiar with neighboring communities that are presumed to have

existed for thousands of years, by utilizing mitochondrial DNA and burial artifacts.

Ultimately their plans are to determine the origins of Indigenous California people.

Mitochondrial DNA of ancient burials at Pyramid Lake and Stillwater Marsh in western Nevada closely resembles that of modern California Penutians. (Eshleman 56)

Regarding the “origins” research, I pose several questions. What is considered

ancient? Is it “ancient” enough for ethnographers to propose financing for their academic

employment? Alternatively, is it just enough “ancient” to claim the hypothetical “recent”

academic migration theories, but not too ancient to acknowledge that Indigenous peoples

originate from whence they reside? Furthermore, when were the mtDNA (Mitochondrial

DNA) taken for this analysis from proscribed burials? There is no reference. Are the

retrieved remains housed in museums and/or academic facilities, or were they repatriated

to the Paiute community at Pyramid Lake? If removed after 1990, did the Indigenous

community at Pyramid Lake give permission for researchers to confiscate the ancient

burial bones and Stillwater Marsh artifacts? Eshleman reports:

265 of these individuals were gathered from previously published sources, cited in Table 1 (Kaestle and Smith 2001; Johnson and Lorenz 2003; Malhi 2001; Malhi et al. 2003. (58)

121 E. Sapir. “Central and North American Indian languages”. In Encyclopedia Britannica, 14th ed., v. 5. Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. 122 A theory developed in 1952 by Morris Swadish. See Catherine A. Callaghan (1991). Utian and the Swadesh list. In J. E. Redden (Ed.), Papers for the American Indian language conference, at the University of Santa Cruz. 188

If cited from recent papers dating 2000 forward, how are these reports ethically sound?

What were the methodologies used to produce them when NAGPRA Native American

Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, 25 U.S.C 3001 et seq. [Nov 16, 1990] was in

effect? The answers to these questions are not found in this research. However, I call for

a further investigation by Indigenous scholars and advocates on this matter.

There are Indigenous political concerns as to the appropriation of ancient North

American human remains. In particular, attention on early findings regarding prehistoric

North America is concentrated in the West and Northwest of the continent. At a recent

research visit to the Phoebe Hearst Museum during their renovations in 2014, I

discovered that the Hearst houses thousands of California Indian bones in vaults beneath

the Hearst Gymnasium swimming pool. According to Richard C. Paddock from the Los

Angeles Times, bones of 12,000 Native Americans were collected during the ‘60’s. One of the largest collections of human remains in the U.S. outside a cemetery lie in drawers and cabinets at the Hearst.

In a private conversation with the museum curator, she spoke about her anxiety

when first employed at the Hearst when she realized that the bones were in a room near her work vicinity. Native American museum workers refused to continue their employ because of the situation. The Hearst continues to be closed for renovations with an important process to move the bones to an undisclosed Richmond California local.

Throughout the globe, Native people are in active dispute about museums housing their ancestor’s bones while denying them reburial. Paddock comments further:

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Some archaeologists find it difficult to accept the reburial of bones from their collections, especially specimens that are thousands of years old and might provide insights into human history. But for many Native Americans, no scientific knowledge is worth the price of denying them burial. The 1990 law, known by the acronym NAGPRA, was designed to bring the two sides together to consult on the remains case by case. But at UC, the scientists have the power to decide whether items held by the University are returned. (Paddock)

An example of Paddock’s commentary is a continuous legal case in San Diego regarding Indigenous remains. Archeologist Gail Kennedy retrieved bones of a man and woman on Kumeyaay ancestral lands in La Jolla California. The Kumeyaay state in

Courthouse News Service article by Matt Reynolds:

The area of the excavation was well known to be rich with Native American burials and artifacts and several years ago was designated as a sanctified cemetery under California state law. (Reynolds)

Regardless of the facts, Kennedy confiscated the remains and stored them at

UCLA. From the time of confiscation in 1976, the bones have been transported and kept at the San Diego Museum of Man; the National Museum of Natural History; the

Smithsonian Institution, and the San Diego State University Department of

Anthropology. Presently they are stored at the San Diego Archaeological Center. The

Kumeyaay communities sued the University of California in April 2012 to repatriate the remains after waiting more than 20 years.

When the University was preparing to hand over the bones to the local

Kumeyaay tribe, three UC professors Margaret Shoeninger of UC San Diego, Robert

Bettinger of UC Davis and Timothy White of UC Berkely filed a lawsuit to block the transfer. Their argument reported by Pat Flynn from the San Diego Union-Tribune is that there is no proof that the bones belong to the Kumeyaay, and that they are important artifacts for the scientific community. James McManis, a San Jose lawyer representing the professors, said:

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These are not Native Americans. We're sure where they're from. They had primarily a seafood diet, not the diet of any way of these tribes. They were a seafaring people. They could be traveling Irishmen, who touched on the continent. The idea that we're going to turn this incredible treasure over to some local tribe because they think it's Grandma's bones is crazy. (Flynn)

Additionally, Robert Bettinger from UC Davis wrote as a declaration to the court:

Because the La Jolla Skeletons are so old, and the information about their era so limited, it cannot reasonably be concluded that they share special or significant genetic or cultural features with presently existing indigenous tribes, people or cultures. (Flynn)

Finally Schoeninger’s declaration states:

Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of collagen from the bones indicate the two ancient people ate a year-round diet of open-ocean and some near-shore fish and mammals different from that of the Kumeyaay. (Flynn)

Incidentally, in an article posted in the San Diego Union-Tribune written a day after

Schoeninger’s declaration report, it states:

Respecting Native American preferences, the university has not permitted DNA testing of the bones, which are being kept at the San Diego Archaeological Center in Escondido. (Associated Press April 25, 2012)

Who is telling the truth, the University, or the professors? What ethical protocol is this scenario supporting in regards to NAGPRA, a Federal and Public Law?

Likewise, are the academics declaring that the Kumeyaay cannot be descendants of early immigrants who traveled by boat to a maritime village of La Jolla because the

Kumeyaay are not seafarer peoples today? Is this academic oligarchy saying that their speculated ancient seafaring “Irish” immigrants are more prehistoric than their previously hypothesized “Native American” immigrants whom they proposed made it across the theoretical Bering Land Bridge? Alternatively, are they basing their

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hypothesis on the biased analysis made by observing the superficial aspects of the

skeletal structure that have been the prominent scientific modality?123

Released in 2014 were findings from human DNA analysis made on discoveries

in the West; one in Oregon, and another in the Yucatan. I also include the 1959 Native

American ancestral female bones found near Santa Barbara CA. All referred artifacts

indicate that Indigenous humans have been in Western North America for a very long

time. Scientists give a figure of more than 13,000 years.124 Unfortunately, there is academic anxiety to prove that mtDNA indicates Indigenous North Americans originate from Asia, thus denying Indigenous Americans their original homeland in North

America. Also, new scientific theories are now suggesting maritime migrations from the north journeyed to North America before the theoretical land crossing in the Ice Age.

Vine Deloria Jr. in Red Earth, White Lies comments on Werner Muller’s research regarding the controversial California Calaveras Man discovery in 1866.

Muller then discussed all manner of very early remains found in America that were discredited because they did not fit into the evolutionary scheme. However, nothing is as spectacular as the human skeleton found beneath old lava deposits since this fact/artifact calls into question the geological time scale itself. (64)125

I speculate that if the Calaveras Man investigation had run its course, minus the pranks and hoaxes, an alternative or additional analysis of Western Indigenous origins

123 Example: is the treatment of African skulls taken by the Germans under the Hitler regime to try to prove by skeletal structure that there is a European intellectual superiority over Indigenous peoples. Doreen Carvajal, Museums Confront the Skeletons in their Closet. Also, the Mankato’s similar attempt with the confiscation of Indian skulls taken from the hanged Santee Sioux by Abraham Lincoln’s decree. Walter Fleming, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Native American History, Page 141. 124 John Noble Wilford Spearheads and DNA Point to a Second Founding Society in North America, also“Who was Arlington Springs Woman?” PBS Coming to America, and Tracy Wilkenson, Teen skeleton found by Mexico cave divers has scientists breathless. 125 This refers to Josiah Whitney’s analysis of the Calaveras skull that was speculated to originate from within the Pliocene era. However, the original skull was mysteriously replaced with an alternative one that was carbon dating tested with dating closer to the present era. Thus making the find a hoax and labeling Whitney as a good academic gone bad. 192

might have been discussed. Perhaps something might have surfaced like geologist

M.A.Condons “Evolution in Situ,” an evolutional biological process very much like

regional plants and animals where humans are also believed to evolve locally within their

environments.126

Also, complications regarding the migrational theories emerge from recent

discoveries. Artifacts of ancient remains reveal that different species of humans

existed such as the “Denisovans in Asia and the "Hobbit” Homo floresiensis in

Indonesia: in addition to a mysterious fourth group from Eurasia.”127 There are

speculations that Homo Erectus (modern humans), Neanderthal, Denisovans, as well

as Homo Floresiensis and others lived upon the planet alongside each other, either

together in harmony or competition.

Melissa Hogenboom of BBC reports, “Some of these populations could even

have been ancestors of modern Europeans, according to some researchers.” Previous

theories have addressed that Neanderthals were the European ancestors. Neanderthals

are considered to be fairer with varieties of red hair. Scientific conjecture implies that

Homo erectus encountered Neanderthals when Homo erectus entered into Europe from

Africa with possibilities of some inbreeding between the species.128 Darren Curnoe of

the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia adds,

Most think Africa was the cradle of modern humans, so this is controversial … now we're starting to get a few surprises that don't fit with conventional wisdom based on fossils from Europe and Africa. (Hogenboom)

126 M.A. Condon Msc. http://www.evolutioninsitu.com/local-evolution.html. Condon says that instead of crossing the land bridge to Australia, Aboriginal peoples evolved in situ. 127 Melissa Hogenboom, “Is this a new species of Human?”BBC.com Almost Human. 128 Inbreeding? The Relationship between Modern Humans and Neanderthal. What does it mean to be human? Published by The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. 193

With the recently unearthed discoveries and no scientific evidence to prove the

validity of a Bering Strait Land Bridge, I would suspect science and the academy try to

be more objective to the different or rather, to all concepts of our human origins.129

Concepts like those of the Flem-Ath’s in When the Sky Fell, who speculate that instead of

migrating from the North, there was a migration from the South to the Americas.

Hopi myth-story recounts that when the people emerged from the Earth,

somewhere presumably in South America, they went wandering for a very long time until

they came to find their place in North America.130

Theoretical concepts offered by genius intellectual William Sidis, who graduated

from Harvard at 16 years of age, suggests in The Tribes and States, that Native

Americans lived in Europe as early Cro-Magnan, (not the familiar contemporary

Europeans) and migrated from Europe to the Americans. Sidis’ Chapter 1 on Red Race

Pre-History quotes:

The Red Race itself, which has no resemblance to anything on the Asiatic side could hardly be explained by a Mongolian migration for only a few superficial resemblances can be found between the red and yellow races. (Sidis)

Ironically, research through the human genome project has revealed that Native

American mtDNA in small remnants exists in Northern Europe, in particular, Siberia.131

According to Sidis, Native American genes were the dominant existing amongst early

European humans.

129 Simon Moya-Smith, “Harvard Professor Confirms Bering Strait Theory Is Not Fact” in Indian Country Today Media network.com. 130 Intertribal Council of Arizona 21 Tribes, Hopi Tribe Introductory Information. http://itcaonline.com/?page_id=1162 131 Brian Handwerk, in National Geographic, “Great Surprise, Native Americans have West Eurasian origins”. 194

Regardless of the theories offered by so many non-Indigenous scholars, I adhere

to the evolution of in-situ, as Tamalko have strong connections to their environmental

ʼinniiko (relatives) who have remained within their territories. In this theoretical premise,

there would be no “one” first beginning but rather beginnings of peoples and species all

over the planet. In the Nova documentary, The First Flower, Sir Peter Crane,

Paleobotanist at the University of Chicago says:

There are a number of problems in claiming that anything is the first flower. One is that you have to be absolutely sure on the timing that it really is the first, and that's not an easy question to resolve. And then you've got to assume that at the same time that there's nothing else out there. So you have to assume that what you found is the only thing that was around at that time. Which is, of course, an absurd assumption because we know in the fossil record wherever you look that there's more that we don't know then we actually know about. (The First Flower)

As the evolution of our plant relatives, there is a strong possibility that Indigenous

peoples did emerge from within their environment. I can also imagine that there were

several species of human beings, that some species could have traveled and interbred or

as history has revealed, could have raped and confined certain communities in the deep

past as well. Perhaps even exposing each other to diseases that diminished populations,

like what may have happened to the Neanderthals.132

In regards to contemporary scholars who are utilizing science and mtDNA to

research Native origins, perhaps they might consider the incoming travelers interbreed

with the original peoples, where their mtDNA arises. Have the ethnographers taken into

account that Tamalko and many of their Penutian neighbors cremated their dead and all

132 New theories through DNA research are proposing that perhaps the mysterious demise of the Neanderthal was their annihilation by modern Homo erectus. See Eben Harrell. 195 their possessions?133 Crematory ancestral artifacts are hard to come by to examine as hard factual evidence of the ancient world.

Oral history is the only manner of documentation that has ethical integrity in regards to Indigenous origins because it has been passed on from a report produced by a witness. Incidentally, live witnesses do not claim that what they witness is “the” truth but rather their truth to offer to the collective as a historical contribution to the community.

In time, the aural narrative will have a legitimate and respectful place in the larger social context that involves Indigenous peoples, because of its ethical foundations.

There are two cases in the Federal Supreme Court that have taken oral tradition seriously; American ruling in 1974 in The United States vs. the State of Washington and the 1997 Canadian Supreme Court case, Delgamuukw v. British Columbia.

In The United States vs. the State of Washington, Supreme Court Judge Hugo

Boldt ruled for Indian subsistent fishing rights. Forty years later in High County News,

Western historian and Native American Law expert at the University at Boulder Colorado says:

It was the Boldt Decision that was the lightning strike. It wasn’t just getting a fair share of the fish, but they had the right to act as sovereigns. It gave them confidence. (Turner)

The act of sovereignty was to testify in court with oral history. Alex Tizon wrote in the

Seattle Times in 1994, twenty years after the court ruling:

133 According to Heizer and Whipple, in The California Indians. The areas in which cremation was practiced seem to aggregate somewhat larger than those in which burial was the custom (37). Those who cremated their dead: Southern Californians, Great Basin, Southern Sierras, Chumash, Santa Barbara Islands, Chemehuevi, Eastern Mono, Tubatulabal, Southern Yokuts, and some Shoshonean groups. Also the entire Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, lower Sacramento Valley, the Salinans and Central Yokuts, Pomo and Southern Maidu, and the Modoc and Achomawi, and central Yahi and Northwestern foothill Maidu. 196

[They] told stories passed on to them by their fathers and grandfathers. They talked of the time before white people came, and of the generations of Indian fishers that went back, according to their view, to the beginning of time. (Tizon)

Delgamuukw v. British Columbia was a case regarding Aboriginal Title. Like

most California tribes, for the majority of B.C. Aboriginal peoples, there were no ratified

treaties negotiated between the Federal government and the Indigenous B.C.

communities. However, the difference is that American Indigenous peoples were

fighting and continue to fight for their Indigenous rights as their cultures were pushed to

near extinction. Whereas within the Canadian context, the B.C. group is fighting for the

ownership and jurisdiction of land tenure. Unlike American Indian law, during the time

of trial, Canadian Aboriginal law was newly developed by only 15 years in the making at

the time.134

Chiefs of the Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en of B.C. stated in the court proceedings that:

Our histories show that whenever new people came to this land, they had to follow its laws if they wished to stay. The chiefs who were already here had the responsibility to teach the law to the newcomers. They then waited to see if the land was respected. The Gitksan and the Wet’suwet’en have waited and observed the Europeans for a hundred years. The Chiefs have suggested that the newcomers may want to stay on their farms in their towns and villages, but beyond the farm fences, the land belongs to the Chiefs. Once this is recognized, the Court can get on with its main task which is to establish a process for the Chiefs’ and the newcomers’ interests to be settled. The purpose of this case then is to find a process to Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en ownership and jurisdiction within the context of Canada. We do not seek a decision as to whether our system might continue or not. It will continue. (Anderson R., 594-5)

The Court did not rule in favor for the Aboriginal title, but it did set a distinction

between indigenous rights and title. The meaningful outcome of the case was that the

134 B.C. became the 6th province in 1867. Though property goes to the crown, with the Constitution Act of 1982 this act includes Indian Rights Recognition and application that would imply unique application for later established provinces. 197

Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en Chief’s oral narratives were legally acknowledged. Moreover, the “reality” was documented that the dominant force in Canada is the colonizing

government, similar to the United States plenary rule of power as “absolute”. Regarding

the case Robert T. Anderson, states in Aboriginal Title in the Canadian Legal System,

“The best that can be done is to ‘reconcile’ the preexisting rights of the First Nations with

the modern non-Native Canadian Society (601).” The Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en case paved the platform for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in June 2008, in response to the Indian Residential School legacy.135

It is for the benefit of Indigenous sovereignty that we continue to fight in

Indigenous California. Our sovereignty begins and ends with the land, everything that is our heritage springs from the Earth. The language, resources, culture, and ways of being and seeing the world come from homelands. Memories of the landscape and environment contain histories. As the Gitksan and Wet’suitan Chiefs proclaimed that it is their sovereign right to the land, their Elders also held the sovereign responsibility to the lands. Out of the respect for the ancestors, it is also our responsibility to teach the law and ways of wuskippa (respecting) the Earth.

When we understand the ways of wuskippa (respect) and stand together, we are a community, and there we maintain hinak towis hennak. Like Indigenous Lutea, her

rhizome is made robust and whole when all the sprouted stems have grown and formed

strength together. The rhizome has its foundation within the Earth rich in nutrients and

135 The Canadian and Australia government apologized to First Nations in Canada and Aboriginal peoples in Australia. See Truth and Reconciliation Website. http://www.trc.ca/websites/trcinstitution/index.php?p=3 198 safe within ʼununni ʼunu. In its maturity, the rhizome holds the core spirit of identity and the memory of belonging for thousands of years.

Environmental mentor, Dr. Dan Longboat, advocates that the Haudenosaunee exhibit traditional respect for the land by not digging any deeper than six inches into the

Earth. I was told many years ago by an Elder when I was a young avid rock collector, that pulling crystals from the Earth is pulling out Her brain cells.136 For the majority of

Indian people, the memory of the land is not found in the artifacts retrieved by archeological “grave” diggers. The memory of the land was recovered by a relationship with ʼununni ʼunu as spiritual ecology. Environmentalist Sheridan explains this understanding as the “deep memory” of Indigenous spiritual relationship consciousness with the Earth as the true life way of being on the planet.

Those who know sacred qualities best, Indigenous traditionalists, validate them as realistic and natural instead of unnatural and describe these qualities as intellectually authoritative rather than artificial or imaginary. Deep memory, by its very essence, establishes standards not convivial to any imagination contrived from the wrong medicine, just as closed ecosystems are inhospitable to invasive species challenging their terrain. The absence of a viable mythology reveals that settler presence in North America has been little more than a passing enthrallment with place and time. The thick duties of spatiotemporal belonging humbly recognize a human duty to live honorably, respectfully, and appreciatively and to remember what that means. (Sheridan, 376)

By exploring the living spiritual ecology of the North Central Penutian language family and their colonial concerns addressed in this research, we can learn to understand the cultural meaning of belonging to ʼununni ʼunu.

LaPena and Theodoratus state in Wintu Sacred Geography, that it is the landscape that defines traditional Indigenous heritage.

136 Even though Tamalko/Southern Pomo Tom Smith has doctoring sticks with quartz crystals inserted in them, such crystals like quartz and obsidian used as tools were procured on the surface top of mountains. Heizer, Smithsonian (420-421) 199

It is about a concept of land and interpretations of that natural universe that translate into a coherent world . . . a physical geography – an ethnogeography that, as a whole, forms a complex unit of sacred domain. (LaPena, 210)

It is this spiritual ecology, ʼununni ʼunu, which defines Wintu, Nomlāqa, Maidu, Ohlone

and Tamalko consciousness.

The remainder of this chapter will be a compilation of ethnographic accounts and

narratives about the four researched communities: Wintun, Maidu, Miwok and Ohlone sovereign Penutian communities as well as their histories. They are the individual stocks that create the Penutian rhizome in this research.

Wintun Penutian Family

The Wintu are the largest members of the North Central Penutian language family

group represented in this research. Within the Wintu portion of the Penutian family are

the Northern Wintu community, the central plains Nomlāqa and in the Valley community,

the Patwin. During pre-contact, the Wintu territorial range was vast. It was assumed that

their territories went as far north approaching the Eel River and south towards the Coast of San Francisco Bay. (Please refer to the Wintu, Nomlāqa and Patwin areas on page 47

Figure 4).

On oral narratives acknowledged by Siskiyou County Historian and Genealogist

Jennifer Byran, Wintu is a name given to the people by ethnographers. Ethnographers also referred to Wintu in the past as Shasta Indians whose territories went farther north to

Oregon and west toward Karuk homelands.137

The Northern Wintu community traditionally lived on the western side of the

northern portion of the Sacramento Valley, from the Sacramento River to the Coastal

137 Conversation with Jennifer Bryon, Yreka California resident genealogist on August 28, 2015. 200

Range. Traditional territories also included the southern portions of the Upper

Sacramento River, the south part of the McCloud River, and the upper Trinity River and the west side of the river extending to the Coast Ranges. Presently Wintu communities are petitioning for Federal recognition. Their group consists of the Winnemem, the Hay

Fork, and the Wintu communities. Members of the Winnemem community are participants in this research and emphasis is focused on the Northern Wintu community.

The Central Plains Nomlāqa Wintu community was native to the Sacramento

Valley extending westward to the coastal range. There are two branches of Nomlāqa, the

River Nomlāqa from the Sacramento Valley River region, and the Hill, who lived west of the River. Nomlāqa traditional territories are now Glen and Tehama Counties. Today

Nomlāqa are members of Federally recognized Tribes. The Round Valley Reservation in

Mendocino County, which was traditionally Yuki homelands, consists of members from the Nomlāqa, Pomo, Konkaw Maidu, Cahto, Wailaki and Pit River peoples. The

Grindstone Rancheria in Glen County consists of Nomlāqa and Wailaki members. There is also the Paskenta Band of Nomlāqa Indians within Glen and Tehama Counties. For this research, the Nomlāqa emphasis will center on the Paskenta Band of Nomlāqa

Indians within the Wintun Central Plains group.

The Southern Wintun family, the Patwin lived in what is now Suisun, Vacaville and Putah Creek in the Sacramento Valley. The Patwin are members of the Yocha Dehe

Wintu Nation, formerly known as the Rumsey Indian Rancheria of California in Yolo

County. Yocha Dehe Wintu Nation consists of Patwin members. Unfortunately, there are no participants from the Patwin community in this research.

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Regardless of the membership in tribal communities, boundaries do not separate kinships. Even though there are family members that choose to live in different communities, relationships have not diminished. Mable Mackay, known as a Pomo

Dreamer and Basketweaver, and a member of the Long Valley Cache Creek community, was born Patwin. Also, Wintu Frank LaPena, who apprenticed under Mable Mackay, was adopted into the Maidu Cultural traditions. Frank LaPena identifies with the Wintu culture.

Winnemem

Winnemem in the Wintu language means Middle Water People. The Winnemem hold a deep connection to the McCloud River that lies between the western Sacramento River and the Pit River in the East. Their traditional spiritual ecology stems from the regions of

Bulyum Pulyuk (Mount Shasta), the McCloud River watershed, and the forests and meadows surrounding them. The Winnemem believe they were born from the water.

Our beginning of life comes from Mt. Shasta, so all those stories up and down the river have meaning – from Yellow Jacket Mountain to Fox Mountain, to the Sucker Pools, all these have stories that belong to the Winnemen people and songs that go with them. (Sisk, Who We Are)

Winnemem, Michael Preston explains their creation story from the Sacred Land Project.

The following is a summary.

Winnemem Creation story reveals that the people came out of the spring on Mount

Shasta in Panther Meadows. They were the last of the Creations in their area. The Spirit beings that were previously created had choices as to what they wished to emerge as.

Some chose to be animals; others opted to be plants in the environment and/or landforms.

All emerged with abilities and purposes. When the humans emerged, they were frail in

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comparison and were not as advanced in consciousness as the previous creations. They

did not know their purpose and were lost.

The creator had pity on the humans and called some of the peoples to assist the

human people. It was Salmon that came forth to offer their voices to the people. Since

then, Winnemem have honored their obligation to salmon and the life-giving resource of

water. Since colonial contact, the Winnemem have been struggling to carry out their

obligations.

In 1851, shortly after California gained statehood, the U.S. government promised

the Wintu a 25 square mile reservation in exchange for ceding most of their ancestral

territories from Sacramento to the Oregon border. Separate Wintu bands signed the

Treaty of Cottonwood Creek as a covenant to the agreement. Unfortunately, California

legislation lobbied against the treaty, and President Fillmore never ratified it. The Wintu

did not receive any protection or a designated place to live from the government. They

lost their land and many of their lives from encroaching settlers.

In 1893, non-reservation Indians in California (in the majority) were assigned

land allotments.138 The Wintu allotments were along the McCloud River. The

Tuiimuyali Village, a remnant of this allotment, is where 30 of the 300 Winnemem

member community still live today. Shortly after, in 1906, the Wintu lost more lands by

the creation of the Shasta National Forest. In 1916, the U.S. government passed the

138 The U.S. government felt the Indians had too much land and allotted parcels to individuals that would later sell, or be coerced to sell their lands for other settlement, mining, railroads. Whereas tribal land could not be sold. See General Allotment Act, Act of Feb. 8, 1887. Land Tenure Foundation. https://www.iltf.org/resources/land-tenure-history/historical-allotment-legislation/general-allotment-act 203

National Parks Act. By its official enactment throughout the country, Indigenous

communities have been devastatingly dispossessed. 139

The Bureau of Reclamation in 1937 took 4,700 acres of allotted Winnemem land and hundreds of thousands of communal acres of Wintu lands for flood land to support

the Shasta Dam. Ninety percent of Winnemem homelands, sacred sites and homes were

lost to the flood. Even though the passage of the 1941 Central Valley Project Indian

Lands Acquisition Act ordered funds for loss and repair to the families affected by the

dam flooding, no environmental grounds were compensated.

In 1944, the U.S. government awarded 17 million dollars to the descendants of

California Indians as settlement for the failure to ratify California treaties. The

Winnemem have refused their share of the settlement because they do not believe it would

be sufficient for the losses and suffering that they have endured.

I have been privileged to participate in Winnemem events and ceremonies. I have

come to understand the commitment the Winnemem have for their spiritual traditions and

consciousness. Their leadership has always come from matriarchal leaders who were

chosen by their Elders through an ancient traditional protocol, an unbroken tradition since

their beginnings.

Unfortunately, the Shasta Dam has been a detrimental obstacle to Winnemen

spiritual ecology as the salmon have difficulty returning to their ancestral Burney Falls

spawning grounds since the dam’s erection. Nonetheless, the Winnemem continue to

139 Julian Brave Noisecat, the Forgotten History of Violent Displacement that helped create the National Parks. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/national-park-service-anniversary-indigenous- people_55dcdd7ce4b0a40aa3ac9998?utm_hp_ref=tw

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hold ceremony and dance to pray for the return of their beloved salmon relatives as well

as for the water to come back to California.

We are not the ones who created drought in the state. We are the ones who are praying for the waters to come. We’re the ones’s praying for the Beavers to come back upstream and build the dams, so the waters trickle down the state throughout the year. Water has sacred places, sacred pools and our relative the Salmon come through those areas, and they bring back all of the goodness back to the land, back to the rivers. These rivers cannot live without the salmon. If the salmon does not survive, neither will the people. (Chief Sisk, Where is the Justice)

Despite the Winnemem’s struggles their spiritual connection to ʼununni ʼunu or what they refer as Olelbis remains strong. Their Chiefs have been exemplary. In her

90’s, Spiritual leader Florence Jones through ceremony and defiance went through a

court battle to protect the Winnemem’s sanctified Bulyum Pulyuk from a 22 million dollar

ski resort. Florence Jones statement on that victory:

‘Nature takes care of your mind, and your heart and soul. This is my church,’ Jones said during the successful battle to block construction of a $22-million ski resort near Panther Meadows on Mt. Shasta. The U.S. Forest Service revoked the building permit for the resort in 1998. (Oliver)

In 2004, a year after Florence passed from the Earth, newly positioned Chief Sisk

lead the Winnemem in Hu’p Chona (dance in the old way, or war dance) at Shasta Dam.

They danced to oppose the proposed dam raising and more flooding of tribal cultural

properties. The article in the New York Times, At War against Dam, Tribe Turns to Old

Ways, by Dean Murphy reached a Maori community in New Zealand on Sept. 14, 2004.

New Zealand hatcheries had been given salmon eggs from the McCloud hatchery in the 1870’s. The New Zealand Salmon were the descendants of the McCloud Winnemem’s Salmon ancestors.140

Florence Jones and Chief Sisk illustrate to the world that the Winnemen have the

protection and blessings of ʼununni ʼunu. People came near and far to visit Florence for

140 “Dancing Salmon Home,” documentary for the story. 205

doctorings.141 Florence’s commitment to the environmental community made a

tremendous impact in establishing spiritual strength within the political arena, by winning the ski resort legal battle. While many people sought an audience with Florence, they also seek Chief Caleen Sisk for guidance and healing. Furthermore, Chief Sisk is traveling the globe to bring Indigenous peoples together to stand united in the fight for

Indigenous sovereignty.

Chief Sisk presently places the Winnemen focus on defending the environment and its peoples as a priority before federal recognition. Today’s surviving Winnemem are a powerful traditional people who relentlessly champion the spiritual ecology of the water and salmon in their lands. They also politically advocate the fight for affordable, clean water for all human beings as well as the spiritual education for a respectful relationship with the water environment and the benefit of all of life.

I am grateful and blessed to come to know Winnemem Chief Caleen Sisk, as well as Winnemem member Ricardo Torres. Both Caleen and Ricardo shared their perspectives on the value of their Winnemem Indigenous consciousness. Their involvement would not have been possible without the wonderful support and encouragement offered by Winnemem, Misa Joo. Frank Lapena, Nomtipon Wintu Elder, and recognized artist in both the dominant and Indigenous societies, as well as educator and Culture Bearer graciously gave his time, friendship and wisdom to this research.

Again I am so very grateful for Leny Strobel for her insistence in contacting Frank.

Frank’s ancestral community does not exist today as there were massacres and poisonings induced heavily upon the people. Ricardo’s Trinity ancestors experienced the same

141 Indigenous California spiritual healing is termed “doctoring”. 206 treatment as Frank’s. Ricardo eventually enrolled with the Winnemem. Frank has many connections with various communities he participates. I am honored for his participation in this project.

Nomlāqa (Nomlaki)

I include the academic referenced name Nomlaki, but with the knowledge given to me by Culture Bearer Cody Pata, for all other text references, I will use the term he refers to his ancestral heritage as Nomlāqa. The Paskenta Band is considered the hill Nomlāqa, occupying the territory east of the Coastal Range now known as Tehama and Glenn

Counties. Similar to the Winnemem, the Paskenta confronted foreign invaders on a continual basis. The most impactful encounter was after 1830. A significant devastation to the Paskenta community was the Malaria Epidemic of 1833. The Ewing Young trapping party crossed Nomlāqa territory from 1832-33. Col. J.J. Warner made reports of his observations regarding the abundance of Nomlāqa villages and their community prosperity. However, when returning to the region in 1833 he recalls:

From the head of the Sacramento to the great bend and slough of San Joaquin we did not see more than six or eight live Indians while numbers of skulls and dead bodies were to be seen under almost every shade tree near the water, where the uninhabited and deserted villages had been converted into graveyards. (Goldschmidt, 1978: 342)

With a diminished population, the Nomlāqa had no strength to defend themselves against the encroaching white civilization. By 1849, the town of Tehama was well established by Euro colonists who greatly impacted the Nomlāqa. Settlers held two

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views at the time, segregate the Indians away from the white population or continue to

keep them as slaves for their needed free labor.142

For the Nomlāqa, the 1851unratified treaty’s purpose was to get the Indians who

refused to come down from the mountains into reservations so that the whites would feel

comfortable living on stolen land with no possible retribution. Regardless, the treaties

were not ratified then, but by 1854, Superintendent Thomas J. Henley established the

Nome Lackee Reservation west of Tehama County between Elder and Thomas Creeks

(Goldschmidt, 1978: 342).

Within two years, the Nomlāqa accepted the new colonial way of life and quickly

became farmers and prosperous. Subsequently, the settlers became envious upon

viewing the Indians’ abundant and impressive agricultural livelihood and coveted their

land. By 1863, all the Valley Indigenous peoples, (including Maidu and Nomlāqa) were

rounded up by U.S. cavalry guard and herded across the mountains to the Round Valley

Reservation. Consequently, the Nome Lackee Reservation was left to the covetous

whites. The forced removal was historically referred to in California history as the 100

mile Nome Cult Trail to Mendocino County or the Konkow Trail of Tears. Any person

who could not make the march or refused to leave the homelands was killed. “Of the

461 that started the Maidu Trail of Tears, only 277 would ever make it alive to the

Round Valley Reservation (Nixon G. 61)”.

Round Valley is positioned on Yuki ancestral territory. The Yuki were traditional

enemies of the Nomlāqa. After some time, Nomlāqa, who would not stay within the

forced cohabitation, returned to settle in the foothills of their traditional territories as

142 Page 342, Goldschmidt says, “Cheap Labor”. However, Indians were slaves and slaves do not receive pay. 208

farm hands. In the early 1900s, the returnees eventually re-established the territories

now known as the Grindstone Rancheria and Newville Rancheria in Glenn County, as

well as the Paskenta Rancheria in Tehama County (p 342, 1976: Kroeber).

In the 1870’s, the Nomlāqa as well as the Wintu, were participants in the early

California Ghost Dance. I assume this was a Pomo influence at Round Valley as there

is a notable history of the Pomo as active participants in the movement.143 The

California Ghost Dance phenomena are discussed further in Chapter 9. The movement

is mentioned here because the Ghost Dance activated a spiritual revival for the

oppressed and depressed prisoners within the reservations. I believe participation in the

California Ghost Dance was an inspirational experience and gave the people who were

strong enough and willing, the passion for returning to their homelands and champion

their heritage.

During the time, Grindstone and Paskenta consisted of only a few households

who identified as Nomlāqa. For the Indigenous, identity is the foundation of well-being

and inner strength. Identity gave the Nomlāqa the force and tenacity to regain who they

were even as marginalized people within their lands. Wintu communities, as well as the

Paskenta, became Rancherias, established by the U.S. government during the periods of

1906-1909. However, by 1959, the Legislative Rancheria Act terminated all California

Indigenous communities, and the Paskenta lost their lands again to settlers. Regardless,

the families continued to hold tenaciously onto their culture. When the 1983 class action

Tillie Hardwick case reversed the Termination Act and restored 17 California tribes back

to Federal recognized status; the Paskenta, as well as many California communities,

143 Cora Dubois, 1870 Ghost Dance. 209

began the process of restoration.144 In 1994, the Paskenta Band of Nomalki were restored

to full Federal Recognized Status, and presently holds 2000 + acres of non-residential

reservation lands.

The Paskenta landscape possesses knowledge revealed in Creation myth stories

about Nomlāqa identity. Cody Pata says Paskenta Creation stories state that the origins

of his Nomlāqa ancestors began on the top of Waykukci Butte after the Lower Realm was destroyed several times over. The previous destruction was by fire that destroyed everything, and then a flood eventually extinguished the fire. The few beings that did survive was a turtle on a tule raft, and a circling dove. The two worked together to bring up Earth from beneath the water onto the tule raft, and eventually the waters receded.

They then found themselves resting on the top of the mountain. The turtle left to the west and the dove built a nest on top of the mountain out of red Elderberry that she collected from its base.

The Creator decided to come to the mountain. He said, “The world was destroyed because of all the imbalances, so I will create one more being that will ensure that there is no more of that type of imbalance (Pata).” He took some staves of Elderberry from the dove’s nest, and from the staves grew men and women.

The Paskenta have a dualistic world view of the balance between the spiritual and physical, the dark and light. The new human people were supposed to have a spiritual counterpart like all the rest of creation to reside in the Upper Realm with the Creator.

However, Coyote came along and sniffed the new people on their stomachs making a

144 Tillie Hartwick vs. the U.S. was an unprecedented Supreme Court case that reestablished Indigenous identity in California. M.S. Enkoji and Nancy Weaver Teichert. Obituary: Tillie Hardwick helped preserve Indian reservations by challenging Congress.

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belly button and said they were not perfect because of the marks he had made. The

humans were disqualified from acquiring spiritual counterparts. The Creator

acknowledged this but replied, “Since they do not have a counterpart to depend on, the

upper realm beings will be their counterparts (Pata).” Cody explains the significance of the landscape:

Then we walked down from the butte. We had been given all of the ways to be proper, to be efficient managers and manipulators of the energies. I’ve been on top of the Butte, the highest part. And you can see all Nomlāqa lands from all the way down from Grindstone, up to Shasta, across the river up to the top of our mountain. You can see all of the peaks, the hill peaks to the east and even on the Sierra Nevadas. You can see where all the constellations that rise and tell the seasons. You can see all of the types of movements, migrations in the sky and the land. You can see the phenomena of whether the storms that are coming from the south or the different types of things that happen in the north. So maybe that’s our physical place of creation or maybe it’s the place where we maintained what is the culture, the order of our Culture from that spot. So in our creation place we say ‘all people’ specifically ‘our’ people, Nomlāqa. (Pata)

Today the Nomlāqa are members of federal communities, such as in Grindstone,

Round Valley, Paskenta and the Redding Rancheria. The Nomlāqa are working

diligently to preserve their heritage with the assistance of Culture Bearer Cody Pata.

Cody has graciously given his time and Nomlāqa cultural insights to this research.

Maidu Penutian Family

The Maidu are from a large Penutian language family, whom Kroeber considered

the second largest branch of the Penutian family (1976: 391). The Maidu group

originated from the areas of Sacramento East to the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The

mountainous regions of the Sierras in which Mount Lassen and Mount Shasta belong

were venerated communal places for many Indigenous peoples in the area. These places

were shared with the Maidu as well as neighboring Atsugewi, Achumawi, Northern

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Paiute, Yana and Washoe communities. The Maidu also traded significantly with the

Wintu.

Like the Wintu, for the Maidu, the landscape narrates Maidu origins and language.

The Maidu language was spoken by the Mountain or Northeastern inhabitants who lived

near Lassen Peak and around the area known today as the town of Quincy. The Maidu

term Konkow pertains not only to the Northwestern Maidu whose dialects were spoken

along the Feather River Canyon, but Konkow was also spoken in the regional hills and areas of the Sacramento Valley floor and foothill areas in Chico and Oroville. The southern Maidu group is the Nisenan, and they lived in the Yuba and American River drainage regions. (Refer to Figure 4 on page 47.)

In the Maidu community, holy people were the rulers. Their positions were inherited. They were groomed for their posts through an extended period of training with

Elder Spiritual Culture Bearers. In the Konkow community, a holy person chose the leader who in turn was responsible to a group of Elders who belonged to a secret spiritual society called the Kuksu. This aspect of the Konkow is not known to have been shared

with the Mountain Maidu or the Nisenan. It was known to be shared with the Wintu,

Pomo, and Miwok cultures and in some contexts continues within today’s contemporary

communities. Kuksu ceremonies were commemorative enactments in honor of the Earth

initiate who was a major player in the Maidu creation myth-story as Kuksu.145

For the Maidu, the earliest record of contact with outsiders in their territories was in 1808 when Spanish explorer Gabriel Moraga reached the Feather River near Konkow

145 The Kuksu character held a different name by each community from where he belonged to that were practitioners of the religion. Kuksu is explained further in Chapter 9. Also see the Nevada City Rancheria video on Maidu Trail of tears through Henry Azbil interview 212 regions. Later in 1828, trapper Jedediah Smith spent several months in Konkow lands.

Moreover, in 1828-1836, the Hudson Bay Company trapped in Konkow territory and left a decimated population from a malaria pandemic. Like the Wintu, the population was not able to defend themselves or their environment when foreigners invaded their homelands during the California Gold Rush. In addition to disease, foreigners brought in their immigrant livestock that decimated Maidu natural resources. With no available resources, the Maidu resorted to eating the settlers’ livestock.

Unfortunately, white retaliation was never short of violent extremes. Frances A.

Riddell notes, “Often defenseless and innocent groups of Indians were killed by “excited” white men when oxen or other livestock were missed (Riddell, 385).” Regarding white man’s “excitement,” Cahuilla/Liuseño Edward Castillo injects, “100,000 Indians were killed in the first two years of the Gold Rush (Westerman).”

When the California Indian treaty ratification was dismissed in 1850, U.S.

Legislature lobbied for a Maidu removal from the state. Conversely, when the Nome

Lackee Reservation became available, Konkow were sent there until 1863. In 1863, the

Konkow people were forced to march the Nome Cult Trail to the Round Valley

Reservation.

Riddel states that the Maidu population in 1846 was approximately 8000 people, by 1910 there were only 900 (386). Despite this note in history, today there are eight

Federal Recognized communities and eight organized Maidu unrecognized communities.

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Nisenan

The Southern Nisenan group experienced diasporic trauma during the historical

Goldrush invasion that ravaged their territories. The Nisenan community is the Maidu

focus in this research.

Today Nisenan are part of the Shingle Springs Federal Recognized community

that consists of Miwok and Maidu members in Placer County and the independent

Nevada City Rancheria of Nisenan of Northern California located in Grass Valley.

Nisenan were not governed by chieftains like the Wintu and other Northern communities.

An elected headman was an advisor to the community. He was appointed by a notable

holy person of the tribe. Though families had their leaders who held primary jurisdiction

over their relatives, they assisted the headman. A headman kept his position if he stayed

in favor of the holy people and the family leaders. There were head women if there were no suitable male successors. Also, the holy person could be of either sex. A. Kroeber emphasizes that “A woman shaman with a good heart was often preferred to a man because she was considered less likely to use poison (1929:273-274).”

According to Wilson and Towne, the Nisenan believed the world has always existed but in different forms, that the entire natural world held supernatural powers, and animals were once humans (393-395).146 The Nisenan exemplify the spiritual systems of

Central California, which were primarily derived from Kuksu cult practitioners and

limited to persons who were initiated and instructed in esoteric religious rites and

146 I would like to elaborate on this statement that animals were once humans and equate this to the Indigenous idea that the latest product of evolution is actually the least intelligent and evolved. 214

protocols. The Kuku was a male secret society equivalent to what was prominent with

the Absaroke Crow in Montana as the “War and Dance” societies.147

Kuksu is an enactment of a “world renewal rite” and has been speculated to have

evolved from the Earth lodge rituals and Ghost Dance into the contemporary Indigenous

context as the “Big Time” annual ceremony.148 Early ethnographers suggest that the

ceremony was an impersonation of Gods. My belief is that the dancers embody the

spiritual attributes of powerful beings to transfer walli (spiritual power) to the attendees

and thus assist in procuring hinak towis hennak (to make a good life) for all the

community. I would equate this practice in alignment with the Southwestern Kiva

ceremonies where the dance is an enactment of the Kachinas. Ethnographer Ruth

Underhill suggests this in her comment, “ the spirits are represented by reverent maskers

who temporarily have the Katchinas’ power (80).”

According to Nisenan Elder Henry Azbill, in the Nevada City website video

Maidu Creation Story, Maidu Trail of Tears, the Maidu world creation story was similar to the Paskenta, with a difference: that along with Turtle on the tule raft was Earth

Creator, a significant contributor to the Nisenan world. Earth Creator was lonesome and

called in a companion who is the Maidu Kuksu culture hero. Culture hero followed

instructions from Earth Creator in the process of creating the world and the human

people. When turtle went to look for Earth under the water and returned to the surface

half dead, it was culture hero who took the mud from Turtle’s claws and placed it on the

147 Originally Absaroke men created a sect that sought the supreme spiritual power to face death in battle. (Garter Snake Woman on Bull Lodge as warrior) After the reservation system, the Warrior society eventually evolved into dance societies that were a catalyst to powwow competitions. Joseph Medicine Crow’s narrative on Warrior society. http://www.ywhc.org/playvideo.php?p=-1&vid=166 148 The Big Time reference is a contemporary term for the traditional North and Central Indigenous Californian world renewal ceremonies. 215 waters. The soil immediately grew into land for habitation. Earth Creator wanted people. He told Kuksu (culture hero) to gather willow sticks and to sleep with them under each arm. When Kuksu awoke, there was a man and woman. After the humans had come, Earth Creator made the seasons. Again, Coyote as trickster contributes to the human drama. Like the Paskenta story, Coyote does not want the people to live forever, so he initiates death and conflict in the world.

Perhaps it is Coyote’s teachings that helped the people to deal with the tremendous change and trauma that foreigners induced upon them and their home environment. Nisenan did encounter Spanish earlier than their northern neighbors.

Through Wilson and Towne (386), Nisenan were not affected by Jose Canizares’ 1776 exploration while traversing through neighboring Miwok territory. However, Nisenan were aware of the confrontations with the Spanish that the Miwoks were dealing with.

Wilson and Towne note that no record exists of Nisenan taken to the missions. Later they mention that the Nisenan harbored fleeing mission escapees’ in their villages (396).

Most of these escapees were the Nisenan’s Miwok neighbors.

Furthermore, the American Hudson Bay company trapped Beaver in Nisenan territory in the late 1820’s. Wilson and Towne note the contact was a peaceful encounter.

Regardless, the Nisenan were severely affected by the 1833 malaria epidemic where it wiped out entire villages with an approximated 75 percent loss of their populations (396).

Subsequently, by 1839 when Capt. John Sutter settled into Nisenan territory he did not have any confrontations with the remaining people. He easily moved them to his camps as his enslaved laborers.

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Unfortunately, with the discovery of gold, Nisenan territory was overrun within a few years by the widespread killings, a genocide that desecrated Nisenan dignity and environment by the violent and greedy whites. The remaining peoples scattered around the unpopulated margins and hills. Eventually, they survived as laborers and domestics.

It was during such destitute times, in the mid-1800’s, that the religious Ghost Dance brought the people a cultural revival. Unfortunately, for most who participated in the movement, it ended in more disappointment, depression, and cultural loss.

From the Shingle Springs’ website:

In 1916, while conducting a census of Indian people, an agent of the Department of the Interior discovered ‘homeless’ Indians living along the Sacramento River in depressed conditions. The federal government called the Native peoples the ‘Sacramento-Verona Band of Homeless Indians’ and set about acquiring land for these Indians in El Dorado County, California, on the site which is now the Shingle Springs Rancheria. …

The Nisenan lost their lands during termination but carried their culture through

1976 when the Tribe’s Articles of Association were approved by the Secretary of the

Interior. The Community changed the name Sacramento-Verona Band of Homeless

Indians to The Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and is now a flourishing community of Miwok and Maidu descendants. I am very grateful to have Maidu Elder and artist Alan Wallace’s contributing wisdom and support while conducting this research. His artistic talents have transformed the horrendous Nisenan Gold Rush history towards a vehicle of healing and empowerment.

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Miwok Penutian Family

According to Kroeber, Miwok is the native word for “people” plural míwü

“person” (443).149 The Miwok are not a unified group that affiliate towards a

“nationalistic” Miwok identity. The majority of Indigenous North Central California

peoples hold a similar attitude. As Kroeber has stated, “Humanity must appear to them

as a uniform sheet over an endless Earth, differentiable only with reference to one’s own location in the whole (1976: 444).

Contemporary linguists have designated “Miwok” as the Utian subgroup of the

Penutian language family and within this group, they have assigned two distinct territorial regions. The larger group, Eastern Miwok, consists of five linguistic cultures

concentrated within the Central Indigenous region of California. This group had close

associations with the Yokuts, who are the foremost largest group of the California

Penutian language family. According to Kroeber, the Yokuts possess cultural similarities to the majority of the Southern California Indigenous communities; thus, the Miwoks are the bridge between the Southern and Northern Penutian communities. However, the

Eastern Miwok lack the association with the secret societies that the North Central

Communities are noted. On the other hand, the Eastern Miwok’s affiliation of strong family moieties was prevalent in the Southern California communities. Moieties were also sustained by the majority of the Central and North Central Indigenous communities, in particular within the Coast and Lake Miwok groups, who are designated the second distinct Miwok Penutian family.

149 Kroeber does not distinguish of which Eastern Miwok language does míwü derives from. 218

Established Miwok moieties were those of yowa land, and liwa water.

Downstream and upstream, bluejay and coyote, bullfrog and coyote, or bear and deer were also referenced by representative animal members of land and water connections.

(Heizer, 1967: 33) (Kelly 340). (Levy 411), “The moieties were intended as exogamous units.” I find this very similar to the Haudenosaunee as a foundational aspect of the culture that upholds a balanced society. Each group takes a turn when the need arises as leaders or servants to the other. The Miwok have a close mytho spiritual connection with the Yokuts and Ohlone as the result of the moiety culture they share.

There is also a difference in governance with the Eastern Miwok in regards to the majority of the North Central communities where a holy person is a leader who supports the Chief or Headman. 150 With the Eastern Miwok, the Chief title was inherited through a patrilineal line. He was the dominant leader of 100 to 300 people. Traditionally the headman was entitled to wealth over the majority of community members.

The Eastern Miwok’s five linguistic groups all have distinct languages and cultures. They are Bay Miwok, Plains Miwok, Northern Sierra Miwok, Central Sierra

Miwok, and Southern Sierra Miwok. The Bay Miwok’s regions were within the eastern portions of Contra Costa County from Walnut Creek to the east into the Sacramento-San

Joaquin Delta. The Plains Miwok’s regions were the lower part of the Mokelumne and

Cosumnes Rivers and both banks of the Sacramento River from Rio Vista to Freeport.

The Northern Sierra Miwok were in the foothills and mountains of the Mokelumne and

Calaveras Rivers drainages. The Central Sierra Miwok inhabited the foothills and

150 However for the Winnemem, the Chief is also a holy person as leader. 219

mountains of the Stanislaus and Tuolumne drainages. The Southern Sierra Miwok

territories were of the upper drainages of the Merce and Chowchilla Rivers.

The Tamalko (Coast Miwok) and ʼOleeyomi Michcha (Lake Miwok) consist of

the second designated distinct Utian subgroup of the Miwok Penutian Language family.

The Tamalko territorial region previously referenced can be reviewed, (page 45 fig. 2).

Linguistically, Tamalko territory consisted of two dialects, Tamal Machchaw the Marin

Miwok Language, and Loklo Machchaw the Bodega Miwok Language associated with the

regions of Marin and Sonoma Counties. ʼOleeyomi Michcha is east of the Tamalko and

distanced west from the Eastern Miwok region. ‘Oleeyomi Michcha lived in the Clear

Lake basin of what is now Lake County.

Tamalko and ‘Oleeyomi Michcha are comparatively close linguistically, with

Tamalko speech similar to the East Bay Chochenyo Ohlone. Culturally, Kroeber

suspected Tamalko and ‘Oleeyomi adopted similar cultural habits of the Pomo, in

particular, the ‘Oleeyomi. The Tamalko had more contact with the southerly Wintu and

northern Ohlone. Therefore, a suggestion was made by Dixon and Kroeber (1967:88)

that “the Miwok and Costanoan/Ohlone were probably considered akin-as in fact, had

been the custom before their [linguistic] separation by Powell.”

Tamalko and ‘Oleeyomi Michcha were similar culturally to the majority of their

North Central Penutian neighbors. They lived in small family groups who supported a hóypuh headman as an advisor and wallin temma holy people, (or magicians) as spiritual leaders and healers. Additionally, they were involved with the Kuksu practice as well as a variety of secret societies, both men’s and women’s initiatory spiritual cult groups. Due

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to the recent practice during pre and the post-contact era of predominantly women

Dreamers, there were also women leaders, politically as well as spiritually.151

Tamalko creation stories seem to adhere towards a feminine direction. There are

no Tamalko myth stories about floods or previous worlds. Despite this, there is an

indication of a resurrection through the myth story Hiin Kooya, Sun Girl. Hiin Kooya

was mentioned previously from Merriman’s Miwok Legend of Sun Girl in The Dawn of

the World. My intentions for retelling Hiin Kooya/Sun Girl is that it may ignite a spark

within the hearts of my ʼinniiko (relatives) to surge fervently towards uniting with our

ancient relatives and awaken our Tamalko Spirit. In our ancestors’ world, stories were

used to shed light to guide us in any given situation, and the light of Sun Girl is just what

we are trying to harness in our world today. Hiin Kooya/Sun Girl, is summarized here:

The people were living in the world of darkness. People would seek out Coyote

asking for help through the darkness. Coyote had compassion for the early humans and

wanted them to exist in the light. Coyote instructed them to go east and there they would

find Sun Girl. A couple of men were chosen to travel east to find Sun Girl and bring her

back with them, but they returned empty-handed. They reported to Coyote that Sun Girl

refused to come with them. Therefore, Coyote instructed more men to demand her escort

and if she refused they were to abduct her. According to the story, this is how light was brought to the people by the abduction of Sun Girl. Surprisingly, her light was so

151 Diveena Marcus, “Thus, anything that contradicted the “elite” norms of the dominant Spanish and other European conquerors was left out of documentation. An example is in Cabrillo’s journal, where there is a brief encounter of an Elderly female chief who came on board his ship, yet according to Bouvir, historians have distorted this encounter and the position of the female leadership (24).” Virginia Marie Bouvir, author of Women and the Conquest of California. 221

blinding that the people used abalone to detract from her blinding light, and thus created

the scintillating and impressionistic beauty of the abalone shell.

Metaphorically there are layers of Indigenous meaning within this simple story.

There is an indication that the people were inhabiting the world after a devastation. In

Merriam’s account in How They Got Fire, Hummingbird steals fire for needed warmth and survival which is an indication of an environmental resurrection after a destruction.

There is no imagery in Tamalko myth stories of a beautiful planet or a fresh brand new created environment filled with life for humans. In Tamalko myth story, is was Tamalko ancestors who worked with ʼununni ʼunu to recreate the world for our future.

For the Nomlāqa, their world was destroyed by flood, as Cody Pata mentioned,

“because of the imbalance.” Was this imbalance an example of Coyote’s ardent

“aggressive” desires, as an example, to steal fire and light? Mythically, Tamalko are descendants of Coyote, who at times behaves selfishly and emotional. Regardless,

Coyote holds a powerful and spiritual component to Tamalko consciousness. Had this consciousness put the people in jeopardy regarding balanced relationships in the ancient past? There are neo-scientific ideologies that imagine Indigenous peoples as descendants of prior human evolutions on this planet. “New Age” myth connects Native Americans to the legendary Atlanteans who were supposedly technologically advanced magicians who destroyed the environment. Do our ancestral memories remind us to be cautious of our past selfish attitudes?

Unfortunately, all Miwok communities experienced Spanish missionization.

According to Levy, in the last 1700’s Eastern Bay and Plains Miwok were taken to

Mission San Jose. Regardless, the Plains Miwok were not willing participants. Many

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fled back to their villages, or to those of their allies while being pursued by the Spanish

military. Eventually, Eastern Miwok communities joined with neighboring Yokuts

resisting missionization in a series of Indian wars during 1820-30 (Levy, 400).

In 1840’s, when the Americans and immigrant Europeans came into the Eastern

Miwok territories, the settlers, trappers and miners exposed the Miwok to disease resulting with the same fatal mortalities as their neighbors. Weakened and forced to work in the mines such as J.D. Savage's gold mining operation, Indian-hating miners killed Miwoks.

With U.S. annexation of California, groups of Sierra Miwok were moved to Fresno.

However, most of the Miwok population stayed in rancherias scattered in the Sierra

Foothills with the eventual fate of termination and the struggle for reinstatement.

There are eleven Miwok populated Federally Recognized communities. There are seven non-Federal Recognized organized Miwok groups. Like Tamalko, ‘Oleeyomi were

decimated down to few individuals who transitioned into the Pomo communities as well

as Maidu and Eastern Miwok communities as most ‘Oleeyomi today live on the

Middletown Rancheria.

The two last Spanish Missions were built in Tamalko homeland territories.

Mission San Rafael Archangel was established in 1817 in San Rafael California as a

hospital mission to house the sick and ailing Indigenous “neophytes” from Mission

Delores. Many were my Tamalko ancestors who were able to return to their homelands.

Mission San Francisco Solano was the last Mission established in 1823 in Sonoma

California that was built by my Tamalko ancestors. They lived and died and were buried

on the grounds in unmarked graves. In May 1999, The Mission Indian Memorial was

unveiled commemorating the names of the ancestors who built, lived and died at the

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Sonoma Mission. The memorial stands away from the actual Mission, which is a tourist

attraction in the town of Sonoma. There is no reference to find the memorial on the

grounds unless you know about it to look for it.

After California had become a state, a group of Southern Pomo and Tamalko families were allotted a small parcel of land as a makeshift Rancheria in Graton,

California. In the 1900 U.S. California Census, the parcel was officially termed Analy,

Sonoma County, where my mother was born and raised, and her grandparents lived and died.

I have designated the Tamalko region as a bridge between Indigenous North

Central consciousness much like the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge connects Central and Northern Indigenous Communities. As a Tamalko woman, I continue to look within the shards of our history to regain lost ancestral knowledge. By reaching towards our traditional neighbors and ancestral ʼoyyam (friends), I continue the search. I learned through conversations I had with E.Beck Parkman, regarding his ongoing research on

Olompali, during pre-contact, the Tamalko village Olompali was an epicenter that hosted many convening visitors for social interaction and trade.152

[Parkman] suggested that the Coast Miwok along with these other tribes [Patwin, and Ohlone] created an intertribal alliance that spread throughout the San Francisco area as a central economic trade region. (Marcus 2011: 44)

Ka molis (I am grateful) to Tamalko Elder and Culture Bearer advocate Joanne

Campbell, Tamalko Culture Bearer, spiritual traditionalist David Carrio, and Tamalko

Educator and Culture Bearer Jacquelyn Ross, for all the time and support you gave to this

project as research participants.

152 Conversation with Parkman in 2010 as well as email contact in 2010-2012. 224

Ohlone Penutian Family

Juan Crespí reports in 1769, in a mission account about Gaspar de Portola’s arrival into Ohlone territory:

As soon as we had reached this place the whole of the big village here came over, all of them very well-behaved, fair, and well-bearded heathens, (who received us with much kindness and pleasure). They brought us large shares of big dark- colored tamales they make from their grass-seeds, and the soldiers said they were very good and rich when used in atole mush. They were with us during almost all the time we spent here, very happy and friendly, bringing a new lot of tamales again at every mealtime. (Paddison, 15)

Akin to their neighbors, Ohlone peoples were comprised of a complex group of communities who spoke related languages and dialects. It is evident from Crespí’s report

Ohlone were not from small “triblets” that many anthropologists have implied.

‘Tribelet’ has been employed by many influential anthropologists and authors who followed Kroeber (Heizer 1974b, 1978a; Levy 1978; Margolin 1978; Milliken 1983, 1990; and many others), maintaining an impression of pre-contact native California as a region of extremely small-scale, provincial cultures that lacked forms of large-scale integration. [T]he deployment of ‘tribelet’ and other Kroeberian frames of reference has all too frequently blocked a more sophisticated appraisal of the societies and cultures that existed in California and the San Francisco Bay Area before missionization. (Leventhal 300)

Leventhal illustrates that the Ohlone did not overpopulate their environment.

Even in the main cosmopolitan villages, they procured a spiritual ecology and prospered in metropolitan style opulence. Except for Tamalko northern gateway territories the

Ohlone familial ancestral lands claim the entire Penutian coastal ranges towards the south. Their homeland landscape in the north flows into San Francisco Bay and to the south the Pajaro River into the Salinas and Carmel Rivers that flow into the Monterey

Bay. Their world was an expansive and abundant paradise. The People maintained and efficiently managed their resources and landscape. The Ohlone are, along with Tamalko, the Utian subgroup of the Indigenous California Penutian Language family.

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Leventhal implies that intermarriages established a network of trade and maintained the social exchange of spiritual and traditional practices across territories.

Furthermore, the Bay location supplied the communities with ample surplus to support large populations and trade.

The management (through burning) and reliance on diverse plant communities producing high yields of seeds, nuts and acorns conditioned the development of processing, milling, and cooking technologies that strongly resemble or are identical to technologies other peoples developed for utilizing cultivated grains. (Leventhal 303)

The Spanish, in the consciousness of Western privilege and superiority, or as Daryl

Babe Wilson infers as “arrogant,” could not see beyond their peripheral visions to learn of the Ohlone’s Indigenous knowledges and technologies. Nor did they take the time to know the Ohlone people. This racist attitude has prevailed in the contemporary context when a respected Stanford graduate and long-time professor states:

For lack of any substantial evidence, it is assumed they were completely satisfied with their meager existence and completely lacked the intelligence to improve their standard of living (Lanyon and Bulmore (1967: 1).

Lanyon and Bulmore continue the Spanish racist legacy, they do not know the

Ohlone, nor did the Spanish bother to know who Ohlone were, and named them

Costanoan (Coastal People). Ethnographers continued to disenfranchise the Ohlone by documenting their identity under this false reference. Whereas Merriam writes (86), “[I]in the East and South Bay Ohlone peoples have referred to themselves as ‘Ohlones’ for at least a century.” It was during the Civil Rights movement that Ohlone families organized themselves as Ohlone Inc. to obtain rights over their traditional burial ground located in

Mission San Jose, and to walk the path of their ancestors.

Ohlone were Mission “Indians” under the leadership of Father Junipero Serra.

The Spanish erected seven missions in Ohlone territory: Carmen Mission, Mission

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Dolores, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Mission Soledad, Mission San Jose, and Mission San

Juan Bautista. (Refer to figure 7, Mission Map page 119). Ohlone were released from the Missions after the Mexican regime secularized the missions. After, Ohlone sought refuge in their ancestral homelands.

There are eight organized communities of Ohlone dialects within the family group. Awaswas is located on the Santa Cruz and mountains, Chalon on the San

Bernadino River and Coastal Valley, Chochenyo in the East Bay Alameda and Contra

Costa Counties, Karkin on the south side of Carquinez Strait, Mutsen along the San

Benito River and Mid Pajaro River, Ramaytush in San Francisco and San Mateo counties,

Rumsien on Pajaro to Point Sur and lower courses of Salinas, Sur and Carmel Rivers, and

Tamyen in the Santa Clara Valley and Coyote Creek and Calaveras Creek.

Before contact, it is estimated that there were over fifty Ohlone Villages. All of the Ohlone groups are not federal recognized, and the majority is petitioning for Federal recognition.

For this research, I focus on the Chochenyo group as they are Tamalko’s closest neighbors. Muwekma Ohlone Vince Medina, author, curator, and Chochenyo language

Culture Bearer and advocate, was a participant in sharing his heritage and support in this research.

Conclusion: Hinti Weyan ʼOna: What the Land Says

Today there are Indigenous, Native American, American Indian studies along with some Ethnic studies that help to expose the hidden histories of endemic peoples of the Americas. I have found programs that share the stories of the original environment and its original peoples who are living and have lived in the vicinity; uphold ethics and

227 wuskippa (respect) because of the relationships they have learned to build and will continue to build with the Indigenous communities expressed in their programs. I do not believe that a program is ethical if there is no relationship with the community that it professes to educate about, or that there is no representative of the environmental community in the program.

This attitude also relates to ethnographic research. Within the contemporary context, ethnographers who continually “freelance” their academic ideologies like those of the past era will in time not exist in the ethical framework of education and scholarship. Indigenous communities are grooming their members towards post- secondary education in hopes to employ them as their own anthropologists, archeologists, linguists, historians, and educators. If professionals do not originate from the indigenous community, then they are sought out from other federal recognized communities, and even non-recognized communities and pool their resources to hire and adopt allies for beneficial compacts.

There has been very limited ethical academic documentation on the communities

I have researched. However, that is changing. The material I found was generated by an exclusive group of individuals. I had to glean through a biased and racist compilation of selected documentation while writing this report. I had thought that I had heard and read enough of such rhetoric that I would not be concerned. However, now that I am home in the lands of my ʼinniiko (family) and ancestors, emotions run deep and touch the gamut of anger and pain. The immense ignorance and lack of the common aspects of Indigenous consciousness regarding respect and responsibility, generates an anger knowing what privileged academics have imposed and continue to impose on humanity. Arrogance has

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not waned because the human consciousness of the heart remains undeveloped in the

majority populace of the dominant society.153 Publications that contain descriptions of

racial prejudice continue to propagate underdeveloped ideologies. The descriptions of my

ancestors in archaic ethnographic publications that I resourced are too damaging to

reprint here for future generations to read.

Leventhal’s analysis of Kroebian research is very significant for contemporary

critical review.

From the point of view of many present-day anthropologists, Kroeber did not take sufficient note of the genocidal ventures Europeans, and Euro-Americans had conducted against California natives (Buckley 1989). For this reason, he persistently confused fragmented societies and cultures he described with the pre-contact condition of those same societies and cultures. (300)

Most importantly, there is no scholarly address regarding the traumatic and post-

traumatic aspects of settler assaults that have impacted Indigenous people within the

Western context. Continual confrontation must be dispatched within the political as well

as academic arenas for the understanding and for the healing of all distortions and

fragmentations that pertain to Indigeneity, especially within highly populated colonial

environments that impose their paradigm upon a vibrant environment like Indigenous

North Central California. Through generations of imbalance, a global terrorist

consciousness has been perpetuated within humanity simply because privileged people

are reminded of their contemptible positionality in the world. When they look upon the

153 I must interject that there are some excellent non Indigenous scholars from the past that have held interest and respect for Indigenous North American peoples and have contributed not only to history but to the Indigenous communities. 229

original peoples of the land, they are reminded that their very ancestors had raped,

destroyed and stolen for their comforts.154

Hidden Indigenous history of terrorism runs deep. Children, the most precious

resource of Indigenous communities were stolen and abused during the Mexican and

American invasion, and the practice continued during the reservation era. The U.S.

government enacted the Indian Boarding Schools that continued into mid-1900. The

Boarding School system transitioned into the Indian Adoption Project. Both Programs

were established to remove the children from their homes, families, culture and identity

and to assimilate them into the dominant, white American society.155

West Coast Indian children were not exempt; Frank LaPena was taken at the age

of five to Nevada, then to Oregon and back to California. Ricardo Torres’s grandfather

was taken to Sherman Indian School in Riverside, California as well as Chemewa Indian

School in Salem, Oregon. My Modoc/Klamath great aunt Lily was taken to Chemewa in

Oregon. I remember when Tamalko were first re-instated as a Federal recognized community, I listened to some of the Elders sadly tell their stories of the boarding

schools.

Regardless of what was stolen, lost and removed from Indigenous North Central

California, the land is still here. The Earth contains histories and memories. For the

Winnemem, majestic and powerful Bulyum Pulyuk remains a constant spiritual reminder of ancestral origins and belonging. For Nomlāqa, it is also their location of origin on

154 Herbert Kelman, "Violence without restraint: Reflections on the dehumanization of victims and victimizers". pp. 282-314 in G. M. Kren & L. H. Rappoport (Eds.), Varieties of Psychohistory. New York: Springer 155 Stephani Woodard, Native Americans Expose the Adoption Era and Repair Its Devastation. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2011/12/06/native-americans-expose-adoption-era-and-repair- its-devastation-65966 230

Waykukci and the surrounding Coastal Mountain ranges that contain ancestral

consciousness for the people. For the Nisenan, despite the inundation of urbanization, the

Sierra Nevada Mountain range remain, and within Nevada City, Indigenous ancestors

have also left their reminding presence with petroglyphs. Also, the American Rivers

have continued to support Nisenan salmon relatives and the ceremonies that honor them.

For the Tamalko, it is Mount Tamalpais, Redwood forests and the Pacific Ocean that still

hold ancestral histories regardless of the Bay area urban presence. Tamalko are reminded

of their Aboriginal grandparents, with Tiburon Petroglyphs and himme Shell mounds.156

For Ohlone, they share similar landmark reminders as the Tamalko, Pacific Ocean,

Petroglyphs, Shell mounds, and Mount Diablo as powerful ancestral monuments of

origins and history.

Despite a continual onslaught of trauma and diaspora of the Indigenous North

Central California communities held as histories by intentions and actions of Eurocentric foreign invaders, the beauty of their environmental relatives remind them not to forget who they are. Even though removed, most community members never stay away for long, as my Great Auntie Kay, chose not to travel out of the bounds of her ancestral territory. Many of our ancestors would not leave their homeland and chose death instead.

I understand the sorrow of ka ʼinniiko (my relatives). I lost my home and family.

Sadness and grief took me away from my homelands. Though there were experiences I had before the losses that gave me great joy, a sense of belonging, and continual healing.

I have learned no other place has been able to attend to all my physical, emotional,

156 Though archeologists do not find significance in shell mounds, and therefore controversy in preserving them, the Marin Shell mound was a burial mound. Some soil material that is not identifiable can also be considered ash from cremation as Tamalko cremated their dead. See D. J. McGeein and W. C. Mueller, A Shell Mound in Marin, California. American Antiquity, Vol. 21, No. 1 (Jul., 1955), pp. 52-62 231

spiritual and creative needs as ka Tamalko yomik (my Coast Miwok homelands). Greg

Sarris reminds us of this specialness:

It is a place that can remind us of what the Coast Miwok people always believed: That sacred is everywhere, in everything, and in us. (Sarris 2003, qt. in Georke)

The “sacred” is the ancestors. Their Spirit is always profoundly amongst us when

we consciously live in relationships with the lands. I see this reflected as a metaphor in

this research of Nelumbo Lutea and her leaves. Lutea’s rhizome becomes strong with the

many stocks that grow that build her foundations. I see her floating leaves supporting the

ones that go on to grow above the water’s surface and open to the sun. The floating

leaves are our ancestors who have paved the path before us, always near us in the

spiritual (water) world. The emerging leaves are our Culture Bearers who have lived

lives upholding their ancestors’ memory.

It is honoring our ancestors and acknowledging them through caring and protecting the land and environment that help support our way to hinak towis hennak.

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CHAPTER 7 - Kolli,ʼInniikon Kiwa: Leaves, Ancestral Power

Narrative Sovereignty (Visitations)

Leaves are the principle structure, where photosynthesis takes place. CMG GardenNotes #134157

Lutea’s leaves like most flowering plants are often overlooked. Her flower, the largest in North America, is impressive. Lutea’s exquisite flower can grow to one foot or more in diameter, whereas, her leaves have been found to grow over two feet in diameter.

Nonetheless, her leaves have been in the shadow of her blooms.

Photosynthesis converts the sun’s light into chemical energy stored into sugars and synthesized from carbon dioxide and water. This natural alchemy is the organic

“Great Mystery” that fuels life not only for the plant but for most of the energy that supports life on Earth. The leaves of a plant are the significant contributors to this process.

Lutea’s first leaves emerge after her initial stem growth. I reference these first leaves as a metaphor to the first peoples. Indigenous hammako he papʼoyyisko

(ancestors), remind us that they are still with us in the spiritual realm floating on the waters, giving refuge and support to our Earth walk. In Chapter 6, the historical ancestors I have referred to are the ancestors who metaphorically represent the leaves that float on the waters. Through dreams, spirit travel, reflexivity, prayer, and ceremony, the ancestors who float upon the waters, like Lutea’s leaves are always near.

In the natural world, Nelumbo Lutea’s large circular floating leaves are attractive and functional. They offer refuge and shelter to pond life in the wetland ecosystem.

When Lutea’s leaves cover the surface of a pond, they minimize evaporation, reduce light

157 “Plant Stuctures: Leaves - Master Gardener Program,” Colorado State University Extension. 233

so algae can grow, and keep the water from overheating. 158 Their presence is the anchor

for the next emergent phase of Lutea leaves. The second phase of leaves need additional strength to stand above the water; they can stand up to four feet in height. (See figure 11 on page 185 for a photo of the two represented Lotus leaves that reference both chapters

in this section addressing Memory).

Thomas Kintaret’s research on the cultural significance of India’s Nelumbo

Nucifera solely addresses the value of the Lotus’s leaves in his manuscript, On the

Cultural Significance of the Leaf of the Indian Lotus: Introduction and Uses. Kinaret describes the standing Nucifera leaves.

In contrast to the floating leaves, which lie flat on the water surface, the aerial leaves are slightly funnel-shaped and have a wavy edge. They are mostly raised between 50 and 80 cm, approximately between 1.5 and 2.5 feet above the water surface on leaf stalks (petioles). The blades themselves can reach impressive sizes, with diameters from 20 to 80 cm (ca. 0.5 to 2.5 feet). (Kintaert, T. 489- 490)159

The strong Lutea leaves that stand above the waters represent Culture Bearers in

this chapter. They stand up for the community. Culture Bearers synthesize the

knowledge of the grandparents, who are ever present in their consciousness (floating

leaves). Culture Bearers maintain the culture and its life-force embraced by ʼununni

ʼunu into the future. Narratives from Culture Bearers are infused with this life-force that

contain ancestral ethics within them. Akwesasne Barbara Gray refers Keepers of

Knowledge to Culture Bearers and the value of their narratives.

The keepers of knowledge within any nation should be able to help identify and provide valuable insights concerning the traditional teachings found within

158 “Water Lilies and Lotuses” Sheridan Nurseries, Georgetown, ON. 159 Thomas Kinaert, On the Cultural Significance of the Leaf of the Indian Lotus: Introduction and Uses, University of Vienna. 2010. 234

ceremony, prayer, and in that nation’s foundational narratives and stories. (Gray, 190)

Seeking and honoring the value of North Central Indigenous California Culture

Bearers for this research was as imperative to the foundations of Indigenous California

Penutian families as the standing leaves are to the Nelumbo Lutea organism.

I assumed that the individuals who would participate in this research would be

Elders, and would be women because I had found them to be more obliging and available when I was studying in Canada. Even in California, women Culture Bearers were very accommodating to work with me. However, within the Penutian family group, more men were studying the language and teaching it and could make the time to meet with me, and who were willing to share their stories.

The outcome revealed there was a close balance of men and women Culture

Bearing participants. My female voice contributed to the mix. All the Culture Bearers who participated in this research hold the essence of what an honorable Elder would be: to embody Indigenous identity and to carry its life-force forward into the next generation.

Unlike traditional Elders who are typically older than the age 60, I found there were three age groups represented within the participating Culture Bearers in this research. A traditional Elder group consisted of two women and one man between the ages of the later sixties to the mid-eighties. The middle group, I term Uncles was composed of men between the ages of mid fifty to later sixties. The third group consisted of two men and one woman who were between the ages of early thirty to fifty.

I refer to them in this research as Raconteur Culture Bearers.

I chose to categorize particpating Culture Bearers by several determining factors.

1. Age grouping. 2. Their positioning within the context of their communities. An

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example for this: The Middle Group, in which I identify with, is termed, Uncles/Aunties.

In my family, I carry the position for our Indigenous future as an Auntie. This term has been endearing, because I gleaned hinak towis hennak within my heritages by the

intimate teachings derived from my Aunties and Uncles. 3. The manner of conveying

cultural knowledge: such as being more publically accessible and the manner of how the

knowledge is transmitted. An example is the more publically exposed presence of

Elders, and the public speaking presence of Indigenous Raconteurs.

Near the beginning of this manuscript, two types of Culture Bearers were briefly

mentioned that are appropriately applicable to Indigenous California. One type consisted

of individuals who grew up with little Indigenous knowledge. No matter how minuscule

the cultural connections, these individuals sought a cultural identity for most of their

lives.

The second consisted of participants who possessed fragmentations of the culture

they belonged to, or they had relatives connected in some way to the culture. There are

degrees of knowledge and lack of cultural knowledges within both types of Culture

Bearers. Some participants had living relationship connections but did not have the

ancient traditional process of knowledge, transmission, and protocol. Nonetheless,

culture and knowledge were passed on.

Then there were the rare two participants, Winnemem Chief Caleen Sisk and

Nomlāqa/Hawaiʻian Coti Pata, who traditionally received direct spiritual and cultural

knowledge transmission. Nonetheless, with the few participants I visited, perhaps the

rarity of direct transmission regarding Indigenous traditional knowledge is not as

uncommon as I had suspected in North Central Indigenous California?

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I did not know the participants before this research except for Tamalko Joanne

Campbell. Joanne is a relative through my Great Auntie Kay. If she were alive, today

Great Auntie Kay would have been a participant in this research. Nevertheless, there was

no prior opportunity to know Joanne personally, and like many Elders today, they are

extremely busy and in demand.

Chapter Five gave an explanation of research methods. All participants signed a

Trent University Research Ethics Board consent form before the actual interview. A

sample of this form is on page 411, Appendix C. This chapter features the nine Culture

Bearers who participated in this research. Dual- ownership of the raw transcripts belong

to me (pertaining to the research) as well as the participants. In respect to them,

transcripts will not be published. The concentrated text of this chapter is relevant regarding narratives per Culture Bearers’ authorization. Unpublished field notes are available for dissertation review.

The three Culture Bearer groups listed in this research are the Elders; the Middle

Group referred to as Uncles, (there were no Aunties interviewed) and the youngest Group called Raconteurs. 160 In Tamal Machchaw, describing Elders and family members can

be complicated. Therefore, I am using English and French descriptions.161 All three

Culture Bearing groups are like the concentric rings in Figure 6, page 78, each groups’

vibrating presence connects and makes a bridge to the other. Elders hold a bridge to ma

160 Raconteurs (French word) are storytellers, teachers and mentors. However raconteurs primarily present their knowledge at public gatherings. The word raconteur is defined for this research by artist Laurette Hilliard (Geneva born French speaker) as one who loves to share stories about their culture with charm and antidotal meaning. (conversation, Oct. 1, 2015) All Culture Bearers teach, tell stories and offer antidotes. Traditionally, they do not go public. 161 An example: to describe “uncle” in Tamal Machchaw: terms are used to connect the man to either his sister or brother and if he is the older or younger of the two. The language becomes very personalized regarding kinship terminology and not appropriate for this manuscript. 237

hammako he ma papʼoyyisko (our grandmothers and grandfathers) as a vehicle and

pathway. The Uncles persevere within the colonial context holding wuskippa (respect)

towards their traditions as they support their Elders while working hands-on with the

culture. The youngest group, Raconteurs, hold a focused vision as they travel towards

the future while upholding wuskippa (respect) for their Uncles and Elders. All three groups seek to embody the Spirit of ‘ikkon hammako he papʼoyyisko (their grandmothers

and grandfathers)

Elder Culture Bearers

Throughout my life, I have looked to Elders for guidance and mentorship. My

Great Auntie Kay embodied what I have learned to respect and seek out in Elders and

mentors. I was blessed in knowing and spending valuable time with Indigenous mentors,

both within my Filipino and Native American cultures, as well as those in Indigenous

communities I have lived, Hawaiʻi, Montana, and Ontario Canada. I am also grateful to

be in contact with Elders from the Klamath/Modoc community of my great grandfather’s

heritage.

Elders and their wisdom examples give direction and clarity. I am grateful for

those who participated in this dissertation: Winnemem Chief Caleen Sisk, Nomtipon

Wintu Frank LaPena, and Tamalko Joanne Campbell.

Elder Culture Bearer Winnemem Chief Caleen Sisk

Winnemem Chief Caleen is the youngest of the Elders in this group. Caleen is

significant not because she is a Chief, but because she is one of the rare traditionalists

raised by a community of Elders who did not abandon their relationship with ʼunuuni

ʼunu (great mother).

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A Democratic vote by election did not determine Caleen’s position as chief of the

Winnemem community. Chief Caleen says, “That is one of the things that has taken away the spirituality of our cultures (Sisk).” Rather, Caleen was appointed Winnemen Chief by

ancient Winnemen traditional protocol. The Winnemem Chief position is determined by

Elders through examination, observation, by spiritual signs, and by spiritual aptitude.

Thus, Caleen was groomed by Winnemem traditional Elders to be capable of sustaining

and enhancing the well-being of the Winnenmen and their homelands.

I discovered Winnemem Chief Caleen Sisk and the colossal Indigenous civil and

environment activism work she does while I was concluding an MA program in Native

Studies at MSU, Montana State University. After moving to Canada to pursue a Ph.D. in

Indigenous Studies at Trent in Ontario Canada, I felt meeting Caleen would have to wait

until I returned to California. On the other hand, I believe that when I assisted

Anishinaabe Midewiwin Elder Edna Manitowabi through a spiritual initiatory process, I was preparing to strengthen the steps I take on my path, and to be prepared to meet Chief

Caleen.

We met while I was co-producing the 2013 Indigenous Women’s Symposium at

Trent University as an assistant to Dr. Paula Sherman. I invited Chief Caleen Sisk to be

one of our keynote speakers. Attending the Symposium coincided with Chief Caleen

Sisk’s travel plans, as Caleen planned a trip to Canada to support Attawapiskat First

Nation Chief Spence during her 2012-2013 Idle No More hunger strike.162. At the

162 In the article Idle No More: On the meaning of Chief Theresa Spence's hunger strike, Chief Spences’ actions helped to super charge the movement. Canadian Aboriginals were protesting against the Harper political regime. The government was ignoring First Nations concerns regarding their sovereignty and civil rights. Greg McDowell, Rabble.ca, http://rabble.ca/news/2012/12/idle-no-more-what-does-chief-spences- hunger-strike-mean 239

Indigenous Women’s Symposium, Caleen presented a screening of the Winnemem’s awarding winning documentary, Dancing Our Salmon Home. After the Symposium,

Caleen traveled to Ottawa in support of the March of First Nations Chiefs to address the

Idle No More movement’s omnibus bills.

Chief Caleen continues to travel to lend support to Indigenous peoples who are struggling for sovereignty. In California, Chief Sisk is a powerful and consistent voice and presence at the doorsteps of the States’ Captial in Sacramento. Repeated rhetoric regarding water rights, environmental protections and basic consciousness for Human

Rights are the continued yet antiquated activist concerns within contemporary California as well as globally that Chief Caleen advocates.

Chief Caleen does not stand alone. Her voice and her presence articulate those of the Winnemem. Wherever she stands, there is a significant representation of the

Winnemem community and their allies. Their voices are one, as Elders, Uncles, Aunties, and youth.

Winnemem community member Misa Joo arranged the appointment with Caleen.

At the last minute, Caleen was invited to the U.N. summit in New York, in September

2014. Instead, Caleen agreed to hold a phone appointment before her trip to New York, while she packed.

By the time I had made the appointment with Caleen, I had attended several

Winnemen meetings, gatherings, and ceremonies and had become familiar with their interactive relationships. The Winnemem remind me of my childhood amongst ka

Tamalko/Filipinoʼ inniiko (my relatives) by the Winnemem’s welcoming manner and wuskippa (respect) they radiate towards each other.

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The direction of the conversation I had with Caleen was to understand how it was

possible that the Winnemem, though a small community, were so strong a people as they

remain standing together within the State, the National, and International political arenas.

A fundamental and challenging quest for two people to achieve are to stand together

united against the chaos of modern society, let alone a community of over three hundred

members. How is it done? For Chief Caleen, the Winnemem are an example of a

matriarchal society. Chief Caleen says:

Coming from a strong line of women and following the ways of the mountain teaches us our life ways. Another is the willingness to have the interest and heart of the community. (Sisk)

The Winnemem’s earliest origins are within Bulyum Pulyuk (Mount Shasta),

which connects them to the Earth and the world or universe at large. Chief Caleen

believes the Winnemem have survived because they held onto the core feminine principals of inclusiveness, respect and caring for each other.

It comes down to the fact that we eat together; we sing together, we pray together. We dance together. Just in those basics, it simulates that trust that goes beyond the familiar. We know where we stand together, we know our places. It is holding onto our culture when nobody else is doing that. The Elders being the internal part of the program. (Sisk)

When attending Winnemem ceremony, I saw Elders supporting the events. In over 100 degrees, in RV’s camping alongside the tents, they were there assisting supporting and withstanding the long ceremonial dances in the extreme temperature.

Above the desire to be Federally recognized, supporting the environmental needs

of the region is why the Winnemem continue to do ceremony and to advocate Indigenous

political issues. The Winnemen stand apart from many Native American communities who are struggling to be or are federally recognized. Their primary and focused attention is caring and keeping their relationship with the Earth alive, ahead of sitting at the tables

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of governments and their hierarchies.

We have maintained our connections to our ancient ways. We've learned that we are more important than Congress or the government; that we keep our relations, and we don't need to be like everyone else. We’re trying to survive through this genocidal effect. I believe the Elders who brought us through a certain history after the lake flooded, their teachings go on, and they are in our prayers for the world. That in itself brings through knowing the truth. (Sisk)

Caleen confirms that the Winnemem values are entirely different from the values of

colonial society. She revealed the Winnemem’s shame while having to live within the

dictates of the settler environment.

It was more of a cover-up thing we did. It was like living a secret life. We could not talk about our life. It was like living a schizophrenic existence because we had to adjust. Saying yes to something out of what is not your mind, because they make you ashamed of your values. When you are ashamed of your values, you are willing to put yourself down and be somebody else. (Sisk)

When the children attended public school, they were chastised for not sharing what they did at home with their families or at community events during breaks. Within

Indigenous protocol, it is not appropriate to discuss ceremony in the public context.

We know now that we could not talk about what we did. However, now they (federal government) are trying to deal with us through recognition and unrecognition.163 They even make federally recognized tribes carry along their discriminatory pact. At the same time, we know who we are. There is no discomfort in knowing who we are. There is no one else who can say we are not. We do not have the relocation problems; we don’t have the identity problems. (Sisk)

Therefore, being separate from the colonial paradigm is another factor that has held the

Winnemem together as they look towards each other for surviving with the Earth. Chief

163If a community is considered Federal recognized, then they are contenders with the rest of the Federal Indigenous communities. They have access to apply for education, housing, and resource grants through the federal government. If a community does not, then they have no access for community assistance or funding, and at times protections regarding their homelands and resources. They are not part of the federal “privileged” group. 242

Caleen is an educator with a long career in the public school system before becoming

Chief of the Winnemen.

Not to be in the public school system has helped tremendously. Not to go to public school, not to go to church. All that stuff they do not need to do. We had a charter school for awhile. We are also connected to a tribal school. (Sisk)

Chief Caleen’s daughter, as well as the other children in the Winnemem community, have not attended public school. Caleen reports within the Winnemem community there are no concerns or issues with their youth regarding drugs or alcohol.

The Winnemem resort to ceremony and its spiritual strength above the capitalist and consumer products and distractions of colonial society that divert consciousness away from the spiritual.

In addition to ceremony, Caleen is in faithful service to administer healing and council around the Winnemen’s constant burning spiritual fire for the community and their allies. The spiritual life, staying connected to their ancestral environment and historical memory is what kept the Winnemen together.

We always have ceremony. We have our sacred fire burning. Right now, for six years. It was the beginning of our objection to the plight of our sacred sites. Primarily, it is our place on Mother Earth. Most people claim that humans are not of the Earth. But we are relative to the land, the deer, the plants, all things are good. The otter is good, the mountains good, the water is good, all are good, all of life is good. We try to hang onto as much of that because it makes us good, and we pray that we can hand that down to our children after. (Sisk)

Pre-contact North Central Indigenous ceremonies and spiritual practices were

conducted in the Roundhouse. Unfortunately, few Indigenous communities now have roundhouses that are ceremonially active. Few have continued the practice. The traditional dreamers and their knowledges are obscure within the contemporary context.

Regardless, for the Winnemem, despite their traditional Roundhouse that lies beneath

Shasta Lake, they have continued to hold ceremonies on the Earth.

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In September 2014, During the War Dance Ceremony as an act of protesting the

raising of Shasta Dam, there was a vision from one of the participants to build a new

roundhouse. Through Chief Caleen’s definition, the Roundhouse is a constructed

spiritual environment. It is a place for the Star beings to find a place on Earth to have

contact with people who are seeking spiritual connections. They carry the “Big Head”

consciousness of the upper realms to bring to the people.164 Chief Caleen says that The

Roundhouse does not replace “true” ceremony. The true ceremony is upon the Earth at

designated spiritual sites known since the beginning. She explains, “That is the most

significant practice.”

The Roundhouse is for the people who do not have the full commitment to attend the traditional ceremony. Roundhouses are asleep, and so the people are asleep. Many say they are sovereign, and they are taking up their rights, but they are not defending Mother Nature. Ceremony wakes them up. (Sisk)

Through ceremonial participation, men as Dance Warriors lead, not by controlling others but by offering up optimal life-force energy and spirit for all peoples and the community in the dance. Their commitment to ceremonial involvement and playing their part enhances their manner of interacting with their community.

These songs are calling to sacred beings, to give them knowledge and to recognize us. After, it is transferring all that [knowledge] our warriors need to know and what that actually means. It’s not bossing others around. They give up themselves completely. That’s a warrior. (Sisk)

Chief Caleen exemplifies the warrior spirit as she travels the world to strengthen

Indigenous connections in their struggles.

How do we stand up against all the corporations? The Indigenous people never get the jobs in their own countries. Indigenous people are looked over every time job projects come in. If we share with other countries, we can be heard on a

164 Big Head Ceremony is discussed in Chapter 9. Anthropologists that have researched the 1870 Ghost Dance theorize the Big Head was a modern transition of the Ghost Dance. 244

larger scale and maybe the States could be able to hear the Indigenous Bill. Why would we allow fracking in California? Why would we be allowing our drinking water for fracking right now? Right now the draught is our teacher. Right now people are not learning from the draught very much. People are at a level where they think they are invincible, that they are the gods. I think as long as that’s the case they will continue this path and not learn. We were asking in our prayers to come together and to find a balance for all our relatives all around us for our future. (Sisk))

At the end of our visit, Caleen left her final words:

We are short timers compared to everything else. We should leave in a way, like the seven generations before us for those after us. When Indians do not prepare this way, it is not Indigenous. It does not promote the tradition, culture and religion of their ancestors. When they get that far away from that, the young people from the future generations have no way of knowing who they are. (Sisk)

Elder Culture Bearer Nomtipon Frank LaPena

Culture Bearer, Frank LaPena, is known internationally as an acclaimed

Indigenous artist. I purchased his book of art and reflections, Dream Songs, and

Ceremony in 2004, specifically for the content of dreams, songs, and ceremony. I had been ceremonially singing but did not have the deep awareness of the culture that Frank conveyed in his book about his journey of cultural discovery and revitalization. I could relate to the struggles of discovery that Frank conveys in his book as well as what he shared in conversation. Frank’s style of expression through writing, orality and art demonstrate his Elder wisdom that helped to deepen Tamalko consciousness for me; as well as the myth story connection to our shared homelands.

I had been making pilgrimages to Bulyum Pulyuk (Mount Shasta) for eleven years by then, and I was very familiar with the environment Frank illustrated. Frank’s work was activating the ancestral memory of shared homelands; not only from the Siskiyou

Shasta forest region but also from South East Asia. Frank’s father was from the

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Pangasinan Province in the Philippines. Not in the wildest dreams could I imagine that ten years later I would be sitting and conversing with Frank LaPena at his home.

Frank is from the Nomtipom Wintu, one of the nine Wintu communities from the

Upper Sacramento River Canyon. Frank has retained his connection to his ancestral homelands through dance and ceremony. He presently lives in Sacramento where he taught Art and Ethnic Studies as the Director of Native American Studies at California

State University Sacramento. Now retired, Frank continues to participate in traditional ceremony as a ceremonial dancer. Frank also erects art shows, writes, and makes guest appearances for California Indigenous cultural advocacy. An Emeritus board member of

Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Frank has been a consultant to museums across the country including the de Young, the Oakland Museum of California, and the

Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Frank holds an M.A. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Liberal Arts. A feature article about him in Museum of Contemporary Indian Arts reveals:

[T]he teachings [LaPena] received from Elders have had a more profound influence in shaping his work than the formal education he received - an education that did not consider traditional Wintu values and beliefs. By the 1970s, LaPena was living in what was considered to be the renaissance of California Indian culture. As a key member of this movement, LaPena’s involvement was considered pivotal in the founding of Maidu Dancers and Traditionalists, a dance group that performs at ceremonies and events in California. (L’Hirondelle)

Frank clarifies the article that “the renaissance” of California Indian culture experience was basically where many cultures came together and flourished. This encounter was the result of the Indian Relocation Act of 1956 where many indigenous groups from out of state and throughout the country were moved off their reservations into large cosmopolitan cities. California’s cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco were focal destinations for incoming Indigenous groups, who quickly established intercity 246

communities. Today California holds the largest Native American population in the

Nation because of the Relocation Act. The state of California has a Native American population whose majority is made up of indigenous peoples who are non-endemic to

California.

Indigenous to California, Frank happened to move his young family to a

community in San Francisco that included some of the transplanted groups who were

artists.

We ended up in Noe Valley, at that time it was more family, but now it is a mixture of alternative communities, and expensive. At the end of the street was Ruth Asawa the sculptress, and Rudy Gorman, the Navajo painter who lived up the hill. We were around a lot of creative people. When I went to the Indian school, I was trained to be a printer. We did all the advertising at the school. My book, The World is a Gift was a Letterpress edition. (LaPena)

For Frank, family connections and meeting with knowledgeable Elders is

essential towards cultural preservation. Frank said he would not consider himself

spirituality inclined but instead he was interested in what the world was all about,

especially since the myth story of the world started for him at five years of age when his

father died. Frank’s father’s death was the beginning of a spiritual journey of cultural

and self-discovery. Frank had fragments of culture all around him waiting for retrieval in

his life.

I’ve always been interested in tradition. The reason was because going into the Indian school that’s all I knew who I was. I’m Indian, and Indians have these traditions. I found out that my uncle was the last fully trained medicine man. Once you have that kind of thing, and you see some of the lands, and you get the stories, you have to take it, or you have to replace it by something better in meaning than that. There’s nothing better in meaning than that. (LaPena)

Frank’s preliminary teachings came from Nomlāqa Elder Wallace Burrows, and

later he was introduced to the Maidu culture by traditional artist Frank day.

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Frank Day’s dad was the headman and the medicine person of the Tyee Mountain Maidu. Day was documenting language and stories, art and paintings and wanted to start teaching and transferring the culture. So a bunch of us guys said, ‘Oh we like that idea, we’d like to learn those things.’ We started the dance with Herb Feffer and Frank day. We got the twins, the other brother, me, my son, Joe Marin, Brian Beebe. mostly, family. Mabel [Mckay] had been a part of this with us from the beginning.165 When we did our first dance, she blessed all of us and our dance stuff. (LaPena)

Frank said that ancestral Hesi and Big Head ceremonies took place at GrindStone,

wherein the 1880’s the Maidu, Miwok, Wintu, and Pomo, got together to recultivate

them.166 Frank says now only the Pomo and the Wintu practice the Big Head. Most

importantly they still keep the practice alive in North Central California.

Another significant aspect of traditional practice that is placed in the highest

wuskippa (respect) is the adherence to the protocol or what Frank refers to “the way” or

what many others have referred as the good Red Road. 167

The spirit road is like ‘the way’ . . . you know that term, follow the rules that guide us. Weya is a blessing. However, the ‘way’ when we talk about the way that means following the tradition, following the rules. You’re doing what you’re teaching. You are visiting, and you’re listening to the Elders. You’re visiting places. You have respected your heart. (LaPena)

Frank spoke about honoring protocol as valuing the “way.” Once when he had

the responsibility of a ceremonial dance group, he had noticed that one of the dancers did

not have her heart in the “way” as a dancer. Frank explained, “It is not only there in the

dance but helping with the food, collecting materials, helping with the fire, taking care of

Elders (LaPena).” When the attention to ceremonial intention is not there, someone has

165 Mable McKay was a well known Patwin Dreamer who was trained in the Pomo traditions. Greg Sarris, Mabel McKay: Weaving the Dream. 166 The Chico Mechoopda’s roundhouse was closed down so they moved the dances to Grindstone. This was after the 1870 Ghost Dance phenomena where traditional dances of the Maidu Hesi and a combination of ancient and new Ghost Dance styles were incorporated within the Big Head. This is explained in more detail in Chapter 9. 167 The Red Road is a New Age concept of knowing one’s path. This is not used in traditional Indigenous societies but had been adapted within Pan-Indian ideologies. 248 to teach it. He had to ask people to step out of the group for a year to recollect their intentions.

The focus of being together in a traditional Indigenous community is to honor and bring Spirit into the environment for the well-being of everyone there. It is a very auspicious moment.

Spirit is alive, and it is there. Your purpose if you said you danced, and you were told you’re bringing it in, you’re going to bring it in any way that you know. One thing about dancing, at least in California with the sideline dancing of women dancers is they manifest that, and they bring it into the circle. The men dancers move that around. The fire because it’s burning, takes it up. The bottom line is how else are you going to show it? You have to be proactive about something; that’s important. (LaPena)

Participating and honoring protocol in preparation for the ceremony is one way, the other is taking an active role as a dancer, singer, doctor, drummer or fire tender.

Within the central matrix of the ceremony is where a collective power manifests and ensures that Olelbis is present. Traditional healers can feel the Olelbis in their bodies, and they are to use it accordingly for the benefit of the people. Also, the spiritual qualities of the Olelbis can be a very communal experience.

Frank described one time when given a cocoon rattle to sing a song in a fire ceremony. He did not have a song, but his intentions through the ceremonial process gave him a song, and many years later one of the ceremonial participants was humming the same song.

He started to sing a song, and I thought, ‘I know that song.’ ‘Brian, listen to this song, do you recognize it’? He says, ‘No.’ I said, ‘That is my fire song.’ Silence. Wow. That was an impeccable kind of experience when you came to that kind of knowledge. You do not want to analyze it. It is magic where it comes from. (LaPena)

In respect to spiritual experiences and their power, strict protocols are in place.

Therefore, nothing should be appropriated. Everything that pertains to traditional singing

249 has an intentional and a particular purpose. When Frank Day died, Frank LaPena and

Brian Beebe went to visit Patwin dreamer Mabel McKay for a song. She knew what they wanted, so she prepared to give them one of her songs from Mount Shasta that was in

Wintu. Mabel had to take the “doctoring” out of it so that they could use it. Frank said

Mabel told him, “Because, in the doctoring, it is real hardcore. When you take things, you may take it on (LaPena)”.

If you are meant to have it, you got to ask. You got to make sure you use it the way that it needs to be used. And, you got to acknowledge it. (Lapena)

Frank illustrates the honorable and respectful manner of Indigenous citation ethics. In the traditional Indigenous manner, an acknowledgment is also an exchange.

After European contact, money was the medium of exchange. Prior, to money, there were numerous methods. Traditionally with the Wintu, (and many Indigenous communities in North America), there was an exchange with a gift of tobacco and or service. Ultimately, within the contemporary context, there is a movement out of the paradigm of colonial attitudes, to once again slow down to know how to move with wuskippa and hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart says) and return to gifting.

Frank endured the process as he carved his way through a host of obstructions and barriers that kept him away from his heritage. However, by listening to his heart, he found that his purpose was to retrieve his beloved culture so that those lost would be inspired to continue as responsible Indigenous people. Frank worked his way through undergraduate and graduate school when there were no scholarships for Indian people.

Education was a vehicle for the spirit of his Wintu culture to be reawakened for many others. Frank’s imparting words:

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Just knowing that we are not isolated, the system is materialistic and ‘titled’ you know titles and degrees, that is a minor part of us as individuals. We all have talents, and we all have things that we can add to life. Otherwise, we would not be here. Finding out what it is, is the easiest part and in a way it is the most difficult. (LaPena)

Elder Culture Bearer Tamalko Joanne Campbell

Joanne is related to me through my great Auntie Kay, who was my family’s Elder, and matriarch. Auntie Kay was a tremendous advocate for Tamalko reinstatement as a federal recognized Indigenous community.

I remember taking Auntie Kay to the meetings in earlier days when our people were fighting for recognition. In 2000, during community meetings, a handful of us huddled around a phone in a small office in Santa Rosa as we listened to Greg Sarris join us via teleconferencing. The group was made up of Great Auntie Kay, Gene Bouvelot,

Lorelle Ross and her mother Gloria Armstrong, Joanne Campbell and her sons.

Genealogy is the founding basis for all Federal Recognized communities. The

Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are all related. Through a class in genetics at UC

Davis, I learned that genes give us traits of inheritance that are the foundations of our biological constitutions that can determine our propensities.

Though Great Auntie Kay was twelve years older than Joanne Campbell, they held similar interests. Both had studied nursing and had a passion for the care and well- being of others. Great Auntie Kay died in November 2010. I remember in the past when visiting Auntie Kay I found Joanne over at her home, and most times along with many others. They were usually chatting and laughing and eating. I would be annoyed because

I either brought lunch for Auntie Kay while on my lunch break or stopped by her house after work to be with her. Regardless, I am proud she was so loved and honored an

Elder. 251

In regards to obtaining an audience with Joanne Campbell, it was similar to what I experienced with my Great Auntie Kay, Chief Caleen, and other honored female Elders in their later years. It took a few times to get an appointment with Joanne where we might have an hour together. Realistically there was no convenient moment. Eventually,

I met with Joanne at the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria offices in Rohnert Park before her work day at approximately 8 a.m. We shared coffee and homemade muffins I had brought. Incidentally, our conversation was digitally taped but malfunctioned, and only bits and pieces of our visit came through. Unfortunately, there were no notes. Like

Tamalko ancestors, my memory was my technology. What was mentioned out of our conversation was Joanne’s consistent excitement and support behind the significance of recultivating the Tamalko culture.

Joanne is from regional Sonoma County original families of the Southern Pomo and Tamalko peoples. Joanne’s father was from Sebastopol. Her mother was from the

Jenner area. They moved to ʼOleeyomi Michcha, the Lake County region to obtain temporary work. It was in Lake County that Joanne Campbell was born.

Joanne had always known her identity was Indigenous to California, yet during her formatives years, Indigenous Californians were isolated from each other. I asked

Joanne if she knew other Indian children besides her immediate relatives. Joanne said she had no Indian friends in school, but she recalled when she would take the bus to and from school there were other children that she thought were Indian. Nonetheless, they never spoke to each other.

Joanne is in her early 80’s. Her High school experiences took place in the 50’s during the Termination Era that enforced assimilation and disbursed Indigenous

252 communities from their regions and from each other. Therefore, Indigenous Californians were not exposed to each other nor their culture. The focus for struggling Indigenous families was to be able to earn a living and offer their children a satisfying life within the dominant society.

Joanne was fortunate. As an Indigenous woman, she was able to attend college.

Like many Tamalko collegiates from the area, many began post-secondary education at

SRJC, Santa Rosa Junior College. It was and still is affordable and on homelands and close to family. Joanne attended SRJC for two years and then transferred to the

University of California San Francisco as a nursing major. Joanne realized that she was the only “Indian” woman in the program when she attended. Joanne was the only

“Indian” in her class to obtained a B.S. degree in nursing at the University of California

San Francisco.

After graduation, Joanne worked for the City and County of San Francisco for more than thirty years as a public health nurse before retiring in 1992. Her past nursing employment included working at university hospitals, with a year's specialty nursing in

London, England. Alongside her nursing career, Joanne was occupied with raising her three sons in Daly City near the Pacific Ocean.

Joanne remained living in Daly City when elected to the FIGR council. She frequently traveled to Sonoma County to attend her duties for the community. At the time of our visitation in 2014, Joanne was living in Daly City and also in Santa Rosa.

Joanne said that the ocean air and its life was more accessible to her than our ancestral homelands. The real-estate property within Tamalko homeland regions along the ocean

253 is one of the costliest in the state, and for most of our community citizens, it is financially inaccessible.

Joanne exemplifies the typical contemporary Indigenous Elder. Contemporary

Elders are extremely busy and in demand, especially the women. Perhaps it is because women have been caring for their children, managing the home as well as being employed outside the home. Somehow after menopause comes and goes, Elder women have a very balanced outlook on life. Elder women have what Basso says of Apache consciousness, “smooth minds” with an additional acute rationalization. They have not lost the need or ability to do so much for their relatives as they continue to cultivate hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart says). I saw this trait in Edna Manitowabi and Shirley

Williams in Canada, and Chief Caleen Sisk contributes to this phenomenon as well.

Joanne Campbell is the eldest of the Elders that I visited. In her mid 80’s, she insisted she pick me up when I took the train from Siskiyou County to attend the Breath of Life Conference in 2014, in Berkeley. When as an Elder, I only pray that I have the vitality, and determinism that Joanne has.

Joanne has supported Tamalko efforts from the beginning struggles for reinstatement into the present. At the time of our visit, Joanne was completing her last term on the Council. She began the duration of serving FIGR, Federated Indians of

Graton Rancheria Council during reinstatement in 2000. Many FIGR citizens (including myself) have benefitted from Joanne’s efforts immensely while she was on council.

Joanne had two personal priorities while working on the FIGR Council for the

Tamalko community. She has relentlessly striven to revitalize Tamal Machchaw (Coast

Miwok Language) and to perpetuate the re-cultivation of the Tamalko basketry program.

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I am not a basketry student; my wrists suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome and wrists have to be strong to make the tightly woven Indigenous California baskets.

However, the language program is important to share with ka ʼinniiko (my family), as I work with my two nephews, Anthony and Alex Frivaldo on re-cultivating

Tamal Machchaw. Once Joanne had noticed I had an interest and the desire to support our Language revitalization, she has continued to encourage my cultural re-cultivation efforts. Joanne has visited singing workshops I facilitated at my mother’s home for interested FIGR citizens and students from language class. The singers are made up of cousins and relatives who enjoy singing secular songs together that I have created to support the re-cultivation of Tamal Machchaw (Coast Miwok Language).

Today Joanne may be retired from the council, but she is still in action. Recently she made a Tamal Machchaw presentation at the Bioneers Conference October 2015.

She is a presenter at the Sonoma County Museum on basketry discussing basketry culture and demonstrating weaving techniques. Joanne has traveled Europe and brought back photographs of Tamalko baskets that are on display in German and Austrian museums. If there is an event that is supporting the community, Joanne is there. When I was struggling to determine how I was to get to Canada to attend Trent University, Joanne encouraged my academic pursuits. Joanne Campbell signifies the Spirit of my Great

Auntie Kay, who never gave up on ma hammako he ma papʼoyyisko (our grandmothers and grandfathers) culture.

During the many years of controversy and racism within the environment surrounding the building of our Graton Rancheria Casino, Joanne stood up for what the

Casino would do for the Tamalko people. Reported in an SFGate Chronicle article,

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Indian tribes campaigning to open casino-Leader of 'invisible' Indians rallies band behind Casino, “Tribal Council member Joanne Campbell outlined how part of the gaming revenue would be used to establish two scholarships at local colleges (Podger).”

So many people in our community have benefited from Joanne’s advocacy for education and cultural strengths of her ʼinniiko (relatives). Joanne has the caring skills one needs for working with the sensitivities of an Indigenous community. Only a year after the casino has been functioning, the scholarship program was intact. If not for this program, my very presence at Trent would be in jeopardy. Ka molis.

I asked Joanne how she started championing for Tamalko as she said her life was colonially entrenched before the fight for reinstatement. She said it was her sons’ fight.

They educated her on the issues of California peoples especially our ʼinniiko. Joanne retired from nursing, and in her later sixties she advocated the Tamalko struggle for reinstatement. Now she is the age my Great Auntie Kay was when the Tamalko became reinstated into Federal Recognition. It is a blessing to have Elders who emit shining examples of passion for our beautiful culture’s existence. Joanne inspires other Elders like my mother who has joined in Tamalko cultural efforts.

Since retiring from FIGR Council, Joanne is transitioning into another phase of

Eldership as she stands as an example of a Tamalko Elder to the rest of the world. Joanne is an amazing representative of the Indigenous philosophical theory of transformation.

We do not just survive; we thrive when we continue to walk in honoring the map of our

Elders.

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Uncle Culture Bearers

For many Indigenous peoples, our grandparents were long passed from this world by the time we arrived. Instead, Uncles and Aunties held the examples of our heritages for us. My Great Auntie Kay and her four sisters were Great Aunties whom my siblings and I learned to respect and love as our Tamalko ʼinniiko. Great Uncle Victor, my father’s Filipino uncle, was an Elder of distinguished Bicolano culture and was a Culture

Bearer with immense Indigenous knowledges of the sea. Uncles and Aunties in both

Filipino and Native American cultures are highly respected. They seemed to be more at our level, showing and doing life with us. Uncles in this research are Nisenan Alan

Wallace, Winnemem Ricardo Torres, and Tamalko David Carrio.

Uncle Culture Bearer Nisenan Alan Wallace

While attending an Ohlone spoken word event in 2014, at Heyday Books in

Berkeley, music was provided by Walan Amana, a Nisenan music group. Members of

Walan Amana consist of Lindsay Arbaugh, vocals, Austin Arista, vocals, percussion,

Travis Lang, guitar, vocals, and Adam Cuddle Bear Enos, vocals, percussion.

Goodshield Aguilar is the Music Director and Songwriter, featuring guitar, vocals, percussion. Mignon Geli plays native wood flutes. The group’s lyrics are in Nisenan, and the subject of their compositions is about the California Gold Rush within a North

Central California Maidu perspective.

Walan Amana’s music style is considered Indigenous Rock, produced under the

Sovereign Records production label. Based in Gold Country, in Auburn California,

Walan Amana was founded in July 2010 by Maidu-Konkow Alan Wallace, Nisenan speaker, and the group’s lyricist. From the Walan Amana Facebook site, they state that

257 their music “Is the language of the area where gold was discovered, and drawn from family stories and historical record.”168

According to Alan Wallace, Walan Amana’s music and lyrics are in honor of the

Spirit of Wallace’s grandmother Lizzy Enos. Wallace was raised by his grandmother

Lizzy. Lizzy was a traditional teacher, she did not instruct, but got her grandchildren out on the land where she shared her stories about her relationships with the aspects of the

Earth they were exploring.

Lizzy, my great-grandmother, was our babysitter. We were outside, and she’d tell a story about how something was created, where it came from. She’d have the history of this stuff. We’d go out and gathered stuff. She’d have us crawl through the brush in the fall or winter and get mushrooms. I knew more about mushrooms then than I do now. Each one of us had a little art bucket. We’d go out and always come back with something in that art bucket every day. To us, that was real. (Wallace)

When Alan went to school, things changed, and his story is like many others, the

Indigenous way of expression could only be honored within the family unit.

When I started school, it took me somewhere in the first grade where I quit thinking like that. I was always getting in trouble. Cause I’d talk about that. I’d question the teachers. Oh, they’d get mad at me. So after a while, I just quit talking about it. (Wallace)

Despite the fact that Indigenous consciousness was put to rest for Alan in his early years outside his family, it did not die in his life. When he enlisted in the army and traveled to Europe, Alan’s spontaneous attitude around fellow Indigenous army buddies allowed him to explore the outer world with renewed confidence. Wallace was pleased to say he saw Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Hendricks, and the Doors on the Isle of White,

England as well as at Fehmarn, Germany. His memories of adventuring experiences continue to have an impact on his life.

168 Walan Amana’s Facebook site, https://www.facebook.com/walanamana7 258

After military service, Wallace married and lived in the Southwest and raised two

children. His creative abilities gave him a notable career as an indigenous jeweler and his

daughter has followed in his footsteps. It was in the Southwest and friendship with

Darryl Babe Wilson that influenced Wallace’s cultivation of Lizzy’s Nisenan Language

and Walan Amana’s music.

What he [Wilson] was doing over there was getting the kids to write in their language. He got them published in “Red Ink”. That was like a big deal to get their worked published. It was well received. So these kids were talking and reading their stuff. It was like a reading at U of A. That is where I got the idea. Youth, language and that kind of thing were from him. It wasn’t music, but it was something creative. He [Wilson] had set that up. I know this works. The stuff they were doing was good. It was the language. It had to be in the language. (Wallace)

Alan says that since the seventies, there has been a gap in the culture, a

disconnect with traditions. This gap is the reason Alan is working with the language and

music. He believes that we must tell our stories and take ownership of the material, then

it has meaning within the contemporary context.

I took this approach because the contemporary thing contains more optimism than to try and go back and to right the wrongs. That stuff is old like the Gold Rush, which has always been a touchy subject with many people. It is a little lighter with this music. Cause everybody has got to get past this. Music has a tendency to do things differently than the spoken word. Music is positive. (Wallace)

As I look back on Wilson’s “broken shards”, the bottom line what Culture Bearers do is to assist in healing and to achieve a sense of wellness for Indigenous communities.

Elder Uncle Wallace came back to California as a warrior with a mission. He brought to his culture a path of healing. He explained it further:

It is a different type of healing. Many people get touchy when they think about these songs. Right now we’re just talking about making up our own stuff working with phrases. Yeh, it is possible that someday another group of kids might come along that are more into the old ways. But then we would be prepared for it if they could speak the language. (Wallace)

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Alan Wallace seeks to be a bridge-maker, to pave the way for the seekers of his

culture. In the meantime, he continues to live within the culture and stays busy with the

younger generations of Uncles and Aunties.

The ones that are real young, that’s where this is going to affect. They’re the ones who are going to take it on. It’ll be in their lifetime when these collapses will start. They are being born in a time when they have to get the answers. So I think giving them as much material is going to be critical. I’m not a spirit guide, but I can help them. I can give some ideas, but I’m not the one who's going to go to these dreamer caves. Whatever it is, it is in the language. The environmental languages are unique to serve the areas. My buddy Daryl, it was his aunt Gladys O’Neal who told it to him. Leanne put it in “Flutes of Fire”. When Great power comes, it is going to to speak in your language. And if you don’t understand your language, your going to miss the message. (Wallace)169

Alan learned the language through his grandmother Lizzy. However, it was Frank

Day who was the inspiration that injected passion for the culture into Alan. Alan

reiterates previous narratives given by Frank LaPena about Frank Day:

Frank would tell a story in Konkow, which is my dialect, and then he’d say it in English, and then he’d teach us the words and the steps to it. Every Sunday night we’d meet, and he would teach a different verse. Frank Day would have notes in binders, boxes of notes that he had with his original writings. He had the flair to make you want to do it. You would be mesmerized. I listened to his tapes. When you’re in his presence, he was like ‘Tom Jones’, very much of a showman. But that’s what it took. (Wallace)

Though Alan is considered an Uncle, I find he is a bridge maker that holds the consciousness of the Elders. He still has the energy and strength to be in the trenches.

When I discovered Walan Amana, Alan was somewhere in the background and

unnoticeable. I had to make contact with him through Leanne Hinton and Marina

Drummer at AICLS. Like many in the Uncle, Indigenous space, they are not easily labeled or identified. Alan finds freedom and satisfaction with this positioning.

169 Leanne Hinton, Flutes of Fire. 260

Focusing on the language gives me a pass on a lot of other things because people would be critical of me because I’m doing my own stuff. So whatever I do is neither good nor bad, as long as I’m working on it. You don’t have to worry about what they say. However, I don’t mind critique, but it has to be productive. So with these kids, it is the music, and I feel I do not have to do anything else. It’s the fact that they have the enthusiasm that they want to do it. So the desire to wanting to do it is the key. But if they just did what they did right now, that would be enough. (Wallace)

Uncle Culture Bearer Winnemem Ricardo Torres

I met Ricardo at the Winnemem village site in McCloud. We were gathering to

plan for the upcoming 2014 Coonrod ceremonies. Ricardo had invited one of his visiting

Mohawk colleagues, Kevin Deer from Kanawahke to attend as well. It was a delight to

meet Kevin because he knew so many people I also knew in Ontario and that helped to

break the ice of formalities between us.

My husband and I volunteered to assist in providing and preparing food to support

the traditional Winnemem renewal ceremony which takes place every year at Burney

Falls in McCloud. Contributing to the kitchen efforts for the ceremony meant being part

of a collaborative with Ricardo’s volunteer kitchen staff. We were honored and happy to

be a part of the contributions towards the Winnemem Coonrod event for the last two years

and will continue as long as we are here.

Ricardo (Topee Wii Kalatl) is a man of considerable stature but with an

unassuming nature. Ricardo volunteers his time and efforts to prepare all the meals for

the four days of Coonrod. This last year over 250 people attended the events where three meals were served each day. People came all the way from South America and Hawaiʻi

to support the renewal ceremonies. Chief Caleen traveled to support their Indigenous

efforts such as protesting the planned erection of another observatory on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi and supporting the fight for water and land rights in Peru.

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Preparing meals for spiritual and political Indigenous warriors is an honor, and Ricardo

and his staff are the key players.

Despite Ricardo’s dedication and contributions of his life towards the Winnemem

community, he also does the same in the larger Indigenous context. Up until his

retirement in June 2014, he was a counselor in the EOP (Educational Opportunity

Program) office at Sacramento State and an advisor to the Native American Club for more than twenty years. As a member of the faculty, Ricardo taught sections of the

Ethnic Studies Freshmen Seminar course. He also carried a counseling caseload of first-

time freshmen students and has served as the faculty advisor to the American Indian club

called ENIT (Ensuring Native Indian Traditions). Ricardo is Chairman of the

Sacramento Native American Health Center Board of Directors; Board member of the

Capitol Area Indian Resources and the local American Indian Education Center, as well

as a 17-year member of the University of Oklahoma’s Health Promotions Program

Planning Circle. Ricardo has served as a national trainer in wellness, Native youth

conferences, parenting, and working with American Indian men throughout the United

States and Canada.

Ricardo’s Uncle positionality in this research represents “the searching warrior

spirit” that many have reached for to retrieve lost identity. It is important to hear such

stories of identity retrieval as it is an inspiration to others to continue the journey.

Ricardo was born in 1949 in Sacramento and has continued to live in the area.

Even though his father did not speak of his California Native American background,

Ricardo knew his father was Native American. Moreover, Ricardo had been exposed to

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the Indian community because of the Relocation Act, an influx of out of state Native

Americans.

I grew up next to a huge Cherokee community that was relocated to California. Next door to us around the corner was a big Cherokee Seventh Day Adventist Church. We’d hear Cherokee songs and hymns all the time. I grew up with a lot of Cherokee, who today, one of the guys is somewhat prominent in the Ketoowah community that is a Cherokee speaking group, but they are separate from the Cherokee. They would tell stories and would have people narrate so that children would be listening to stories in their language. They would not just be in their language but in their dialect. I grew up with the knowledge of their Native community. (Torres)

Ricardo said he felt like an alien even though he had positive influences from the relocated Navajos and Cherokees in California, as well as the associations with his father’s Miwok friends. However, not only did he not have the connection to his father’s

Wintu people but his mother, a Mexican-Texan would not identify with her Mexican heritage. She claimed she was a Texan. Ricardo explains the feeling of disassociation:

We would always meet for picnics at a grinding rock along the Cosumnes River. That was alien to me because I did not understand that. They [Miwok] would explain it to us, but we never experienced it. We knew it cognitively but never emotionally. We were never part of that process. So we accepted it, but it wasn’t who we were. I knew I had a connection because my dad always would tell us about his dad. A lot of my life was spent yearning to know and understand. I spent much time in the Mormon history center, years doing that. (Torres)

What his parents gave Ricardo and his siblings as a foundation was Catholicism.

However, his grandfather’s Indigenous spirit lingered in his life.

My mom made sure we were all baptized, we were all confirmed, and we all did the communion. She never went to church; she made us do it. As we were growing up, my dad told us about his dad. But never stories. Now and then it would pop up. He’d tell us my grandfather went to Sherman Indian School, but he never said he was Indian. We knew his dad was, but he didn’t know what Indian he was because he did not grow up in it. He had been pulled out of the culture with no access to any of the resources. (Torres)

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Two instances that made traumatic impacts on Ricardo’s life were moving out of the rural community where there were connections to other Natives, into the Sacramento city proper, and the death of his father.

That was a major cultural traumatic shock for us. We drank out of a well; now we are drinking water from the faucet that came through pipes. The pipes had a flavor so we could not drink the water because the water tasted like metal. We canned our food. We always had fresh fruit; we always had trees and gardens. We always had animals. Every day we had duck eggs for breakfast or chicken eggs. We always had a goat. We never had cow milk until we were a lot older. There was a creek about three blocks from us. So we’d go fishing and catch fish and crawdads and eat that. We moved into a place where we ultimately put gardens in and planted trees, but it did not have that when we moved in. We did not have chickens or turkeys or ducks. When we moved to the city, we had to buy eggs. We had never eaten white eggs before. We had only eaten brown eggs. We break white eggs, and they are not orange on the inside. They are yellow almost like lime green. We did not want to eat the eggs. It was just very different, very traumatic.

My dad died when he was 64 years old, the year before he would retire. I just entered graduate school in 1975. The whole family was there. It was early in the morning. He took my sister to work. He came in with a newspaper in his hand. I said ‘good morning’ and he said, ‘good morning.' He walked right into his bedroom. I heard a noise; I walked in, and he was dead on the floor. It was a heart attack. It was traumatic. (Torres)

Ricardo was working for the school district as a student but making more income than his father could at the cannery. When his father passed, Ricardo provided for his sisters, his older brother and his mother for about a year until his sisters got jobs, and his brother became a police officer.

Shortly after my dad passed in 1975, my mom met with us. She said, ‘I want to tell you something. Your dad never wanted me to tell you this while he was alive, but now that he is not here I’m going to tell you,’. ‘This is what his real name was, and he was a California Indian.’ She just laid it down. So we always knew that we were Native, but we never knew from where. It gave me a lot more to work with because I was already doing the research. I went directly to Chemawa and Sherman and got information about my grandfather, and I got it right away. (Torres)

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Ricardo discovered that his grandfather was Wintu and the grandson of Tommy

Dow, who had a mining claim in Dog Creek registered in Mount Shasta.

Still today called Tommy Dow Creek. Finally, I had a friend of mine who was working for me at the time who was aware of the Wintu. He introduced me to Winnemem Chief Florence Jones and Caleen and that group. (Torres)

The information about his father’s Indigenous heritage changed Ricardo’s life.

He said it gave him purpose.

It brought order to my life. I’m not sure if it is a DNA factor or what it is, but it felt so natural. I learned the songs in the language, and the salutations and those kinds of things, how to introduce myself so easily. Some point I was given my Wintu name. (Torres)

Ricardo has five children, including two that are adopted. He has taken his adopted Cherokee son to Oklahoma, who is now culturally acclimated. His adopted

Apache son became a peace officer on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Ricardo’s natural born son started in the Wintu culture sitting on the former Winnemem’s Chief Florence

Jone’s lap. Ricardo explains those days with Chief Florence Jones.

In those days, she’s [Jones] going to doctor the Hupa, who were coming and the Round Valley people were coming, and the Karuks were coming. You’d arrive at her house at the village, and there would be cars parked outside all the way up the gate, all the way up the hill road. Cars parked on both sides, people there to ‘get doctored.’ She would be in the house with Emerson, who was her helper, who was the headman. We go in there, and we’d all have to be singing. Florence is an incredible woman. There’s stuff that happened in her presence that is almost inexplicable. People who saw her in action would tell other people. You know those ceremonies, there would be three four hundred people who would just want to see her. Yes, she was quite the person. She was the ‘head doctor’ in Northern California. All the tribes would come in here. Tribes not just individuals. (Torres)

The former practices initiated by Florence Jones have not diminished in any way under Chief Caleen Sisk. For the Winnemem, the culture is ceremonially active. Ricardo started participating in ceremony immediately when he was initiated into the community.

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I asked Ricardo if he would leave something for this research from his perspective

regarding the significance of knowing traditional culture and identity.

I think that it completed who I was regarding my need to get spiritually connected. That the world has order. I think that in this society we do not see that. There’s everything in that circle that we live in. There are times to open up and there are times to close off. So you put an order in your life in that way. So you do not carry that stuff with you. You can let go of things because you cannot keep that going. You become that vessel by which the message is carried. That is the importance that I think I’ve gotten from my Native experience, is that order. I think that in this society we absorb and absorb and absorb, and we never let go. Moreover, there’s no protocol, and this gives that protocol. Everybody has a role, and not one role is more important than the other. When people come in and help me in the kitchen that is my role. Our prayer is not something we do out loud. Our prayers are action. People come and say, “I am glad you’ve allowed me to help.” You’re not helping; you’re being a part of the ceremony. The ceremony is happening right now. You have to understand that. You’re part of the ceremony. You’re supporting that prayer. That prayer is the action. Understanding what the verb is. That is the experience and the value of experience. (Torres)

Uncle Culture Bearer Tamalko David Carrio

I met David at the Tamalko community Tamal Machchaw (Coat Miwok

Language) class. There was something David said that intrigued me about charmstones, and his comment gave me the go-ahead to approach him and to ask for his participation in this research. David is on the FIGR Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria Sacred

Sites and environmental committee. The committee had discovered many Charmstones in Tolay Lake, now a dry area but nonetheless a site that was an obvious pilgrimage place for regional Indigenous groups on Tamalko homelands.170 David made a remark about

the Charmstones and said, “For most of them it is unknown to how they were produced.”

170 Archeological research reveals that at Tolay Lake more charmstones have been found at the site than any in the world. See Tolay Lake Regional Park. 266

Charmstones are considered phenomenal relics found at pilgrimage sites. David was open

to discussing spiritual aspects of the culture.171

David was a very willing research participant. As we got to know we each other

we also discovered we may be closer cousins. My great-grandmother Annie used her paternal grandmother’s maiden name, Carrillo. David always knew about his Indigenous heritage. In fact, David did not have to research hidden Indigenous North Central

California history; he had been carrying it with him all his life.

I grew up here in Santa Rosa. My parents were from Tomales Bay, and we didn’t have ‘no reservation.’ The State closed off our relatives, my mom, my sisters, and my dad’s family. Of course, no language was spoken then because they were descendants of Mission Indians. They didn’t let us keep our families either. They made fun of us. Not like today’s world. Survival was the closest thing to being ‘tribal’ that we had. My parents were legal hunting game when they were little kids. They [Gov.] didn’t make it illegal to hunt Indians in California until 1939. My dad was a rancher from a local dairy farm. My [non-Indigenous] great grandfather tried to kill my dad on his horse. My dad had to jump off a cliff to survive. There was nothing they could do because it was legal to hunt them. That was kind of my introduction to the world. When I was a little kid, I had this inner fear, the power that they had. That they could do anything they want with us. It was always an uncomfortable feeling that they were my enemy. (Carrio)

David’s mother tried to share the culture with the children, but David’s dad would not let her. David described his father as an angry man, an alcoholic who liked to fight.

When I was about six, my mom asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. I said, ‘I want to fight the United States and get our land back.' I used to hear all those stories. My mom would tell us who died where, and how they died. Most of them died by being chewed up by the war dogs. It was part of the Mexican era.

When I was in the desert; I had this dream about two warriors. They were both upset. They died in battle, one with the dogs, and the other with the band. They both felt they did the wrong thing. The guy who stayed with the families, to take care of the women and children, felt he should have died in battle. The one who died in battle was ashamed that he didn’t stay and protect the children. We need

171 Because of the colonial impact upon our community very few people discuss our inherent spiritual nature or aspects of the spiritual on the culture. 267

to put them at rest. And that’s kind of what my goal is. To bring us back together so we can put these warriors at ease. (Carrio)

David is the youngest son in the family. He said his brothers, ten or more years

older, were always upset about the alcoholic parents that raised them. His mother in later

years stopped drinking for health reasons. It was after she died that their father started to

share what he knew about the culture. It was through David’s mother’s stories that the struggles of the past have lived on within him.

She instilled the discipline that was the very heart of our culture. Showing respect for Mother Earth. About how you can avoid people and how other tribes would come to us for help to fight their enemies. We'd make pacts with them. She told me a story about the people in the Plains fighting with the people from the trains from the east. The Plains people, they came here, asking for 300 people to go back and fight with them. (Carrio)

It was after David’s mother’s death that his life changed. He went around the

world like his ancestral warriors. The battles, however, were not only fought upon the

Earth but from within the deepest dimensions of spiritual consciousness. Both of

David’s parents were mixed Yaqui. David said his mother always told him if he needed help, to go south.

At my mom’s funeral, I went back to the house, and my cousins came. Their grandmother gave a dinner for my mom. She came to all of us and gave us a message. When it came to me she said, ‘you know when you were a little boy your mom told me that you could not be a warrior. She wants you to know that she was wrong. You can be a warrior in today’s world. If you choose to live that life you have the right.’ That changed everything for me. So I ended up going south. My dad was living in San Diego. That’s where I lived with ‘Indio’. (Carrio)

For twenty years, David lived amongst the Kumeyaay community as an apprentice with “Indio”, a Yaqui spiritual traditionalist.

Yeh, we're family now, we're like brothers. I was separated from him for seven years. When I went back, they gave me a lot of respect. (Carrio)

Throughout his life, David attended Sun Dance ceremonies in South Dakota to

268 pray and to be with the Elders.

I've been with medicine people. I couldn't speak their language, and they couldn't speak mine, but we were at ease with each other. I didn't know how old they were, but they were all over 100 years old. There were these two brothers, we were in Mexico, I was singing with them. It was this four-day ceremony. I could only stay up three days. I was so embarrassed. They stayed up four days and sang. I get young people now that say they want to learn. I say. ‘You got to quit drinking; you got to quit smoking, no drugs.' And they say, ‘Oh, maybe not right now.’ ‘OK, see you when you're ready.’ No use wasting my time. They have to do it when they're ready. There's no timetable. They're listening. (Carrio)

By the promptings of his father, David moved back to the Tamalko community in

Sonoma County. David’s daughter got a job in the community and returned to Tomalko homelands with her two children. David is employed in the FIGR community. He makes himself available for his grandchildren and facilitates their involvement in the traditional culture. David also makes himself available for other relatives and community members.

My dad told me to get the children enrolled, so I had to rejoin. Our children are our future. They’re the ones who are going to have the dreams. That’s my job to help guide them. Help them to deal with their dreams. That’s my job to take care of, to make the preparations. The medicine man would tell me what to do, what he needed and I would just do it. I’m here for my people. (Carrio)

Raconteurs

The following Culture Bearers are contemporary representatives working towards a new Indigenous paradigm. The Raconteurs utilize a similar methodology as the Elders in this research. They have a public presence. All Culture Bearers tell stories and carry a treasured talent that only they have the ability to pass on. This youngest group has an enthusiasm that conveys their stories with skill and amusement towards hopeful solutions regarding current issues. In short they possess a technologically inclined prowess involved with social media and organizations, with a passion for sharing who they are publically. They are defined in this manuscript as Raconteur Culture Bearers:

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Tamalko/Pomo Jacquelyn Ross, Paskenta Cody Pata and Muwekma Vince Medina.

Raconteur Culture Bearer Tamalko/Pomo Jacquelyn Ross

Jacquelyn Ross grew up in the rural regions of Tamalko and Pomo territory with

her Tamalko/Pomo father and Calascini Italian mother. Indigenous Pomo, Wappo,

Yakama, and Miwok families lived within the vicinity. However, their voices were silent in the mixed racial community. Jacquelyn had minimal exposure to other Native peoples outside her family.

To be frank, Native people in the community did not have a voice. It was still very much Native and whites where I grew up. Mexican folks came up to work in agriculture. Our travel was connected to fishing and hunting expeditions, with the exception of a week in San Francisco every summer to stay with my Aunt Joanne, and visits to museums and ethnic neighborhoods. (Ross)

Jacquelyn’s father was Tamalko Elder Joanne Campbell’s brother. Jacquelyn’s father was a traditional fisherman, and his mother Anna Ross lived off the land.

Jacquelyn spent a great deal of time with her grandmother. Jacquelyn’s upbringing exemplifies the traditional Indigenous manner of noninterference.

I spent a lot of time with her [grandmother]. She was incredibly resourceful, really good at growing and making her own food. You grow up on the land like that; it makes you grounded, and receptive, at least, it made me more receptive to other cultures. I never looked for anything in them that I did not have. That is a big problem these days that leads to all kinds of misunderstandings and theft and wanting and graspingness and greediness. I think it does start in childhood with what you are given. We were given a lot of freedom. We got in harmless trouble, plenty, especially Joanne’s kids and me. We just got into all kinds of hi-jinks together, but we were allowed to. I recall very few times we were prohibited from playing with something, or for being curious about something. (Ross)

While attending public schools, (especially in high school), Jacquelyn was not used to seeing Indians outside of the family environment and discovered that she and her cousin were two of just a handful of identified California Indians on the senior class college-prep roll. However, when Jacquelyn moved away from home to attend the

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University of California at Davis (UC Davis), she was introduced to many Native

Americans, mostly from out of state.

Jacquelyn went to UC Davis with psychology and business majors. However,

early in her first term, things changed for her. Jacquelyn attended a lecture on water

rights by Hoopa/Karuk/Yurok, David Risling Jr. from Behavioral Sciences and Native

Studies. She was so impressed by Risling’s kind manner and presentation that she

changed her major and became very involved in the Native student community. It was in

the early 80’s, during the height of the American Indian movement in California.

There were eight Indian students at the first Native American Student Union (NASU) I had attended, and I walked out being the secretary of the club. There were no other Pomo’s there and no other Miwoks there. But, I was surrounded by Indians. (Ross)

Dominated by Native Americans from outside California, the UC Davis

community put on “Plains” style activities. Attending powwows, eating fry bread

hearing “Aho” was interesting, but Jacquelyn soon realized that though there were

similarities between the cultures, there were many differences that made California

Native Americans unique peoples.

The more that I started connecting with other Native students I kept looking inward, ‘OK so what do you do that is different? Quite a bit actually, quite a bit that we do that is different’. Eventually, other California Indian people [Pomos] came in. We were talking about abalone, and seaweed and clam shell. It gets you thinking about culture carrying and who does it and how it happens. Also realizing that it does not need to be this big public thing and that you might not even have a choice in it. (Ross)

Jacquelyn became aware of how important her cultural knowledge meant to her,

and what it could mean to other California Native students who were not exposed to it.

She realized her role as a Culture Bearer within the academic community; it soon

expanded when environmental concerns affected the culture.

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I was really not aware that other Indian kids did not know how to harvest their own food, didn’t know how to process the foods, didn’t know how to cook. So it’s not a decision to be a cultural carrier, you’re just living your life the best way that you know how. Then the outer world comes into that. All of a sudden the abalone limits go down because of sport hunting by many outside people. You go to places where the abalones are picked over. Alternatively, others have been, detached or damaged and not reattached to the rock, and you see that those places that are so critical for abalone to thrive getting desecrated. (Ross)

Environmental impacts created by colonial ignorance and arrogance directed

Jacquelyn’s marine advocacy. She commented on the Forestry and Marine Life

Protection Act (MPLA) and said that California agencies play “possum” with Indigenous communities and their territories. They want Indigenous people to be “dead,” kept silent and invisible. For the most part, Indigenous communities try to be left alone, but when environmental concerns are ignored, that is when Indigenous communities get “stirred up”. Especially for what Jacquelyn says of the coastal environment.

When you look at the pictures of abalone harvest down on the central coast, south central coast the mounds of abalone harvested for commercial use were immense. Indigenous communities want something done to mitigate this damage that helped bring about population crashes in the abalone in this area. (Ross)

In a habitat where many Tamalko ancestors survived upon traditional foods from the west coast shores for thousands of years, California agency protections sometimes turn their focus on monitoring California Indigenous people instead of the outside perpetrators who are ignorant of ethical, environmental harvesting protocols. According to Jacquelyn, there was a time when there were concessions for the Tamalko community.

Our tribe did work out something with Schwarzenegger when he was governor. We did for a while have a seaweed permit. They gave us the right to harvest larger amounts than the normal individual gathering amount, with the understanding that it would be shared in the community. We were the only people I know that had that. (Ross)

I mentioned to Jacquelyn that my mother (a traditional harvester) informed me that many Asian communities from San Francisco have destroyed the seaweed

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populations because they do not know how to harvest respectfully. I have learned

through experience and studies that there are community liaisons who work with

forestries in Canada and Hawaiʻi so that settlers who are interested in getting guidance

can contact these “knowledge keepers.” Jacquelyn said that collaborating with California agencies is an important issue; monitoring regulatory agencies have not considered cultivating relationships with the communities or their “Culture Bearers.”

It would have been a great thing to say, ‘This is used by this community almost exclusively.’ Alternatively, ‘It’s a good idea to ask for permission if you want to be able to help that resource last longer’. People just go and rip seaweed off and do all the things we were taught not to do. I’ve spent a lot of time on low tide mornings following some fool who doesn’t know how to put abalone back. There’s nobody in the agencies who does this. Instead, they sit up at the top of the cliffs and check bag limits and sizes and hassle people. They’re not down there among the rocks. They hassle people for not stamping their cards. Your hands are frozen, you have to warm them up by the fire. People get banged up. Your hands swell because of getting abraded on the rocks and then being exposed to cold and salt in the ocean water.

Fish and Game have people on watch who don’t know the area, don’t know the correct harvesting practices, and also don’t know whom they’re talking to. They don’t know they’re speaking to very experienced fisherman, fisherwomen, whose last possible intention would be to harm that coastline. There are some fools out there for sure mostly tourists. (Ross)

Ironically, protection agencies’ definition of protection is obviously policing.

Instead of finding solutions to build relationships that can heal and benefit the environment, they put fences around a territory or peoples to control it and them. Their practices perpetuate an eventual demise. Jacquelyn again illustrated a practice of complete disrespect regarding the treatments of Indigenous environment where there is no protection to prevent the practice.

I learned just a couple of years ago, about something that horrified me. People put bleach in the water to force the octopus out of her shelter hole under the rocks. I ran into that once. I looked at this tide pool, and I saw that it was bleached out. It smelled like bleach, but it was inconceivable to me that is what it was. I cannot think of anything more toxic, more immediately toxic to throw in a tide pool.

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People do not have the patience to get the octopus by poke hole fishing. So they poison the whole environment. It’s just horrible to see. The environment becomes a deathscape. (Ross)

Despite the immense imbalance that occurred in the Northwest Coastal region of

California and genocide to all peoples in the environment, and in many aspects continues to occur within the coastal environment, there is a unique history of Tamalko Indigenous connection and memory that lives on. In fact, the memory of Tamalko culture continues to be uttered even in the farthest corners of the world.

Traditionally, Tamalko artifacts were cremated along with the owner and therefore very few ancient relics exist from the culture. During the Russian occupation at

Fort Ross, Tamalko and Pomo ancient artifacts (perhaps the only remaining) were carried off to St Petersburg Russia and are housed in The Kunstkammer Museum of

Anthropology and Ethnography officially known as the Museum of Anthropology and

Ethnography. The Kunstkammer was the first museum in Russia, and one of the oldest in the world founded by Peter the Great.

Despite ancient physical artifacts that the Russians preserved from the culture,

Tamalko culture lives on in Alaska. In 1998, Lightfoot and Martinez researched on the cultural interaction between the mixed households of Indigenous Pomo and Tamalko women with their Aleut partners (who were commissioned sailors for the Russians at Fort

Ross). Lightfoot and Martinez discovered when Aleut sailors were transferred out of the

Fort Ross post, the majority of Indigenous women remained behind.

In the 1820-1821 census listing of 11 Native Alaskan men who were transferred to other North Pacific colonies, two women accompanied their spouses to Sitka, two [others] established new interethnic households in the Native Alaskan Neighborhood, and seven returned to their "homeland" or "native village" (204).

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I assume that the women who left for Alaska did so willingly. It seems that the

transplanted women in Alaska held onto their culture as raconteurs and taught their songs

and stories to the children, again offering the Tamalko spirit of bridge building to their

new Alaskan relatives. 172 Jacquelyn in the same fashion continues the tradition and

elaborates on the myth story.

My aunt told me about an encounter experienced by one of our relatives who was a judge in Utah. He had cause to visit native communities because he worked heavily with Indian Child and Welfare Act (ICWA) issues. He ended up in a place in Alaska where the people in this little village knew our songs because their great great grandparents had been down to Fort Ross under the period of the Russian rule connected to agriculture and the fur trade. These Native people kept our songs, which they would not have done had they not had some feeling for us, despite the positions that they were put through there. (Ross)

The eldest of this young group of Culture Bearers, Jacquelyn Ross is an enrolled

member of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. She is a traditional fisherwoman,

food gatherer, and basketry student and has been involved with the Tending and

Gathering Garden at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve in Yolo County, and is an advocate for resource stewardship that promotes land and marine health.

Jacquelyn works in the University of California system as Assistant Director of

Admissions in rural and tribal and tribally focused education efforts. She sits on The

Cultural Conservatory Board of Advisors. Jacquelyn is a frequent presenter at the

Bioneers Conference in San Rafael California. Her articles on health and environmental

concerns have appeared in News from Native California, News from Indian Country, and

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.

172 Kent G. Lightfoot, Antoinette Martinez and Ann M. Schiff Source. Archaeology Daily Practice and Material Culture in Pluralistic Social Settings: An Archaeological Study of Culture Change and Persistence from Fort Ross, California. 275

Raconteur Culture Bearer Nomlāqa Cody Pata

I met Cody at the Heyday Spoken Word event in 2014. At the event, Cody gave a

Nomlāqa spoken word presentation and also sang in Nomlāqa. Before the event, Chief

Caleen posted a video on her Facebook page of Cody singing a Nomlāqa version of

America the Beautiful.173 I immediately took the chance to ask Cody to be part of this

research. In his very gracious and gentle manner, he accepted.

At first glance, one would reasonably assume that Cody is a very young man, I

thought he was twenty-five. So I was surprised when he informed me he would soon

reach his fortieth year. I then took note of his mature carriage and eloquence. Regarding

Indigenous consciousness, maturity and eloquence are not attributes of age alone, but

sophistication that is cultivated through tradition.

Cody is a reflection of his Elders. Colonial academics documented and affirmed

that traditional Indigenous people no longer existed while living Elders such as Frank

Day, Darryl Wilson, Florence Jones, and their colleagues diligently worked to preserve

North Central California Indigenous heritage.

Equal in a story that resembles England’s King Arthur or the initiations within the

Shiu Lin Temples of China, some Indigenous North Americans, like Cody, have

continued ancient practices and traditions since the beginning of their culture. Paskenta

and Hawaiʻian Cody Pata is an initiate of an ancient tradition from both of his Indigenous

cultures that began at puberty.

When I was almost a teen, we went to one of our relative’s dances up north. There was a beautiful big pine tree where a group of Elders were sitting. I did not know who they were. They were pointing like this to me and they were saying

173 Cody Pata. America the Beautiful Speak American. Feb. 4, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gqwlggKwJ8 276

come over here. I went over, and they said, ‘We want to invite you to our ceremony tonight. Tell your uncle to send you over’. I was staying in a relative’s tent, and so I asked him if I could go, and he said, ‘of course go.' So after sunset, when it was fully dark, that was when I was told to go across the stream to this ceremony. When I came back from that ceremony, my mom said, ‘He went there a boy, but he came back a man.' I was not any more responsible, but maybe the way I spoke was different.

My family moved to Hawaiʻi. I did the same thing there. I came back for the entire summers and other types of vacations. My teachers, my Indian teachers, and my Hawaiʻian teachers had many expectations. (Pata)

Cody explained that he was not the only child that was singled out. There were other boys and girls. However, he was the only child, the eldest of his siblings in his family involved in the teachings.

At four years of age, Cody remembered having an active contact with the spirit world. He would convey this to his parents, but they were uncomfortable with his abilities. It was his Nomlāqa/Yuki/ Middle Lake Pomo grandmother who would talk to him about his experiences. Cody said his grandmother was a fluent Nomlāqa speaker, but sometime after 1924 when she was six years old, she was taken by the whites. She eventually escaped and had fourteen children, though they never learned to speak the language. Perhaps it was his grandmother’s story that enabled Cody to endure the

intensive study with the Elder teachers.

I was not forced like many kids, you know how parents hound them, and ‘you got to go to college, you got to do this, you got to do that.’ I was never forced to do that. But what I ended up having to do was be with the old people and to adhere to very strict rules. I was never charged for what I learned, but I had to endure that type of teaching. No drugs, no alcohol. My teachers started passing away when I was around 28. So that was when I was released from the drinking rule, so that was the first time I had (laughs) I got tipsy. It’s been downhill since (laughs).

There are a lot of rules that are put on you that are enforced in ways that today are considered as child abuse or physical abuse. Not in a mean way or an offensive way. It just looks violent. You either accept it, or you leave. Even people I

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started to learn with didn’t make it. I stuck with it for as long as I did. I am not saying that I was a perfect student. (Pata)

I can imagine that it was a strict environment that emitted the harsh treatment of

Cody’s experiences. My generation experienced corporal punishment in public institutions not very long ago. If Cody’s Elders have all gone, they might have been through such teachings was well. Regardless, Cody learned an immense body of knowledge and culture and most importantly his purpose as a Nomlāqa.

The most significant aspect of Cody’s teachings was that he was given his direction in life, he called it his “line” function or pathway as a “feeder to his people.”

This pathway is his and his alone, and though he may waiver from it, it is always there to for him to return. Cody reports that the process of this Lifeway has been hard and for the most part very lonely. Cody’s parents, though they supported his teachings, did not understand them. He also had no one his age to share the experiences. Cody believes that

High School initiates you into the social pressures of life. Knowing that he had his “line” gave him the confidence to go through the experience.

That is where I think kids who, (not even kids anymore) people who have never had their function delineated from wherever community they are going to belong to, they lack a certain kind of self-esteem. Alternatively, they think they are going to find themselves, but they end up wandering for a long time. Everything has a function. Like this tree from here, what is it’s function? Our stories tell us those things that are how it’s been for a long time. That people who had lines are the most contributive and the people who don’t are the most disruptive.(Pata).

Cody’s traditional teaching with the Elders taught him to accept the entire process, such as sticking through the difficulties and loneliness to understand who he is and why he is here. For Cody, discipline and following ancient practice is like going to a traditional Indian doctor that many people do not do anymore because they have to follow protocol and be active in the healing process. A pill is not the answer.

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You have to change your diet. If I use that plant because I know my ancestors used it, it would have worked in their body for several reasons. The minerals and chemicals in their bodies were balanced in a different way that was the result that they ate regularly. Now if you ask for this certain medicine, they say, ‘Well you have to stay away from this, and you cannot eat this, and you need to eat more of this.’ People do not want to do that anymore. If you are basic or acidic anything you ingest, reacts chemically to those things too. So the physical is just a metaphor for the spiritual. If it is happening physically, it is happening spiritually. People enjoy all these other things that when we go to do something like ceremony or healing somebody; we have to find a way as best we can in this type of environment to re-center and recharge. People do not understand this is such a huge process. (Pata)

Cody sees that the traditional ways of being are even harder to live in a community that owns a casino. In the Corning Paskenta community, they must negotiate with the bureaucracies of the state and Federal Government. Cody was the language and culture advisor to the duly elected council of the Paskenta Band of Nomlāqa Indians. His position meant counseling the tribal council on issues of language and culture. His

relatives were the community administrator and treasurer. Cody says he takes all his

orders from the council.

When I give reports or interviews or things like that I have to talk to members of the council that also includes some Elders. They just say make sure you do this, or make sure you do that. That is where my advice comes from. (Pata)

In relating to Nomlāqa knowledge as it relates to Nomlāqa stories, Cody

commented that mythologies are taken as “storytelling” by the dominant culture, but for

the Nomlāqa, they contain significant knowledges imbued within them. He shared a

story at a community meeting with the Mendocino National Forest people, whom the

Paskenta are working with to restore their non-residential reservation land. The Nomlāqa

story Cody shared featured a Peregrine Falcon with his brothers and sisters the Cedar

trees. Some of the Forestry group essembles’comments and conversation regarding the

interspecies relationships within the story:

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‘That is a plant!’… ‘How would a plant be related to a…?’ My question to them was, ‘Yeh, you tell me. We know it is all about community and relationship. It is reflected in their names [within the language] that their knowledge has been passed to us, that we inherited. They [settler agencies] only want to accept pieces. Not the entire thing. You cannot just accept a part of something you have to accept the entire thing. (Pata)

Cody addressed the issues regarding settler appropriation of Indigenous knowledges. An example are environmentalists who appropriate quick, superficial

aspects of the culture and think they are applying Indigenous knowledge. Knowledge of

the physical is one aspect; knowledge of the spiritual is another. The living culture holds

the knowledge altogether. Indigenous concepts are difficult for settler consciousness to

grasp because it takes much more time and relationship building. To understand

knowledges of the land and its environment, the entire culture must be embraced. To

reach for wholeness and balance and to mend disconnections, Cody left a message for the

benefit of Indigenous people:

Reaffirming relationships that we did not know we had. Just stand back and look at the blessings. How are we using the blessings to further our existence? Remember the past, ponder the present and prepare for the future. 174

Raconteur Culture Bearer Muwekma Vince Medina

Vince is from the Muwekma Ohlone community of the San Francisco East Bay.

He began his journey following the map of his Elders when he opened up a personal blog

on Tumblr. From Vince’s Tumblr site: Being Ohlone in the 21st Century: My

documentation of being one of few, an Ohlone telling his story posted April 23, 2011:

I am making this to document life through my eyes of being an Ohlone Indian in the 21st century. My goal is to hopefully blast some misconceptions, express my personal struggles, to use this as a medium for telling my story in my own words, to express the hardships, the struggles, the pride, the confusion, and the joy of

174 These are the Nomlaki Paskenta traditional principals: Remember the past, ponder the present and prepare for the future. 280

being part of something so old, so misunderstood, and so beautiful. It’s my obligation. (Medina)

Stepping into the public forum changed Vince’s life. Vince diligently began to

learn his Chochenyo ancestral language by field notes and wax cylinder recordings as

there were no living Chochenyo fluent speakers. Vince is now a Chochenyo fluent

speaker, teaching his family as well as being a dominant leader of the movement to

revive Chochenyo as a living language in the East Bay. In an article in SFGate published

in 2012 on Vince:

‘The language is not lost,’ Medina said. ‘It has only been sleeping for 70 years and now it is being awakened.’ (Nolte)

In our conversation, Vince relayed that the atrocities that happened to the ancestors would be in vain if they stayed alive and just let the culture die.

There was also this sense of heartbreak that was connected to the notes because the last people who were recording them could well be the last speakers. Despite that, they still recorded the language because they wanted it to be saved, they wanted to protect this language. I started to realize that if I did not carry that on in my own way, then those things that those people had to go through could go away as well. That’s what really kept me inspired to go deeper and to be more visible and be more open to talking about culture and to keep caring about it. (Medina)

I believe Vince is a member of a new generation of Indigenous “conscious seekers.” Vince is the youngest of the Raconteur Culture Bearer participants in this research and the most publically exposed. He is quickly building bridges within the larger Olhone community base and spreading the Ohlone voice and presence out into the metropolitan San Francisco Bay area.

Early in his journey, Vince read racist comments towards his Ohlone community when trying to stop the installation of parking lots and restrooms in Glen Clove Park.

Such installations would cover up the graves of his ancestors, and he was deeply affected.

He realized that settlers want Indigenous people to stay silent, remain passive and ignore

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any injustice against them. On his blog site April 23, 2011, regarding the Glen Cove

controversy he wrote,

I had a professor a few years ago, a Cherokee woman, who told me that when given the forum, a lot of racism against American Indians will come out because public awareness towards our community is much lower than towards other ethnic groups. She was right. I was shocked to see these comments, more so than the actual controversy happening at Glen Cove. I guess after all the struggles we’ve faced, for some people enough is never enough. (Medina)

Vince’s youthful courage has been paramount in “uploading” his presence and his

Ohlone ancestors and community into the 21st Century. He lives and works in his

contemporary homelands of Berkeley California as an author and as the Roundhouse

Outreach Coordinator at Heyday Books. Vince is following the ancestral map by making

room within the contemporary context for narratives of ethical Indigenous history with a

focus on colonial resistance and cultural survival.

In addition to his outreach publishing career, Vince completed curator studies and is now the assistant curator at Mission Dolores in San Francisco. Vince leads tours at the mission and conveys the truth about the enslaved Indigenous population under the domination of the church. He illustrates with his presence that California Indigenous

people are still here. He and his cousin mission curator Andrew Gavin hope to find a

way to display the names of the 5,700 native neophytes buried anonymously in the

mission cemetery.

During the writing of this dissertation, the canonization of Padre Junipero Serra

took place. A petition that I and many California Indigenous people signed against the

canonization went to the Vatican with Ohlone representatives, but they were denied an

audience with the new Hispanic Pope Francis. Heyday Books asked Vince for his

comments.

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After months of thought and soul-searching on a very complex and difficult issue, I have decided that I will be attending the papal Mass that will canonize Junipero Serra. At the mass, I will be reading in Chochenyo in front of an estimated 75,000 people in attendance and 500 million viewers here in the United States and across the world. I fully understand the significance and importance of this decision. I am attending this Mass for two reasons. My first and primary reason is that I am going for my ancestors; the brave people who suffered under the California Missions, and survived them. I am going to discredit misconceptions many have that California Indians are extinct, and to show that we are here– thriving and strong. Secondly, I am going because I am a Catholic. (Conner)

Vince further made it clear that he was unequivocally against Serra’s canonization because of the treatment and injustices imposed upon his ancestors. By showing up at

Serra’s canonization mass, he wanted to show that Indigenous people are still in

California and their presence in the history of the land today is because of those that held onto their ancient power of strength and dignity.

Vince shared a valuable Ohlone story, Blood Monster, that illustrates the Ohlone

principles that I feel illustrate why he continues to carry the torch of his hammako he

papʼoyyisko (grandmothers and grandfathers).

There was this horrible evil creature, the Blood Monster. This blood monster would go around to different villages and terrorize people and drink their blood. People thought it was going to be the end of the world. The headman of the village decided to talk to Coyote. Coyote decided instead of running from problems they were going to face the problem head on and to fight back. Coyote led Blood Monster to one of the biggest Ohlone villages. He asked the ladies of the village to make acorn soup. They asked why but he didn’t tell them, but they trusted him. So they did, cause you trust your family right? Then he asked the men to collect red ochre from the mines. The men weren’t sure why but they trusted Coyote and they collected the red ochre from the mines. Then Coyote asked other ladies of the village, basket weavers, to make acorn soup baskets, watertight baskets. They weren’t sure why but they trusted him, and they made the baskets. So Coyote mixed up the acorn soup with the red ochre and put it in the baskets. He lined up the baskets in a trail leading to this village.

Blood Monster came, he saw the acorn soup dyed red, and thought it was blood. He wasn’t very smart. He drank basket after basket of the acorn soup. He started to get bigger and bigger as he drank it. Eventually, he came to the front of the village. When he got to the village, all the people were screaming and crying, and they were asking Coyote why he would send this horrible creature to their home.

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He said, ‘Just trust me, I have a plan.' Blood Monster walked passed all the people in the village and straight to the Roundhouse in the center of the village. Coyote had placed a large basket of dyed acorn soup in the middle of the Roundhouse. Blood Monster made his way into the Roundhouse. If you’ve ever been to the round house, the Roundhouse doors are very small. And if you’re huge it’s kind of hard to fit inside. So Blood Monster started to push his way to get to the last basket of acorn soup. What he didn’t realize was that coyote had placed needles and thorns and obsidian points all along the doorway that was hidden in the brush. When Blood Monster pushed one last push, he popped and turned into a thousand mosquitoes. Coyote told the people one by one to defeat Blood Monster because Blood Monster was still hungry and, he would try to land on the people and drink their blood. So one by one the Ohlone people defeated him, little by little. Through that Blood Monster, evil was eradicated from the face of the world.

I think back to that story a lot because of the values that are passed down through that. Such as trust, trusting your family because they are the basis for everything, doing things in moderation, so when Blood Monster was defeated it was little by little, inch by inch, mosquito by a mosquito. If you do things slowly and the right way then you’ll tackle your problem, and you’ll move on from it, and you will not have to deal with it again. That’s a value that we have, moderation in our family. And another thing is not running away from your problems just because it is too hard. They could have easily packed up their village and moved somewhere else and went to a seasonal camp or whatever. Coyote decided to fight back and so even if things seem hard or uncertain we still fight and we still make sure that we continue. We face our problems. We do not run. That’s our thing we don’t run. (Medina)

Conclusion: Kolli,ʼInniikon Kiwa: Leaves, Ancestral Power

Culture Bearers are the kolli Luteamu (Lotus Leaves) that stand strong in honor and

memory of their hammako he papʼoyyisko (grandmothers and grandfathers). When I had

proposed to research Elders, I thought they were struggling to keep Indigenous North

Central California traditions alive. After ten years of absence, I discovered California

Indigenous communities have been supporting the “Idle No More Movement,” fighting for water rights, protesting dam raising, eliminating Indigenous mascot use in sports, and plainly making their voices heard amid a settler society that continually assaults their environment and way of life. They are mending the sharp edges of each shard of

Wilson’s large mirror that they belong to, together.

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All cultural communities studied in this research have been emersed in and

inundated by the colonial paradigm and there within such chaos and imbalance emerge

Culture Bearers. This research reveals that Indigenous Northen Central California Culture

Bearers travel upon many walks of life. Half of the participants might be considered

traditional Elders, whereas the other Culture Bearers originate within a new emergent

population who have been blessed to be culturally educated by their hammako he

papʼoyyisko. They continue to embody hinti wuskin ‘ona.(what the heart says). Like everything Indigenous, there are no sharp and defined delineations between the knowledges or consciousness that are shared. All contributions are appropriate and

beneficial within the Indigenous contextual landscape.

Winnemem Caleen Sisk carries the consciousness of her ancestors from the

teachings she received from her Auntie Chief Florence Jones. As young as Elder Frank

LaPena was, near five years of age, at his father’s funeral Frank saw the energy of Spirit

and his ancestral belongings. Frank has continued to honor this knowledge all his life.

Joanne Campbell, after her long career nursing career, transitioned from a medical

caretaker to one who cares for her ancestral culture. All Elders I have the fortunate

opportunity to know, hold a high level of tenacity and endurance to do what they do

because of the emotional connection they have with their heritage. Joseph E. Couture

says it best in The Role of Native Elder: Emergent Issues, “Elders themselves of all tribes

stress Native identity as being a state of mind, as it were centered in the heart (79).”

Without a heart-based center, the ancestral strength needed to help the efforts to

carry something as valuable as a culture into the world, through the trials of colonial

society’s painful encounters that bombard Indigenous spiritual realities, would be

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tremendously difficult to bear. Couture says the heart center enables Elder Culture

Bearers to be intermediaries between their cultural communities and to the creative forces

of the universe with integrity (87).

Alan Wallace, though fortunate to have begun life with the exemplary presence of

Lizzy, his grandmother, had a journey that took him to many distant places and a duration

of time away from his community. Contrary, Ricardo was never far away from the vicinity of his community, though he experienced many years of anguish trying to discover his origins and the painful past of his ancestors. David’s struggles for sobriety is one very familiar to the indigenous experience in North America. His search for spiritual reality has given him his place amongst his ancestors as a warrior.

Indigenous identity is grounded in real relationships and myth stories from an evolving and changing environment. Couture says, “The stories have to be retold, reshaped, and refitted to meet contemporary seeker’s changed and changing needs (89).

The new generation of Culture Bearers have the energy, social awareness, and interests to meet its challenge and to champion their grandparents’ sovereignty in the world.

Jacquelyn carries into her environment and to the communities she serves,

Traditional Environmental Knowledge TEK that was passed on to her from her uncles and aunties. She has initiated new ways of carrying the knowledge and building partnerships to a larger audience. Cody is a fluent Nomlāqa and Hawaiʻian speaker and culture advisor to the indigenous communities he belongs. Knowledges imparted to him by traditional bi-cultural Elder teachers, are traditional protocols of ancient mystical cosmologies and are imperatively needed to bear into the world for balance. Vince

Medina can name his grandparents back seven generations. They left their stories buried

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right in his back yard in Mission documents. Vince keeps his grandparents alive through

internet blogs and public speaking in their ancient Chochenyo voice, carried from the

heart. It is in the heart that Culture Bearers know the ancestors.

They are aware of the tensional exchange between immanent direction within living matter itself and the transcendent source of the creative impulse. They are aware of the tensional character of awakening, of the inner dynamics of spiritual and socio-political life. (Couture, R. 89)

Culture Bearers are metaphorically made up of material like Lutea’s Leaves as cultural life-force, strength, and support. Their wisdom gave us an oasis, a place of peace and balance and held in memory as our cherished language, songs, prayers, and celebrations. They help us shelter and protect precious Indigenous consciousness in our hearts. Like Lutea’s leaves, that honor the water which is the spiritual support of our life- sustaining Indigenous consciousness, they have learned to understand how to react to aggressive treatment, such as the torment and the emotional assaults of racism and negativity that colonialism hurdles at Indigenous peoples. They resist like the Lotus leaf effect, as they stand tall for the culture they bear.175 Assaults run off and out of their

pathway as water runs off Lutea leaves. Contemporary colonial assaults retrieve

memories of what the ancestors had to confront, and they strengthen us.

Culture Bearers are the kolli Luteamu (Lotus Leaves) that stand with strength in

honor of their hammako he papʼoyyisko (grandmothers and grandfathers). Through them, hinak towis hennak (making a good life) can be dreamed and imagined.

175 Kelly Billimgs and Paula Biles, The Lotus: Know It, Grow It. Pg. 34 the Lotus Effect, Microscopic structure and surface chemistry keep the leaves from getting wet. They also allow droplets of water to envelope contaminants and roll them off the leaf, leaving behind a clean surface. 287

SECTION IV – IMAGINATION

Figure 12. Source: Nelumbo Nucifera Rhizome "Lotus root" by FotoosRobin - originally posted to Flickr as Lotus root. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lotus_root.jpg#/media/File:Lotus_root.jpg

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CHAPTER 8 - Maako Hullu, Maako Missu (Our Roots, Our Beliefs)

Principles - Values

The Lotus grows from a submerged, segmented root system. In their initial stage, they are called runners. Late in the season, they thicken to become rhizomes or tubers. The actual roots are very short growths that come out from the nodes (joints) between segments. Leaves and flowers grow from the nodes. (Billing 10)

Nelumbo Lutea is a perennial. There are no blooms the first year. It takes two

years for the plant to reach full maturity and once it does, like all perennials they return

every year as long as the conditions are right. After one year there will be spectacular

leaves that rise out of the water creating a field of canopies in the pond environment. The

Nelumbo Lutea leaf stocks not only give protection and ventilation for the wetland ecosystem, but they also convert light energy to chemical energy to fuel the organism for

the rhizome’s growth. The leaves perpetuate the maturity of the rhizome and its

underground root system. When the leaves die, the plant becomes dormant.

I equate this process to Indigenous communities. During the traumatic contact

with European foreigners, North American Indigenous people in general, lost their entire

world. The majority of Elders, in many North Central Indigenous California communities, were eliminated by the whites. Many of the people who would not leave their homelands, or did not have the strength to travel the long walks, or could not uphold the labor demands of the invading foreigners, were usually Elders and were either murdered or were ultimately left behind and exposed to the elements.

Elders and Culture Bearers are extremely precious to the members of an

Indigenous society. To North Central Indigenous Californians, Elders hold the

knowledge and wisdom of the culture. Their wisdom equates to being the historians, the genealogists, the environmentalists, herbalists, doctors, and spiritual leaders in the 289

community. Traditionally, the Elders, through experience and their wuskippa (respect) for the culture, are powerfully connected to ʼununni ʼunu. They are similar in many ways

to how Lutea’s leaves are in relationship to her rhizome.

When cultivating Nelumbo Lutea, the leaves are not cut back, only when

preparing the plant for its long winter sleep are the leaves cut. Once the leaves have died,

the leaf stems are cut below the surface of the water. The reason for not cutting the

leaves off before they die is that water can be siphoned into the tuber, thus drowning

and killing the entire plant. Refer to Figure 12 on page 288 for the visual on the

rhizome air chambers.

When an Elder leaves the community, there is a significant loss. Traditionally it

is a year’s process of grieving. Hence, mourning ceremonies were undertaken to

acknowledge and honor the Elder and to assist the community in the course of adjusting

to living in the world without the Elder’s physical presence. Like Nelumbo Lutea’s

leaves when they all wither and die, and the rhizome sleeps during winter’s passage and

mourns its first years’ demise, so too there is a dormant stage that exists in the

community and within the families who have lost their beloved Elder and Culture Bearer.

The community strives to enable the Elder’s legacy to live on with the community by

remembering his/her teachings and wisdom for the future generations.

In a paradoxical comparison, western scientists try to harness the knowledge of

the world and its venerated Elders by extracting DNA. They believe with DNA they will

know everything there is to know to enhance and design a world that they believe can be

“perfected”.

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Recently researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have sequenced the Lotus (Nelumbo) genome.

Sacred Lotus bears the closest resemblance to the ancestor of all eudicots, a group of flowering plants that includes apple, cactus, coffee, cotton, peanut, poplar, soybean, sunflower, tobacco and tomato. (ScienceDaily)

The association Nelumbo has with trees and fruits reveal that she has been an ancient predecessor whose purpose was to develop foods for peoples. I equate Lutea’s tree association (though they have no genetic connections) to Lume ʼalwas (California

Coastal Redwood) because both are indigenous to North America, and both have prolific fast growing cycles and longevity.

In Sharon Guynup’s article The Redwood Genome, William J. Libby, UC

Berkeley's Redwood genetics pioneer remarks about Lume ʼalwas, “It grows faster than any conifer on Earth. You could grow a stunning park in a hundred years (Guynup).”

Libby is excited about the redwood genome research because he feels with a burgeoning world population, "We're going to need a lot of wood (Guynup).”

Perplexingly, throughout the world, Lume ʼalwas’s genome is being researched to access yield to an already productive species.

Not only do both the Lume ʼalwas and Nelumbo Lutea grow quickly, but they also live for thousands of years because of their genetic constitutions and their abilities to repair defects. UCLA research biologist Jane Shen-Miller comments about Nelumbo in a

UCLA Newsroom article regarding the Lotus’ anti-aging secrets:

We need to learn about its repair mechanisms, and about its biochemical, physiological and molecular properties. The repair mechanisms in the Lotus would be very useful if they could be transferred to crops, such as rice, corn and wheat, whose seeds have life spans of only a few years. (Wolpert)

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Ironically, genome researchers’ comments are very similar to those of the

archeologists regarding human artifacts and DNA of California ancestors. My concern is,

who is benefitting from indigenous ancestral genes? In regards to Lume ʼalwas, I believe

the beneficiaries are the very wealthy who are building mansions or corporate

headquarters and businesses in closed and gated prime real estate. Regarding Nelumbo,

with the anti-aging and longevity concerns of celebrities and the wealthy, (who will pay

any price for obtaining the fountain of youth), researchers are now frantic for

experimental funding. Shen-Miller is anxious to transfer the Lotus genes to humans and crops.

If our genes could repair disease as well as the Lotus' genes, we would have healthier aging. We need to learn about its repair mechanisms, and about its biochemical, physiological and molecular properties. The Lotus genome is now open to everybody. (Wolpert)

Perhaps Nelumbo’s genes will give strength and lifespan to humans and crops, but

what are the long-term effects? What quality of food are genetically engineered products

on the long scale for all living peoples?

When I was gifted Mohawk ancestral corn from Akwesasne environmentalist

David Arquette, he instructed that to plant ethically, Indigenous corn must be cultivated more than twenty miles away from genetically engineered corn, or else it will be completely altered.176 With such instruction, I question what will become of the

ancestors, Lume ʼalwas, Lutea and Indigenous human ʼinniiko?

176 I was given Akwesasne ancestral corn from Mohawk environmentalist David Arquette to plant while living in Bailieboro ON at Fernhill Farms. Bailieboro is a farmland landscape with many corn and soy farms. I did not plant the corn on that property but purchased organic heritage seeds from the seed bank in Toronto as an experiment to clearly understand what Arquette was inferring. That year 2012, the seed bank heritage corn was exactly the same as the corn in the adjacent fields, “cow corn”. The following year I saved corn from a nearby farmer who was selling edible sweet corn. They were not organic. No heritage corn surviving amongst genetically engineered corn can retain their individual chemistry. When they were 292

In 2004, Havasupai people of the Grand Canyon sued the Board of Regents and

Arizona State University researchers for the misuse of their blood samples. In 1984, the

Havasupai were lead to believe that Arizona State researchers were looking for diabetes

cures and with their donated Havasupai blood samples they may help their diabetic

members. After some years and no further communication from the researchers,

concerned Havasupai member Dianna Sue Uqualla discovered that her relatives’ blood

samples were used for genetic research without their consent.

Published dissertations and articles were on theories generated from the

Havasupai genetic data. Papers published were based on the premise of the dominant view regarding the Bering Strait theory, psychological disorders, inbreeding, and schizophrenia. In 2010, there was a settlement of $700,000.00 awarded to the Havasupai community towards a clinic, a school and the return of their blood samples. However,

without a trial, there is no legal precedent emerging from this case regarding how

informed consent issues in research should be handled.177

According to Dianna Sue Uqualla, at “The Two Faces of Research: the

Havasupai experience with Arizona State University” conference, science researchers

target remote and isolated communities that have little-known protections. Most

importantly, the reasons for the lawsuit were centered on Havasupai traditional cultural

protocol. Some of the researched participants had passed on and through Havasupai

traditional protocol regarding the dead, all aspects of the deceased must be returned to the

body for the Spirit to cross safely from the physical world to the spiritual. When the

harvested, they were edible sweet corn. Upon returning to California, in Siskiyou County and with no corn fields nearby, I planted the Mohawk ancestral corn and it grew as edible organic real Mohawk corn. 177 Havasupai Tribe and the lawsuit settlement aftermath, American Indian and Alaska Native Genetics Resource Center. http://genetics.ncai.org/case-study/havasupai-Tribe.cfm. 293

Havasupai asked for the blood samples for their ancestors’ burial, they discovered that the samples (like the Kumeyaay archeological bones) were loaned to various institutions and laboratories, such as Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Stanford.

It took the Havasupai eight years to fight professors, university and state lawyers for their samples to be returned to them. Despite the fact that research professors grossly violated research regulations, not one was dismissed from his/her position or legally held accountable.

Spiritual accountability is also an Indigenous concern. Indigenous California myth stories that I have heard through an oral narrative about Lume ʼalwas (California Coastal

Redwoods), reminds us that Lume ʼalwas hold great knowledge and power. A manner of respecting them was not traveling too deeply into their domain. They are protectors of the land/forest, and must not be disturbed. All over the world, there are no histories of

Indigenous people cutting down trees. Wintu Katie Luckie remarks on this behavior.

We don't chop down the trees. We only use dead wood. But the white people plow up the ground, pull up the trees, kill everything.The tree says, "Don't I am sore. Don't hurt me." But they chop it down and cut it up. (Du Bois, 75-76)

In 1937 when Cora Du Bois interviewed Katie Luckie, Katie was appalled by the massive environmental destruction and upheavals caused by overhunting, logging, mining and agriculture in her homelands of California. If she were to see the landscape today, I do not believe Katie Luckie would be able to bear seeing the entire surface of the

Earth reconstructed by colonial design and even further discovering that genetic engineering has altered many aspects of the living environment.

When the ancestors are gone, what will happen to the environment, especially if it is not a native environment any longer? Global warming? I have no doubt that Katie

Luckie believed in 1937 that it was close to the end of the world. Luckie told Dubois: 294

When the Indians all die, then God will let the water come down from the north. Everyone will drown. (Du Bois, 75-6)

From an Indigenous perspective, Indigenous people are connected to every living thing on the land, and they would begin to die if their relatives, plant, and animal, in the environment are gone. I doubt if an Indigenous person who has a relationship with the land would want to live if their lands and their relatives have been altered and are no longer their relatives.

Ancient Lume ʼalwas was prolific throughout the world. When the Earth was humid, over 100 million years ago, ancient relatives like Lume ʼalwas, and Nelumbo

Lutea flourished. They are still here today, as are human Culture Bearers, though in limited numbers, therefore precious.

Plant ʼinniiko (relatives) are most beneficial to the planet as environmental

Elders and as food sources for humans and animals. Cultivating Indigenous ancestral foods helps to reinvigorate the strength of cultural knowledge into communities. Bringing back our Indigenous ancestors in daily diets will heal what processed foods, and non-

Indigenous plants and animals have done to the health and well-being of Indigenous bodies.

Dan Longboat calls planting ancestral seeds in their original homelands as cultivating “super foods” for the people. Many Indigenous communities throughout

North America are reaching to the Earth and her spiritual aspects of ʼununni ʼunu and ancestral seeds to recultivate their presence as part of their families once again.

For Nelumbo Lutea’s future leaves to grow, the first year leaves die before winter, and the rhizomes roots (which look like stringy hairs) begin to reach deeply into the mud and pull the rhizome down into the Earth and water. All Lutea’s consciousness is

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placed within the Earth and away from the cold atmosphere of the winter season. Packed

in the cold mud, and beneath the water, the rhizome sleeps and rests so that Lutea will

have the energy to use all of her life-force to imagine the life she will live to continue to

bring her gifts to the Earth and her relatives. Lutea’s rhizome gives her the strength to

endure a potentially harsh environment. Lutea uses the cold season to rest for her

rhizome foundation to fully grow.

Even the Earth needs to rest and be left uncultivated within a particular area that

has been over-cultivated. The land needs to regain its strength and spiritual genetic

memory with ʼununni ʼunu.

Like Lutea’s rhizome and her roots, that reach deep into the Earth to reconnect to

ʼununni ʼunu; such attention is what we all need. It is important to have a place to anchor

on the land so that we can allow our spirit to be open to what truly and naturally has

belonged to us. For Indigenous people, it is homelands and community that are

mnemonic anchors to a sense of place and to who we are, where we belong, and to the

principles that instill the desire to hinak towis hennak (making a good life). Southern

California Esselen/Chumash Deborah Miranda defines the Indigenous connection to

place:

When someone says ‘place’ to an Indian, there is an immediate and visceral response in that Indian person: place means land, story, culture, history, memory. Place means relationship between self and land, between human spirit and Earth energy. Place means more than that: it means knowing there is and must be such a relationship between self and land. (172)

Ancestral Tamalko, with their interdependent relationship with place and ʼununni

ʼunu, during winter, moved up to higher elevations. The cold damp coastal winter

environment was not as conducive to hinak towis hennak (make a good life). Wooded forests and pines gave further insulation from the harsher weather, and ʼomchu walli 296

(winter season) brought the community together. ʼOmchu walli is when families predominantly occupied community dwellings, and as their relative the bear, they slept longer. When they dined together, they retold the traditional myth stories and shared new ones.

I reflect on this time because I am facing a forthcoming ʼomchu walli. I am preparing to put the Lutea plants I cultivated this year to rest in the cooler basement to sleep, and to rejuvenate. I am grateful for their existence in my life because Lutea has given me gifts in her first year. I have used her leaves as tea.

In an article by Tara Carson, Health Benefits of Lotus Tea, states:

Lotus leaf tea is a remedy that treats the stomach, spleen, and liver, and said to treat summer heat syndrome. Lotus leaf tea is also effective against high blood pressure because of the tea's alkaloid content, according to the Institute of Traditional Medicine. The tea's calming properties also alleviate restlessness, heart palpitations and insomnia. (Carson)

In the article, “What is Lotus leaf? What is it used for?”,

As with most other parts of the Lotus, Lotus leaf is employed to treat a variety of conditions, ranging from hematemesis (vomiting blood) and hematuria (blood in the urine) to menorrhagia and diarrhea. An active ingredient in Lotus leaf, nuciferine, also helps to reduce muscle spasms. Also, Lotus leaf is sometimes used to treat dizziness and fevers.178

Lutea leaf tea has a calming and pleasant taste, and I remember this taste from

sometime in the past at a Chinese restaurant. It has become a welcomed addition to my

diet. Like Lutea’s calming effect, the presence of Elders has always given me a healthy

influence in my life.

The importance of wholistic Indigenous medicine, like Lutea’s leaves and the

influence of Elders and Culture Bearers, is that it offers a comforting, secure and a strong

178“What is Lotus leaf? What is it used for? in Acupuncture Today. 297

foundation for our families to live in hinak towis hennak in the community. They

represent the reassuring power of the culture and the connection to belonging. To have a

place of nurturing and nourishment gives everyone a safe place to be. I believe that is

why most North American Indigenous spiritual practices require a retreat to a safe and

quiet place to induce the inner journey. There, one is physically restored to face a new

season or a new process in life.

Alan Wallace shared a story about his childhood at our visitation. When he was

about five years old, he would stay with his grandmother Lizzy. Two memorable things he did was plant his very own garden, and look at Lizzy’s National Geographic magazines. Alan’s special times were when he would go to his garden. There on a rock as his chair, he would spend the time envisioning images that were influenced by

National Geographic. He later realized that his imagination was the creative force that designed his entire life. Alan eventually went on to live in all the places and things he imagined. His garden at Lizzy’s was his place of rest, peace, and safety that allowed him to open his mind and heart to whatever ʼununni ʼunu held in store for him.

Aleut Elder, Larry Merculieff also tells a similar story. In Larry Merculieff:

Indigenous Voices he recalls an incident when he was fifteen years old. Larry was lamenting that his people had lost the ability to create their ancient spiritual masks. Larry saw them in photos housed in museums, but no longer were they part of his community.

Larry decided to seek out the eldest of the Elders in his community at the island of

St. Paul. The Elder told him “No it has not been lost. Go out to the ocean. Clear your

mind. Set your intention and wait”. Larry spiritually understood this as to stop thinking,

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be present, and to trust emphatically that the answer will come through every cell of his body.

Larry said, “Your whole being has to trust.” Within a couple of hours in that state on the beach, Larry had a vision of a small black dot that opened up and out poured a hundred different masks. Larry returned to the Elder. The Elder said that Larry did well,

that he tapped into the womb of the center of the universe (Earth and Spirit Council).

Larry remembered his connection to his ancestral legacy by being open and

intently desiring to connect to hinak towis hennak (making a good life). When the

intention is for the people, and ʼununni ʼunu (the great mother), the connection comes quickly. Darryl Babe Wilson reiterates this important truth:

We have a strong spiritual umbilical cord that is from the belly button. It connects to the center of the Earth, and the universe and where you're (consciously) suppose to be. So, you can stretch it, but you cannot break it. (Westerman)

Like Lutea in the Lotus effect, where dirt and debris that has contaminated our

lives from colonial society comes into our environment, we must remind ourselves that

we have that connection to ʼununni ʼunu. We still have the power, the wisdom of

Indigenous imagination, when we reach out to be with that relationship for the benefit of

all ʼinniiko (relatives). Moreover, to remember, as Cody Pata reminds us is that when we

know our “line,” it will always be there for us, even if we drift away from it. 179

179 Cody Pata, visitation June 2014.. 299

‘Inniikon Wayannako: Our Peoples Gifts (Themes from visitations)

Hinak towis hennak (making a good life) is joining with ‘ununni ʼunu, the center of the universe. I believe this connection has guided all the Culture Bearers in this research. They are on their “lines”, functioning as a focus on hinak towis hennak. I am grateful for the opportunity, through this research, to visit North Central Indigenous

California Culture Bearers and relatives, to learn their stories that express essential values that came from their connections to ʼununni ʼunu.

Though I categorized the participants in this research, I do not find they fit neatly into any category. They all move through life merging and converging various aspects of being an Elder, Uncle or Auntie, and an Indigenous Raconteur. I understand that: 1. Age

does not determine a Culture Bearer or the consciousness of an Elder. 2. An Uncle and

Auntie is an Uncle and Auntie to everyone, whether with close blood ties or not. 3. A

Raconteur is not only designated to public speaking such as TED talks or a Bioneers’

conferences but is also a myth-storian for their ʼinniiko.

What I have gleaned from an understanding of being with Elders, and during the

time I spent with the three Elders designated in this research illustrates is that they

possess an unwavering commitment and a persistent ability to show up where they are

needed. They will travel long distances to support other Elders and other Indigenous

communities, besides their own.

I find that the Elders I have known as well as the three I visited do not retain the

concept of preference in regards to sharing who they are, or their culture with others.

They include and many times welcome non-Indigenous learners from outside their

communities. Caleen has been known to heal many people who come to her from outside

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the Winnemen community. Frank, as a professor, mentored many students from diverse

backgrounds, and Joanne holds a very high level of curiosity for all people and culture.

They make friends and build relationships wherever they go.

What I find unique to Elders is that many times they had to stand alone as

Indigenous people persevering within the dominant society. However, they belong to

families and communities that support them. All have leadership roles. Caleen’s current

roles are predominantly political and spiritual. Joanne’s have been predominantly social

and cultural, and Frank’s roles have been artistic and educational.

For the Uncle participants in this research, I found change and various levels of

initiatory processing and transformation had shown a precedent in their lives. Their paths

seemed to have been laid out for them, though not straight or narrow. As an Auntie, I

have a connection to this group. This middle group has one foot in the old world and one

in the future. They work to find a balance for themselves in service to their ʼinniiko.

Their positions are continually shifting, and though they are leaders, they do not hold leader status as they take on the needed positions to accommodate any adjustments required, so the bridges they build and maintain are accessible to those seeking them.

They are the most independent group of participants.

All three Uncles illustrate that by attempting to hinak towis hennak (make a good life) by journeying to and with the ancestors, whether far, near or deeply inward, a place of purpose can be discovered. The Uncles are creative, intelligent and spiritual. Alan’s journey was creatively exploratory as an artist on various levels. Ricardo’s journey was

for the pursuit of knowledge, about his ancestors as well as through the academic halls of

learning in which both have benefitted his life and those whom he touches. David’s

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journey was passionately lead towards a spiritual life for his personal healing and his

desire to facilitate healing for others.

In reviewing the Raconteur Culture Bearers, I found similar traits amongst them.

They all grew up in very supportive families who encouraged their cultural connections.

Even though their immediate families may not have been as culturally active, other

relatives were involved and available with supportive cultural knowledge.

All three Raconteur Culture Bearers were thrust into an active position of Culture

Bearing whether or not it was their choice. Jacquelyn fills the needs of students away

from home and also for those who live with their families nearby, offering them access to

cultural events and sustainable communal activities. Vince offers cultural and historical

information in a context that once was devoid of an ethical history regarding California

Indigenous peoples in the Missions. Cody is the exception of the three who at a very

young age received a clear destiny, a “line” as Feeder of his People.

Upon reflecting on all Culture Bearers, a solid aspect in their lives has been the

practice of ceremony and the spiritual and cultural need to sustain a spiritual life and all

that supports hinak towis hennak. The other is a focus on healing through the restoration

of history, language, lands, and culture. With restoration, healing will return, and the

broken pieces will join.

The most valuable component amongst all participants, besides the spiritual

significance of the culture, is holding an identity to place and family.

All Culture Bearers have a conscious link to ‘ununni ʼunu. They have been able to emerge from obscurity like Larry’s masks, pouring out from a speck (of what is seems to the rest of the world) of distant darkness into the world, bringing culture and life. They

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are purposeful, they have a “line”, as Cody speaks reverently of, or what Frank LaPena

says is the easiest and also the hardest to do. However, if there is the intention of joining

with the imagination of creation, then it flows effortlessly with life. Imagination holds a

real and tangible space. Sheridan speaks of the reality of imagination in The

Haudenosaunee Imagination.

Imagination has a place because imagination is a place, and because everything is connected to everything else, the encounter with imagination is a living communication within a sentient landscape. Where one is, has everything to do with who one is. When North Americans rely on their primal intelligence, they can intuit that to be here is to encounter sentient temporal and spatial landscapes. (369)

Imagination is a real place because we are positioned right inside it. However, it is the land and the relationship with a place that generates its power. When we are lost from the culture and an ancestral intelligence, finding a connection can be difficult. Deborah

Miranda speaks out against the colonial paradigm and how it entraps imaginative thinking.

You steal the land, build a country on a stolen foundation, and construct a cage around it. All that you have—your possessions, your ethics, your history— depends on keeping this land captive. Your cage must grow still more complex: you must construct more restraints. Literature that serves as steel bars, schools that serve as locks, textbooks that are prison guards. What keys are available to us to dismantle this perpetually tightening confinement? (182)

In reality, there is still the land, and if there is a strong connection to its myth

stories and its peoples, then love and its power will reveal that place of imagination apart

from the cages and prisons. Many of our people have not left their ancestral homelands

because the Earth is our ʼinniiko (relative) that we love. Love is what Sheridan seems to

be implying; as a central intelligence. As Larry Merculieff illustrates, its connection is to

feel it with every part of our being. When we have the relationship to the land, to the

culture, and our intentions are from hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart says), we are in the

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place of reality or what is referred as “imagination.” North Central Indigenous California

peoples have no word for imagination because everything is real. Imagination is an

English word that falls very short of what has been an inherent Indigenous consciousness.

Knowing that the beginning is still here means knowing it has never left. Those who have not lost their beginnings know the refuge, safety, and sanity of returning to forever. Of forever returning. And of returning forever. (Sheridan, 371)

Sheridan places the reality of cyclical consciousness within the context of this research and the journey I experienced with the participating Culture Bearers. There is a

cycling that reconnects the Elders to the youngest Raconteur Culture Bearer. The Culture

Bearer group that curves the “line” from the 180-degree vision to the 720-degree vision

of consciousness is the Uncles and Aunties. They seek to make a change in their

circumstance. They create a curve of consciousness, of progression, and a continuum

towards the infinite or, as Sheridan proclaims, “Forever”.

The consciousness of having a “purpose” or having a “line” is a prerequisite for

Culture Bearers. It is not to acquire information and talent to hoard or amass acquisitions and titles. Such egotist consciousness is a death consciousness for Indigenous communities; it does not promote life. The knowledge of Culture Bearers is to be shared,

to live on and flourish so that all creation has the opportunity for hinak towis hennak (to

make a good life).

I recently watched a film with my husband about a man that was having troubles

dealing with his mortality. A comment made was about being old. The statement was,

“If you are lucky enough to get old.” I found this insightful and truthful. Anishinaabe

Basil Johnson’s story in Ojibway Heritage of the four hills reiterates the same sentiment.

From an Indigenous perspective, old age is very valued because not everyone who sets

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out on the path of life can achieve it. Each phase is an accomplishment, and the last hill

is indeed monumental.180

In emphasizing the Uncles’ importance in this research, Johnson says the hill they travel is not the hardest, as all are difficult, but their positioning is where their life’s

vision can be forgotten, knowing that old age is imminent.

Whenever a person loses his way, he must, of his own accord, find his way back. No one else can assist him. Only he knows the way; only he knows where and when he departed from the true path. The third hill is tortuous, and many abandon their vision. (Johnson, 117)

The Uncles’ efforts in this research present the courage it takes to initiate oneself

through the transformation necessary to move out of the colonial influence and to

continue to sustain the bridges their predecessors had built. They reflect the warrior

tenacity and determined imagination that envisions the possibilities for the next

generation. That vision not only supports the life’s purpose as a Culture Bearer but

validates that one has the strength and the endurance needed to climb the next hill. Basil

Johnson instills the value of that journey:

When men and women attain the last weary hill and climb toward the crest, they are sustained by the knowledge that they have lived their visions and given a helping hand to their fellow being, Old age is a gift of Kitche Manitou. As such it is to be cherished; not disparaged. By living through all stages and living the visions, men and women know something of human nature and living and life. What they have come to know and abide by is wisdom. That is what they must pass on to those still to traverse the path of life and scale the mighty hills. Only when they finally vanish into the mists is the work over. (Johnson, 118)

Starting at the foot of the hill with the Raconteur Culture Bearers, they embrace

their culture through their family. Their purpose is a gifting within cultural reciprocity as

an expression of gratitude as Culture Bearers in service.

180 Johnson imparts the story of the four hills of life, the first as the hill of childhood though many children do not make it over the hill to adulthood, and also to middle age and to eventual old age. 305

Towards the middle of the hill with the Uncle Culture Bearers, they continue to

carry the culture in service like the Raconteurs. Also, the Uncles emulate the courage of the initiatory process and its transformation towards a discovery of a deeper spiritual connection with their cultural knowledge. The Uncles assist in creating new forms of exchange and service.

Ascending even higher to meet with the Elders, they sustain principles that their younger relatives find valuable. They have strong connections to the creative principles that the Uncle Culture Bearers emulate as a lifeway. Their unique positioning allows them to encourage and support the intentions and purpose that Raconteurs, Uncles, and

Aunties carry. Elders are to the younger Culture Bearers their best promoters and

advocates. Elders’ social-political positioning gives them sovereign leadership as

mentors whose vision is inclusive, embracing all the family as a community. They teach

by their example in relationship building and healing.

Floyd Westerman made a comment on a powerful truth, that during colonial

contact, Elders and children were the first to die, and the remaining grief-stricken

population saw their future and past dissolve before their eyes. The survivors, however, had to confront climbing the last hill, and they did. They became the Culture Bearers to

show the way when the environment was impossible for hinak towis hennak.

The last hill will always be there as a “line” of purpose. However, like previous

hills, not all are fully climbed by everyone. For those of us who are willing to look for it,

and are agreeable and able to climb it, we will struggle with its ascent, for the benefit of

our ʼinniiko. Tamalko Elder Lanny Pinola, who made it to the top of the fourth hill in his

life, conveys his gratitude in doing so:

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The beautiful part of my history is that my Elders knew what they lost. They lost their homelands, their culture, their language and everything they could dream of was gone. Yet they held on to the hope, the belief that someday for their children, their great grandchildren not yet born, there would be a better time. That what they lost someday would come back around and return. I am fortunate enough to see a small part of this come to pass and come true. The prophecy that has come to pass. (Westerman)

The Culture bearers in this research expand the possibilities of influence by extending their memory of the ancestors. Contemporary Culture Bearer Elders reach out to the public and the broader Indigenous community. The Uncles and Aunties support selected familial groups to share their culture more intimately. The Raconteur Culture

Bearers work within an institutional framework. How can it not be possible to keep the culture alive with such strategies?

Many years after Darryl Babe Wilson wrote about our broken Indigenous mirror, in North Central Indigenous California, much of the pieces have joined, and a fuller reflection of Indigenous North Central Californians is healing, present and visible.

Talas Wuskippaamu: Standing with Respect

Without Lutea’s rhizome’s strong foundation, her stalks will not stand tall.

Without the connection to ancestral homelands and community, neither can any North

Central Indigenous Californian stand for who they are.

To stand is a vital aspect of the Indigenous protocol. Most Indigenous people from North America stand to pray. Mohawk Ohky Simine Forest says, “Often praying in a standing position, a Native prayer, as a rule, says what is essential (108).” In traditional

Tamalko ritual and ceremony, standing shows respect. The most powerful form of prayer for all of North Central Indigenous Californians is to dance in prayer. Dancing is for

Tamalko the highest form of traditional prayer. Traditional North Central Indigenous

California ceremonial dance has not changed. It has been a continuous ancient practice. 307

Cody Pata says that when humans lie in a horizontal position it is the position to dream, and when they are in the vertical, when their backbones are aligned with the

Earth, they are conducting energy (as he moved his hands from the Earth to the heavens).

I believe when we stand and dance upon the land with our hearts and minds in great love for ʼununni ʼunu, we are in the place of imagination and creation. We are in a place of strength and peace.

Lakota Nicholas Black Elk explains the peace in ritual making mentioned in

Black Elk Speaks.

The first peace is that which comes within the souls of men when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells Wakan-Tanka and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us. This is the real Peace, and the others are but reflections of this. The second peace is that which is made between men. But above all, you should understand that there can never be peace between nations until there is first known that true peace which, as I have often said, is within the souls of men. (Neihardt, 115)

When we stand, we stand to be open to thousands of years of ancestral experiences and oral histories that are embedded knowledge within the consciousness of the landscape. Ancestral memories were transmitted orally, memorized and repeated. If the stories are known and remembered as those David Carrio’s mother told him that fill the heart and mind with emotional consciousness, they live within every core and fiber of human awareness and connect to the historical consciousness of the environment.

Standing upon the Earth is strengthened by ancestral consciousness. Standing with knowledge is being rooted like Lutea’s rhizome, reaching deeply into the Earth while the buzzing of colonial disorder carries their distractions upon the surface.

Nonetheless, like Lutea’s leaves, these distractions are easily repelled when in contact with the ancestors, leaving the Indigenous core of essential nature pure and pristine. Like

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Black Elk’s peace ritual in connection with Wakan Tanka or ʼununni ʼunu, personal wisdom of peace within the unity of ‘ununni ʼunu is the power that sustains sovereignty, identity and belonging through life’s journey. The connection is emotional and embodied, therefore, known. Anishinaabe Benton Banai explains this place of

Indigenous power.

It will be a journey to the center of ourselves so that we may know the peace that comes from living in harmony with the powers of the Universe. I do not believe in isolating myself in the memories of the past. I do believe with the teachings of yesterday we can better prepare ourselves for the uncertainties of tomorrow. (2)

The Elders understand the difficulties of each hill that awaits the ascent when reached. They will, however, always give a teaching to antidote trials in life upon that hill. Benton-Banai shares in the story of Nishomis’s grandmother’s words to the first

Anishinaabe man:

Your journey will be hard and full of many tests. You must keep your heart and mind strong and stay to the things I have taught you. (16)

Living in a settler conscious society is an even more difficult journey than the one

Nishomis took. Therefore, what has been passed on from the ancestors, Culture Bearers, and Elders, as well as the environmental intelligence of the homeland, are the best tools to keep the vision of Indigenous thought and consciousness strong.

How one communicates is another manner that keeps Indigenous consciousness strong and alive. The language of the region is the most efficient way to communicate if one wishes to respect and continue a living connection with all ʼinniiko. I believe in knowing and using the language of the land, which is a spiritual language, based on love, is a way of conveying the spirit of the grandparents. I believe Indigenous languages were developed to share the spiritual, and to express appreciation to what Black Elk explains, the peace achieved between a human being and ʼununni ʼunu as well as the

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peace between people. An indigenous language is a primary element for building peaceful relationships for a sustainable future and hinak towis hennak (making a good life).

When foreign newcomers invaded California, they knew, from their past

experiences when building the colonies within Eastern Indigenous territories; diplomacy

was not in their interests. For the Europeans, the language between the cultures during

the Eastern encounter period was for trade and their easement into the territory. For the

majority of the colonists, there was no interest to understand the consciousness of the

Indigenous people. They did not want to develop long-term relationships with the peoples

of North American Indigenous communities. According to Lawyer Robert Williams Jr.

member of the North Carolina Lumbee Nation:

European diplomacy operated on principles of hierarchy and centralization of authority. During the early Encounter, Europeans usually found themselves unable to impose these alien principles unilaterally in their negotiations with their tribal trading partners. They had to learn a different language of diplomacy if they were to negotiate successfully with the most [politically] powerful Indian tribes of North America. (32)

Williams states that the Europeans encountered sovereign peoples who held

powerful knowledges upon their lands. The European intellect, based on survival at the

time had to succumb to the Indigenous language of diplomacy. To fulfill their needs and

desires based on capitalism and trade negotiations, Europeans made compacts with

Indigenous people. 181 Williams illustrates the language of diplomacy in treaty texts.

The language of diplomacy that developed on the colonial frontier had no use for inflexible idioms that were non-indigenous to the unique conditions that emerged during the North American Encounter era. This language developed its own

181 During the encounter period Europeans were predominately British. However, the Dutch, French, German, Russian, French and Spanish were also making compacts with Indigenous peoples in North America. That is why the term European is used here. 310

diplomatic protocols and ceremonies, borrowing and adapting from cultural traditions that, as Jones notes, "were rarely European." (31) 182

In true Indigenous traditional form, treaty protocol was a sincere act of harmonious and peaceful intentions for hinak towis hennak with the Europeans.

Williams describes the spiritual aspects of the treaty making that Europeans encountered.

When one reads the treaty literature of the Encounter era, it is immediately apparent that the language of eastern Native American Indian diplomacy sought to organize and envision a richly diverse, significant world. Complex sets of symbols, metaphors, ceremonies, and rituals are continuously repeated at major treaty councils throughout the period. Take, for example, the recurring set of metaphors, ceremonies, and rituals in the Encounter era treaty literature that speak of treaties as sacred texts. Empirically speaking, even a casual reading of the treaty literature confirms that the language of Native American Indian diplomacy regarded the negotiation of a treaty as a type of divinely supervised, sacred business. (38)

Williams’s extensive study on Treaty negotiations during the encounter era illustrates Native Americans intentions of acceptance, welcoming, brotherhood, and peace. A similar compact of this nature that continues to this day is a marriage ceremony. However, from the European perspective, compact making with Indigenous peoples was an entirely opposite intention.

Treaties were a means to acquire by cheaper peaceful methods what European Americans thought they had a natural right to acquire from "savage" Indian tribes, even by force if ultimately necessary Indian - held lands. (Williams, 131)

Therefore, through a European perspective “peace” is only sought if it is cheaply acquired. According to history, if there seemed to be more time-consuming efforts needed for negotiations, which usually involves some costs, then violence and force are the likely means of confrontations within the Western context.

182 Dorothy V. Jones. “British colonial Indian treaties” in A handbook of North American Indians

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Williams summarizes Reginald Horsman’s statement from Expansion and

American Indian Policy.

[B]ecause of these attitudes of cultural superiority, the treaties European Americans made with Indian tribes, quite simply, ‘were made to be broken.’(131) 183

Again, we are reminded of Dumont’s Ojibwe myth story of a path originally

traveled by the two cultures but was digressed by the limited vision of the white man.

Also, through a limited history that the public has an assessment, we continue to see a

pattern of non-negotiation and conflict when Indigenous people must deal with western

conscious individuals and institutions.

Thus, the white man failed to learn one of the essential lessons taught by American Indian visions of law and peace. A vital term of many of the very treaties that made it possible for Europeans to settle the land in North America, this lesson teaches us that different people achieve justice between each other by agreeing to build relationships of trust and reliance. (Dumont,131)

Reviewing Eastern Native American strategies for peace amongst the Europeans

would not have been any different with any other Native Americans throughout the

continent. Regardless, the encounter started there, in a most understandable context for

Europeans in regards to political organization complied with symbolic protocols.184 By the time foreign settlers and new Americans reached California, all pretense of negotiation was null. European settlers and Americans came west into California and

Oregon unmasked, exposing the overt monstrous faces of brutal terrorism, and a vicious resurrection of the torturous European Inquisition period.

183 Reginald Horsman. Expansion and American Indian Policy, 1783-1812 184 I surmise that it would have been difficult for Europeans to understand or offer patience to Indigenous Communities on the Pacific who were living in a primarily spiritually based shamanic system as opposed to a political one. 312

Despite what the far west peoples have endured, they remain standing on their

land. They stand because they continue to listen to hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart

says) and to whom they love, their ancestors, family, and the environment. Their ethical

principles based on love and caring and their commitment to that love and caring has

never lost connection to ʼununni ʼunu. If the Earth is our mother, then what other mentor

do we need when her powerful spirit is undeniably present with us all? As long as she is

here and we remain living with her, what is more important?

From hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart says) and the love and caring aspects of

what ʼununni ʼunu has given North Central Indigenous communities for thousands of

years, I have summarized valuable attributes through this research to leave for kaʼinniiko

and those who may utilize this manuscript.

Conclusion: Ma Hullu, Ma Missu: Our Roots, Our Beliefs

After giving this manuscript to editor Gloria Cooper, I asked that we do a

ceremony to honor this research. Together with our husbands Ron and Marcus, four

attributes that reflect the themes and aspects of North Central California Indigenous consciousness that I have been seeking to articulate, were revealed.

Since ceremony has been a prominent aspect of the lives for many of the

participants in this research, I will convey the attributes derived from the ceremony that

honored this research. Tamalko do not have a symbol for a “medicine wheel” or symbols

designated to the primary spiritual portals significant in ceremony. However, ceremonially we do acknowledge the portals of the four directions.

In traditional Tamalko ceremonial fashion, the eastern wind or what I would describe from a Tamalko perspective is the energy vortex of ‘Ala, the east, where we

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begin in the roundhouse and prayer. This place offers a beginning in the process of the

ceremony. In this area, we have the chance to be open to receive our connections to

‘ununni ʼunu. An attribute that I find in all the participants and the mentors I have been

fortunate to be gifted within my lifetime is their example of “Openness”.

Wetissa, (being open) is like Larry Merculieff’s example of clearing the mind or

what Keith Basso says the Apache hold as a “smooth mind.” Like a helpless child in its

mother’s arms, there is absolute trust in the process of life while in her embrace. An

Indigenous open mind and confidence in life put all personal aspects aside. There is no

need to be concerned when there is such a covenant of faith. Thus enabling an openness to the possibilities of the future, and to be consciously aware of what the land and the winds of change may bring as direction. This openness goes beyond just having a patient and gentle mental attitude. It is also to carry an openness like those of our ancestors.

They showed the ability to be accepting of their circumstances, knowing what Lanny

Pinola spoke of, that someday things will be different. If not in one’s lifetime, then for the future generations. Our ancestors held an openness to the place of imagination and possibility. Wetissa.

Once we have entered into the dark and silent Roundhouse, except for the

occasional fire crackling, the direction of the circle is towards the north proceeding in a circular left counterclockwise cycle. Kannin, the north, is where the ancestors have left knowledge for us with the Elders. The most valuable knowledge is within many of the

Culture Bearers stories, to endure the journey of finding the way towards a personal

philosophy, and for the discovery of identity that always brings us back to the ancestors.

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The spiral is a symbolic metaphor for this process. The journey is the road

towards transformation. We must always change to live. We know ma hammako he papʼoyyisko (our grandmothers and grandfathers) have held us in their hearts with love

and support. We know they had to change. Therefore, when we know we have to change,

we will change. There has been a continuum of their transformational legacy for

thousands of years. Deaths of our ancestors have not destroyed us but have allowed us to

understand the transformational process. Like Womack’s Green Corn Turtle’s

experience, ʼununni ʼunu emerges within us during a tremendous creative impetus of

change. Imagination is the grounding factor for numattuma (to make a change in oneself) or transformation. Numattuma.

As we proceed further into the Tamalko Roundhouse, the place the drum is kept is

in the west, helwa. In helwa, a fallen Lume ‘alwas is half buried in the Earth. Only one

drummer stands on Lume ‘alwas, and with a pounding pole, he brings the sound of the

forest throughout the ceremony. Its resonance in the roundhouse chamber of redwood

logs reminds us that after transformation, a primal spiritual consciousness occupies the

mind and heart. This place of unprecedented power illuminates the reality of the richness

and depth of life that is truly experienced and conscious in the world. Spiritual vision

and its place of experience are the space where imagination and its power of creation

reside. Womack says medicine touches us. We also understand ʼununni ʼunu’s power

here as our touch with walli (Spiritual Power). Walli.

Towards the final portal of energy in the roundhouse, we proceed to ʼolom.

ʼOlom, the south, is a portal that stirs our reawakening to present time. It awakens the

heart and allows us to acknowledge our emotions and sensitivities in the ceremony. It

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would also apply to living in the world once this consciousness is embodied ʼOlom brings

cognizance to what the journey has been. My journey, my purpose, and that of ka hammako he ka papʼoyyisko in ʼolom (the south) clarifies that all our journies from all of time have been one journey together. Ka hammako he papʼoyyisko imagined our world today. Their imagination and desire to continue to live and endure have left us a thriving

Earth walk of abundance. I am humbled and very grateful for this abundance that remains in my life. Abundance in Tamal Machchaw is weeʻa or Blessings. Weeʻa.

Wetissa (openness), Numattuma (transformation), Walli (Spiritual Power), and

Weeʻa (Abundance/Blessings), are the four attributes that sustain the many principles within North Central Indigenous California communities. The creative force is imbued through all attributes, as an imaginative vision to experience the strengths of Indigenous

consciousness.

North Central California Indigenous consciousness is a living process. In the not

so distant past, Indigenous consciousness was primarily enforced by the Elders. In

contemporary North Central California Indigenous communities, there is a larger group

of Culture Bearers. Perhaps it is to expedite the necessary values and principles in need of

development for many of their non-indigenous settler neighbors. Fundamental principles of respect, responsibility, and reciprocity that traditional Indigenous peoples have worked to uphold for centuries are faintly visible in settler society.

Culture bearers have deep connections to family and community and are actively involved in cultural advocacy. They continue to exemplify their commitment to their cultural heritage even when they are not near their communities. When this is the case, even as independent artists, healers, environmentalists and educators, their culture is

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forefront in their lives, and it uplifts their talents to the recognizable context they have

established in hinak towis hennak.

Indigenous people know that the world will survive well and successfully without

humans, whereas human beings need every kingdom on the planet to survive. Such is the dilemma that is plaguing our present situation within contemporary mainstream society because of a total lack of respect, responsibility, and reciprocity.

In Anishinaabe Basil Johnson’s book Ojibwe Heritage, he retells a myth story of

how early humans, predecessors of the present human race, treated each other and the

Earth, in a similar context as the contemporary western settler society. I believe

Johnson’s earlier humans had not evolved into an Indigenous consciousness that sought hinak towis hennak. They did not regard relationship as a primary factor for living on the

Earth. Today settler consciousness is abusing and forcibly annihilating all life on the

Earth. Many ancestral environmental organisms have left the planet.

If we do not respect our families, our Elders, and our ancestors, we will not hear

the messages and anecdotes we so need to help us to mend and heal ignorance. It is in

returning to what we know is ours by remembering the ways of our grandparents, that we

can curve the straight path of ignorance into a spiral of transformation and abundance.

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CHAPTER 9 - Muyyen Kennetto: All together/Belonging

When we come together

Human beings are not born, human beings, are made. [T]he greatest gift you can give to kids at a certain age is a chance to be human. Human beings are here to be sure that life lives on and that the world somehow continues. Whether your life continues is not the bottom line to it. That's the beginning of growing up. Everybody who’s been through an initiation knows that death doesn’t burden your life. It animates your life. You have the opportunity to sink both heels into the soil and say, ‘Here I stand, and while I do, there are things I can do.’

Stephen Jenkinson. From As We Lay Dying: On How we Deny Our Mortality. (Uemura)

Stephen Jenkinson is an independent Canadian minister who has been working

with people who are dying. He assists the dying to be resolved Elders and leaders in their

families so that their living relatives can have the strength to live on without them. He

assists them in dying as human beings. Jenkinson believes that the conscious process of

initiation through death (within many aspects of life) is something the dominant culture is

ignorant.

Jenkinson also works at helping young adults who have not gone through the

process of growing up, to be a human being. His students study with him to do so, in

retreats called “Orphan Wisdom” in Canada, and Hawaiʻi. Jenkinson is trying to guide

non-Indigenous people to have the strength to find their place in the world. He refers to

them as orphans. For Jenkinson, an orphan is someone that has no sense of belonging in

the world. If they are descendants of immigrants fleeing from an undesirable “old

country”, then there is nothing of value in that past (Uemura, 9). The “orphans” are

seeking mentorship, (from anyone who does not look like themselves) because as

Jenkinson says, “the orphans have a deep self-hatred and must learn to claim their displaced unclaimed traditions.” He says:

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Enough of ripping off Native Americans, Africans, and everyone else. Imagine instead that it is your own Elders, your own ancestors, who need claiming, who need a home amongst us as much as we need them to among us. ((Uemura, 9)

As we claim our ancestors, we become whole and strong. In doing so, we honor

life and can prepare for death, embracing both the difficult and the joyful. The

Dine/Navajo call this state of balance Hozho. Hozho is a Dine word that translates as

“harmony”. “Hozho is that state of being by which all Navajo strive to live, the balance between good and evil (Fleming, 2003: 39). Hozho is the state-of-being that Indigenous people understood traditionally as the trickster principle that embodies the dichotomies of

life.

North Central Indigenous California consciousness utilizes trickster Coyote when

the 720-degree vision is forgotten. The unpredictable tactics of Coyote teach Indigenous

people to laugh at their traumas and misfortunes in order not to take themselves too

seriously. They are then more conscious of others, especially their children. The value

of being mature is that honesty is maintained in all dealings. Through myth-story the

spirit of Coyote brings fear, grief, and tragedies out into the light to confront. I believe

the core issue between the cultures is the disparaging reality that Indigenous people are

conscious of ethical history, while the descendants of Western invaders, (who are

dominant in numbers and monetary power), are ignorant of their political as well as

personal histories of where they come from and who they are.

How can an unconscious orphaned population pull up their ancestors without

looking at what was perpetrated by them? To heal and to understand, so that they too can

learn to belong in the world with their Indigenous neighbors, is to confront their settler

heritage and histories.

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For Jenkinson's orphans, there is a perpetrator ancestral memory they do not understand, but it continues to torment them. Some of the young students at Jenkinson’s

“Orphan Wisdom farm” have said,

There's a lot of confusion amongst young people about what they're suppose to do with themselves. A constant, beneath the surface sense, that it's not suppose to be like this. We are taught that we are the problem; life would be better if there were less humans. Maybe no humans. (The Making of Humans)

Jenkinson believes that non-Indigenous people, whether they are children who are moving out of childhood or adults who need to grow up, need to be initiated into human beings. I agree. Unfortunately, it takes an entire community, including the initiate’s family to be present in every possible way for his or her initiation to be honored with love and support. Otherwise, the knowledge remains as a temporary memory. Perhaps there is a significant epiphany that emerges from the experience for the initiate. Nonetheless, if there is no continuation within a community that supports and witnesses the transformational process, knowledge dies with the initiate.

Indigenous people have been living this consciousness for thousands of years even if it had to be undercover and underground. Traditional Indigenous people continue to distance themselves from the colonial bifurcating destruction of life on the planet. The contemporary definition of this attitude is “decolonization”. I believe the distancing is acting as a warrior, and defending the memory of the ancestors. However, Yahi Ishi continues to be an example of temperance, walking through death and emerging alone as a warrior transgressing social boundaries to the place of imagination, the horizon between death and life. Ishi’s experience is a visceral example of confrontation with ʼununni

ʼunu, the spirit at the center of the Earth.

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The initiatory process for the settler, and the Indigenous are represented by two

contrasting ideologies. For the settler initiate, s/he enters into an initiation or

confrontation to prove they can “brave it through,” to themselves, their peers, or to their

parents or superiors. They are competitive and wish to demonstrate what they are worth.

They believe they alone accomplish their successes. Thus, they seek acknowledgment

and accolades, such as higher wage earning power, admiration, a prized mate, and

popularity.

Contemporary social media is an excellent example of how popularity and

personal accomplishments are highly valued in settler society. Facebook, Twitter, and

Tumblr are vehicles that instantly broadcast personal activities to inform the social

network or what many consider the “world” to what one is accomplishing. For the

majority of “orphaned” citizens, it is an “I, Me, My” consciousness. I am not stating this

to pass judgment onto settler colonialists. Such ideologies raised me. I attended public

schools all my life. I spent the first half of my life believing that competition and

accomplishments were initiations that are part of the transformational process for making

a “good” life.

However, when I am attentive to Indigenous tradition, I am preparing for a life

initiation. I am demonstrating my worthiness. I am ready for a change. Usually, the

change is for healing, which takes place when I acknowledge that something in my life is

dying or has died. This awareness informs me that my desires and anxieties need to be

released to hinak towis hennak (make a good life) in the world once again. That need, and

the grief that holds onto the need, like the grief that holds onto something or someone, is a powerful agent.

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It is through accepting the needed demise that we go through initiation. In a

traditional Indigenous community, if one person goes through an initiation of

transformation, they are spiritually doing a healing for everyone, the entire family. There

is no promotion, potential mate or any other personal accolade. Like Cody Pata’s mother

said, “He left a boy and returned a man,” a metamorphosis takes place. The initiate, as

well as the community, is conscious of the change that takes place. The initiate is a new

member of the community and no longer a dependent member of the community, but a

willing and capable contributor, ready and able to move forward into their future,

respecting and honoring responsibility not only for themselves but others.

The Indigenous transformational process includes a ceremony. The ceremonial process is the agency that gives the initiate the opportunity to embody the knowledge of transformation for the benefit of everyone in the community, as well as for those who participate in the ceremony for hinak towis hennak. The process of action and doing

something that pertains to the needed transformation is what facilitates change. For the

non-Indigenous who carry perpetrator ancestral memory, taking action to bring about

hozho is also the antidote for transformation and healing. An example of a non-

Indigenous person taking action to heal perpetrator ancestry is Austrian Hubertus

Czernin.

Investigative journalist Hubertus Czernin produced many articles on stolen

artworks looted under the Nazi Socialist regime. Eventually, they lead to Austria’s Art

Restitution Law. Austria’s Art Restitution Law supports the return of works of art to

their original Jewish owners or heirs that were illegally obtained by the NS regime.185

185 Victims of National Socialism & Restitution Issues. Austrian Assembly Washington 322

In Czernin’s obituary published in the Los Angeles times June 15, 2006, it was

noted that Czernin learned little in public schools about Austria's position in World War

II. It was from his aristocratic family, whose father sided with the Nazis, that Czernin

learned the extent of the anti-Semitism during and after the war years.

Randol Schoenberg, Los Angeles attorney who represented Maria Altmann in an

art restitution case, said of Czernin.

He committed his life to exposing unspoken truths about Austria and its Nazi past. Without his efforts, none of the recent art restitution would have taken place, and certainly the five famous Klimt paintings would never have been returned to Maria Altmann. (Penz)

Czernin became an initiate when he listened to hinti wuskinʼona (what the heart says). He activated a change within himself; he achieved hozho, and in doing so, brought

change to the world. I believe that when Czernin took his stand, he also went into the

circle of ceremonial healing for all his relations, even those who were the perpetrators but

are now in the spirit world.

An Indigenous example of action in the initiatory process is when Lakota Chief

Low Dog said, “This is a good day to die” before the Battle of The Little Bighorn. Many settlers took the expression to mean that the Indians were getting ready to kill them.186

When, in fact, the expression has been said by contemporary A.I.M. American Indian

Movement members, to mean that a confrontation must be made to have Indigenous

issues heard, even if it means that you might be killed doing it.187

Standing up to face the rest of the world is very empowering, but it is also a

terrifying place of consciousness. For most initiates it is a solitary experience, and this

186 Glen Welker. Chief Low Dog. 187 A Good Day to Die, Film. 323

independent ability to stand up with the spiritual support of ʼununni ʼunu is what changes

a person into a “human being”. Maturity is necessary for human beings to take a stand

for life and for upholding the responsibility for all relations. Indigenous human beings were not placed in the world to subdue the Earth. Whereas Christians are taught in the

Bible:

Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the Earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the Earth and has life. (Bible: Genesis 1 verse 28)

Christian interpretation has accomplished Biblical command and has nearly obliterated all that they have subdued. In contrast, Indigenous creation myth stories tell the people that they are part of every living being on the planet because they have been evolved from or rather been created by them. Why would they subdue a living relative that has assisted their existence? Instead, they take responsibility to ensure that all of life continues with the ability to live well. Human beings stand for this covenant.

By possessing the attribute of openness from the heart, and the courage to cross that bridge of transformation, human beings, Indigenous and non-Indigenous will have the power to heal and to bring healing into their environments.

Temneppa: Doctoring/Healing

Before I began to write this final chapter, I realized that I had to reflect on the

voyage I had taken in this research before I continued further. During the visitations with

research participants, I took all the precautions to ensure that when I spent time with

them, they would not be prompted by any questions or nudged into any direction where

memories of trauma would incite emotional duress for them.

I believe I have been successful. Although, I did not anticipate on being the one that would experience emotional imbalance when doing this research. No matter how 324 direct the narrative, every participant I spoke to was a reflection of Darryl Babe Wilson’s broken mirror reflecting back to me my broken place on that mirror. What ever happened to their ancestors happened to my ancestors, and within every cell of my body, it happened to me. I felt that I was not able to continue to write further until I could unburden the pain and the sadness of our Indigenous ancestral history.

I remember when my husband and I were traveling during a snowstorm in

Montana to the Crow Agency. A fast moving diesel truck ran our truck off the freeway.

We did not plummet down the canyon because our truck’s cab hit the guard rail. During the time we were spinning, I thought we were going to die. After the incident, there was an emptiness inside me, as if I was not in touch with myself. I felt that I needed to seek out a traditional healer and contacted Crow/Santee Sioux Scott Frazier, whom I met during my MA program at Montana State University.

Scott is the founder of Project Indigenous, a teaching program that addresses the environment and confronts modern society from an Indigenous perspective.188 Though

Scott does not project a healer identity, he is a knowledge wisdom keeper from a long line of medicine and holy men. Scott suggested we go to the headwaters in Montana where the Gallatin, the Jefferson, and the Madison Rivers converge into the Missouri

River. I put down tobacco, and Scott sang. By the time Scott was finished singing, I felt a balance again within myself and with the environment. It was an instantaneous healing.

I believe in Scott’s connection to his ancestors, and I received their spiritual blessings to continue my journey on their lands.

188 Project Indigenous 325

After reviewing and writing about the participants in this research, I became

affected very deeply by their stories that I could not move forward emotionally to write further. My friend Trish Marshall intuitively gave me a book on Indigenous healing without knowing my concerns. That gift prompted me to seek a traditional healer.

I knew that living on the lands of my great grandfather’s ancestors, that I had to

make a connection to them as I was too far away from Tamalko territory to be with my

mother, and I was not sure if she was open or willing to go through a traditional

transformational healing as she had never done so before.

I decided to contact the Klamath-Modoc community in Oregon. I thought perhaps

someone there might have information on my relatives. Perhaps then I could begin to put

some pieces back into my life from the Klamath/Modoc side of my family.

While reviewing the Klamath-Modoc website, I discovered the community was sponsoring a G.O.N.A., Gathering Of Native Americans conference. I am familiar with the G.O.N.A. conference because I had volunteered years ago at a G.O.N.A. conference through Sonoma County Indian Health in Santa Rosa. I put in a call to the Klamath organizers of the event, and by the end of the inquiry, I was registered to attend the three- day conference sponsored by the Klamath Tribal Health and Family Services Youth and

Family Guidance Center's Prevention Program, in Klamath Falls Oregon.

On October 27, 28 and 29, 2015 I participated in the G.O.N.A. Healing

Conference at Klamath Falls, Oregon. The lead facilitator was Salish Gary Neumann

from Montana and co-facilitator was Inupik Catherine Swan-Reimer. The conference

intentions were on empowering the Indigenous people who attended the event, to become

more capable for hinak towis hennak (making a good life) by looking inside the trauma

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brought on by the historical boarding school era and its widespread impacts on the

community.

The Chairman of the Klamath tribe participated wholeheartedly. I felt this was a powerful aspect of this G.O.N.A. I was very impressed with how much this leader spoke from his heart and shared honestly with his community. I believe when leaders show this kind of strength they set up the map for the journey so that transformation takes place for the people.

I reflected when in October 1990, the National Chief of the Assembly of First

Nations, Phil Fontaine of the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba publically exposed his personal boarding school traumas.189 Before Fontaine, no First Nations Aboriginal spoke

about the residential schools, because of the shame linked to the history. After Fontaine,

thousands of First Nations residential school survivors came forward and shared their

shameful stories of abuse: physical, sexual, emotional and spiritual.

The Indian Boarding school system was an outcrop from the deliberation between

the government, the military, frontier settlers, and Christian churches. The primary

discussion was whether to exterminate all confined Indigenous North Americans in rancherias and reservations in the United States, or to civilize the Indian children to be made Christians and then trained as farm laborers and domestics.190 Military and foreign

settlers advocated extermination, whereas the churches advocated assimilation.

189 See CBC Digital Archives, Native Leader Charges Church with abuse. Phil Fontaine publically accuses the Catholic Church of physical and sexual abuse at its residential schools. 190 See NARF. “Let All That Is Indian Within You Die!, Legal Review Page 4. 327

In the article “Let All That is Indian Within You Die!” regarding the research done on Indian boarding schools through the NARF Native American Rights Fund Legal

Review:

It was, in fact, simply too expensive to enter into the extended campaign of genocide on the heels of an expensive Civil War. … economics argued for assimilation as the preferred alternatives. (NARF, 4)

Like a revised version of California Missionization, government officials were replaced by religious men and church agencies to Christianize the Indigenous population.

The children were removed from their families and homeland communities so that

Indigenous culture would have no influence on them. Instead of an outright physical genocide, the government, through the boarding schools, established paid positions for church officials and members, as well as financed the churches to initiate a covert

Indigenous cultural genocide.

In 1872, The Board of Indian Commissioners allotted seventy-three Indian agencies to church denominations; Methodists, Orthodox Friends, Presbyterians,

Episcopalians, Catholics, Hicksite Friends, Baptists, Reformed Dutch,

Congregationalists, Christians, Unitarians, American Board of Commissioners for

Foreign Missions in the Indian territory of Oklahoma, and Lutherans. Church officials, funded by the U.S. government, took 239,169 Indigenous children from their families

(NARF 8).

Parents who resisted or hid their children were cut off from their government rations, and were starved, or were incarcerated. Children at the schools lived in a dormitory setting and were stripped of their clothing as well as anything that defined their culture. Their hair was cut short, and they wore school uniforms. Children were

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punished if they spoke their language. Any physical contact with the adults was through

beatings and forced sexual contact.

Many records are incomplete concerning disappearances of children born at the

schools from children who were raped, or suffered from disease, malnutrition, and abuse.

There are unaccountable records of thousands of children’s deaths, who were buried in

mass graves on residential school grounds. At the Carlisle Indian school in Pennsylvania

alone, from the years 1883 to 1918 there were 1,842 desertions and 500 deaths. If a child

was captured after running away, they were either beaten or put in isolation, or both.

Eventually, there were 500 boarding schools established in 18 U.S. states:

Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New

Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah,

Virginia and Wisconsin through 1973. In 1975, the Indian Self-Determination and

Education Act made it possible for Indigenous communities to begin to control their

schools.

Today, the Native American Rights Fund is working to assist the National Native

American Boarding School Healing Coalition founded in 2012 to achieve national

recognition of the wrongs done to Native American peoples and their communities and to

obtain remediation to provide a framework for the healing of historical and enduring

wrongs (NARF, 9). Though the United States was the initial perpetrator in facilitating

Boarding Schools in North America, it has not to this date acknowledged its responsibility or the genocidal actions it has committed against Indigenous humanity.

In 2008, the Canadian Government made a public apology to Canada’s First

Nations and began the process of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This

329 process took twenty-five years. Phil Fontaine’s words at the House of Commons at the apology assembly:

The irresistibility of speaking truth to power is real. Today is not the result of a political game. Instead, it is something that shows the righteousness and importance of our struggle. We know we have many difficult issues to handle.There are many fights still to be fought. What happened today signifies a new dawn in the relationship between us and the rest of Canada. We are and always have been an indispensable part of the Canadian Identity. (Canwest News Service)

Until North American Indigenous peoples histories are acknowledged, there is no conscious identity for anyone. Even when there is a government like the United States that ignores Indigenous North American histories, the Indigenous people must move continually forward together to heal. From the Native American Rights Fund Legal

Review on the American Indian Boarding Schools:

It is time to heal our communities and our nations. Tribal Nations and the United States both stand to benefit immensely by stepping towards recovery and righting the relationship that continues to suffer because of wide-scale denial and ignorance of the history of the United States boarding school policy. Both will begin to heal once the truth of the story is told. (NARF 11)

Even with the limited amount of participants I visited in my research, the

Boarding School policy was a prominent subject. Tamalko relatives were missionized and dispersed from any possible reservation community. Even though there were makeshift reservations in California, they were not made official and thus easily disbanded during the Termination Era. Many Tamalko community members who were predominantly Mission Indians, worked in white households as domestics. Their low paid domestic services did not warrant them to be sent to boarding schools, as the boarding schools were grooming those sent there to have the abilities my Tamalko ancestors already acquired in the Missions.” However, those of us with mixed heritage

330 carry the Boarding School legacy. My Klamath/Modoc great aunt Lily Dixon was sent to

Chemawa Indian Boarding School in Oregon.

After listening to the stories of those who participated in the conference, the deep well of ancestral pain and sadness opened up within me all over again. This time, it was different, I was on the land with my Klamath/Modoc ancestors, and their power of consciousness surged through me. I knew this was what I needed. I was not going to heal from ancestral pain through traditional doctoring, or fasting, or doing a purification ceremony. I had to be with my ʼinniiko (relatives) and come together with understanding and compassion for each other because we know very well what it is to be “Indian.”

Every day at the G.O.N.A. conference was a ceremony. That aspect of the conference produced agency towards my healing. Also, a very personal beneficial aspect to attending the G.O.N.A. at Klamath Falls was that my husband was able to go with me.

When I attended in Santa Rosa over twenty years ago, I attended alone. Experiencing a resurgence of ancestral knowledge and history within a community context can be extremely transformational. If there is no processing time during and after the experience, it can be difficult transitioning back into everyday society.

During the experience with the Klamath/Modoc community, my attending husband was there to listen and support me during the processings. The community was welcoming and supportive as we all came together in understanding. From that experience, I was able to make contact with valid committee members to help me connect with my great grandfathers’ relatives.

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I can not reveal what took place during the conference because it was held within the ceremonial context and only pertinent to those who were participating in the experience.

Before foreign contact Indigenous people came together for celebrations and to exchange resources, songs, dances, stories, ceremonies and potential wives and husbands.

After contact, even though many North Central Indigenous Californians may have been living in Russian Trader Forts, in the missions, in rancherias, or in hiding, they would clandestinely meet and come together in ceremony for healing.

Bean 1992, Sarris 1993, Parkman 2006, discuss spiritual secret societies that took place before contact throughout California. The undercurrent premise for such gatherings has been to maintain a balance of life, and for the healing needed that dedicated practitioners had maintained and administered throughout time.

In the 1990 documentary, The Heart of the World: Elder Brother’s Warning,

British historian and filmmaker Alan Ereira refers to the Kogi from the Tairona culture of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. There on Santa Marta, the highest coastal mountain in the world, resides an ancient secret priesthood, where young initiates, approximately one to two years of age are trained for 18 years in the darkness within the Volcanic Santa

Marta. Ereira says the initiates are metaphorically gestated in the womb of the great mother called Aluna (ʼununni ʼunu) and mentored into the culture of their society.

The Kogi believe that the great mother’s commandments are for the care of all things in nature, and her law of balance. The initiated, who are referred to the Kogi as

Mamas, and also termed the Elder Brothers, are in the consciousness that their prayers maintain the ecological and the cosmic balance in the world. The Mamas referred to

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Ereiros, as their younger brother. The Mamas say something very similar to many

Indigenous prophecies that one day the younger brother will wake up, but only when the violence of nature is on top of him.

I believe that the Kogi are contemporary equivalents and examples of the many traditional North Central Indigenous California secret societies of the past. Spiritual practices were held together by a dedicated group of individuals that assisted in maintaining balance within their landscapes and communities. When they could no longer continue their activities because of the devastation caused to their people and their environment by settler colonization, (such as the outlawing of spiritual practices, and the loss of many of the members lives), few of such groups existed, or were known. It was during such catastrophic events as the California Gold Rush, and when California became the 31st State in the Union, that Indigenous people took it into their hands to find ways to call upon ʼununni ʼunu to help them heal.

In the 2012 documentary Aluna, after twenty years, Ereira states, that unless the destruction of the planet ends, there will be no place for any humans to continue to live on Earth. From an indigenous perspective, if everything that is an environmental relative ceases to exist, there will be no desire nor capacity for many indigenous species to live in their original environment. For this reason, Indigenous peoples seek ways of healing and try to come together for balance towards hinak towis hennak while they are still alive.

In the 1860’s when my twice great grandparents were born, the surviving

Indigenous adults saw their children’s mortality rate drop as well as their Elders and parents dying. They did not have the past to hold onto nor a future to envision. It was in this desperate state of existence that North Central Indigenous peoples sought each other

333 to mourn and to heal. Primarily it was the remaining people who still insisted on living the traditional ways that encouraged a movement to find other survivors. Parkman mentions in Dancing on the Brink of the World,

It was similar men and women who had led the original resistance against the non-Indian invaders; it was they who had led the original clandestine ceremonies during the mission internment, and it was they who seized upon the Ghost Dance as a mechanism for regaining their grasp on the people. (167)

Parkman 1992, Debois 1939, Kroeber 1904, analyze the various reasons why

North Central Indigenous California sought the Ghost Dance. Though articulated differently, they were for all the reasons that this dissertation has illustrated such as deprivation of identity, deprivation of homelands, and no conscious ability towards hinak towis hennak. Most non-Indigenous researchers rationalize that when there is an extreme deprivation of life, people resort to religion. Parkman reiterates this, “Religion is, in part, a social mechanism for controlling the various effects of cumulative stress (163). I believe this was valid during the European Dark Ages when the Church gained a foothold in the minds and hearts of the suffering agrarian peasant populace.

Perhaps from a consensus Parkman’s statement is valid, but when trying to voice an Indigenous perspective about the subject, I must disagree. Indigenous North Central

Californians have not lived without an equal spiritual element parallel to the mundane in their lives. With all the other aspects of their lives removed, the only standing component to their cultural anatomy is spiritual. The spiritual was the only aspect of life at the time that could bring the people back to the place of imagination and hope, between the horizons of life and death.

With very few Elders existing at the time, there was a great need to communicate with the spirits of the dead through visions. Traditionally, visions are activated through a

334 private quest to contact ʼununni ʼunu through fasting. During the mid-1800’s, it was not safe for an Indigenous person to be alone when California Native Americans were hunted, kidnapped or outright murdered.

Another manner to induce vision is through ceremony for promoting a state of what Womack calls “being touched by medicine.” During the diasporic state of North

Central Indigenous California, the people sought visions of family members, or answers for reasons to live, or guidance towards cultural wisdom, or to be with other Indigenous people who were grieving. Spirituality was an element, but coming together was the most valuable component to assist in living and healing for North Central Indigenous

Californians.

It was during such confusing and disillusioning times for Indigenous Peoples in the west that many visionaries appeared at gatherings to inspire and to help the people endure the traumas and losses. Traditional gatherings take place during harvesting events. For Californians, it is during the fall season when foraging and harvesting acorns take place. It is also the season when the Paiute harvest Pinon nuts. At traditional harvesting events, there is dancing and ceremony.

Northern Paiute visionary Wobziwob, whose name translates as “White hair” had become initiated into shamanism as an Elder. According to Dubois,(3), Willard Parks researched the Paviotso speakers of the Northern Pyramid Lake region, and his consensus was that Paviotso shamans traditionally acquired a spiritual path as a healer and visionary during the Elder years. It was common, for both Paviotso men and women to be spiritual initiated during Elder maturity.

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There is little known historically nor through oral narratives about Wodziwob, other than that he was from the Paviotso Paiute from the northern Nevada Plateau community. In the research of ethnographer Cora Dubois, she assigned Wodziwob as the founder of the first Ghost Dance movement that originated in Paviotso Walker Lake region of Nevada that spread into the Washoe, Paviotso of the Pyramid Lake reservation.

The movement quickly spread to Southern Oregon and Northern California Indigenous communities.

Wodziwob may have been the first prophet documented by ethnographers regarding the movement, but there were many after including the famous 1890 prophet

Wovoka. I would also speculate that there were many before but were not officially documented. 191 Characteristic of the movements were Dreamers who received messages or visions in dreams of the future or were shown what could be done to offset colonial oppression by reviving spiritual aspects of Indigenous culture. Charismatic visionary

Wodziwob shared his dream premonitions and would demonstrate what Dubois calls the

“immediate supernatural phenomena” (Dubois, 1). Many of her research “informants” in

The 1870 Ghost Dance proclaimed that the proselytizers could return souls from the dead, as well as control weather. Such activities induced belief in visiting participants as well as distinguished within future proselytizers the characterizations of prophet authenticity.

A return of the dead was the emphasis on the early 1870’s movement. I doubt that there was not one individual living during the Ghost Dance movement era who was

191 Robert Heizer, A California Messianic Movement of 1801 amongst the Chumash. A Chumash woman in the mission at Santa Barbara has a vision and says that the people will die if they do not denounce Christianity. 336 not going through a loss of a family member. The disheveled appearances of cropped hair and pitch covered faces emphasized the conditions of apathy.

My hypothesis is that many Dreamers from the various regions traveled to the

Ghost Dance gatherings to participate, and returned home to introduce and revise what they experienced to fit their cultural ideologies. I would also add that proselytization is not an Indigenous trait. Spirituality is a very personal and private affair within traditional

North Central Indigenous California practices. With the immense destruction of lives and culture, and the influence of the Christian world of paradise and an afterlife, proselytization of the spiritual that is emphasized in Christian sects like Pentecostalism and the Shakers, were what Indigenous survivors came to embrace at the time.

According to Dubois, The Ghost Dance began with a premise to seek the return of the dead loved ones, and the movement eventually transitioned into the Christian influenced Earth Lodge, that emphasized the end of the world. Therefore, semi- submerged lodges were built for protection. The Earth Lodge transformed to the Bole

Maru movement that combined efforts of the Hokon Pomo and the Penutian Hill Patwin communities which stressed the afterlife and one supreme being. The Bole Maru was initiated by the dreams of a Dreamer, who was visited by the dead and was instructed to facilitate a ceremony. It was also considered a more secularized revitalization of the

Patwin Hesi Dance.192

Within contemporary Indigenous North Central California, the Big Head ceremony is a renewal rite derived from influences of the Ghost Dance and Kuksu enactment from an ancient secret society. Practiced near the summer solstice, the Big

192 S.A. Barrett, “The Wintun Hesi Ceremony”, American Archeology and Ethnology. 337

Head has predominantly become more secularized as a survivor of the old world. Unlike

Dubois, I believe North Central Indigenous California ceremonies were not transitionings of the Ghost Dance, but rather interpretations and revisions of the more popularized

Ghost Dance. I believe the movement was an ascending spiral within Indigenous history, where all that arose were transformational aspects that continued to connect the people to a mythology of the ancestors.

Dubois notes (11) in “The 1879 Ghost Dance” that Modoc Captain Jack participated in Ghost Dance gatherings in 1870. A year later he was fighting the U.S. cavalry in what is “coined” the “Modoc War” in Western history. It was a U.S. cavalry attempted massacre on the Modoc people who were fighting for their lives to live within their traditional homelands. Captain Jack and his family of followers must have felt the power of Spirit during the Ghost Dance for the needed courage to face the U.S. cavalry.

I understand the impetus of Spirit in the midst of Indigenous relatives supporting each other with love and positive reinforcement. I experienced such a bonding at the

Klamath/Modoc Healing Conference. With love and healing, I felt injected with the spirit of the ancestors, and with them, there is the strength to deal with the present day chaotic social consciousness.

Within Christian spirituality, there is a focus to travel to a land of paradise or to a spiritual counterpart of what Indigenous people knew as their homeland world before foreigners came and destroyed it. With an alignment with the Ghost Dance, there is no desire to leave a devastated Earth. Rather there is a desire to call to the ancestors for their guidance so that life can continue, for their loved ones to return, and for assistance towards healing.

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A poignant song written by the Indigenous women’s singing group Unity, from

Ontario Canada. Unity consists of Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe community members and is reproduced here. The lyrics explain the value of what Indigenous people feel towards their ancestors. The Title of the song is Ghost Dancer:

I'm a ghost in this land

Dancing high above the Earth

I am calling to you

I am calling

I'm a ghost in this land

I am dancing all around you

I am calling to you

Don't forget me

We are ghosts in this land

We are dancing all around you

We are calling to you

We are your history. (Unity)

ʼEnyak ʼOppoy: Long Walk

Many North Central Indigenous California people traveled days to attend a Ghost

Dance ceremony to receive a vision. “To receive a glimpse of a loved one in a vision that fueled the visionary to go on living (Marcus, 2011: 51).” The need to hold a vision of the ancestors is what has fueled many efforts of Indigenous sovereignty since contact.

Though the Ghost Dance movement did not bring back loved ones or make the Earth renewed to what it was before the foreigners came, it brought Indigenous people together

339 from the Coast of Oregon and California, and across the western territories. The Ghost

Dance revived spirituality with recultivated dances and shared songs from the various groups in the movement. Many Dreamers emerged within the communities in Northern

California to relive a connection to the ancestors.

In the 1940’s after WWII during the relocation era, transplanted Native

Americans came to live in California from communities hundreds and some thousands of miles away. Legislative agenda for the Relocation program’s success was to assimilate the immigrated Native Americans into colonial society. Despite the assimilation efforts,

Native Americans found each other in the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. They developed intercity communities to sustain their Indigenous cultures. Like Tamalko

Jacquelyn Ross’s experience in her early years in academia, she was not looking for other

Indigenous North Americans, but the assimilation plan that was to break the culture brought Indigenous peoples together.

The relocated Indigenous peoples converged within urban communities and developed a voice that began a fight for Indigenous Civil Rights. Indigenous homeland communities throughout the continent were fighting to maintain sovereign fishing and hunting rights for their survival. Also, they were voicing unbearable living conditions on reservations, and they were struggling for religious freedom to practice traditional ceremony. In California, divergent Native Americans joined and created a Pan American

Indigenous community to confront colonial society. A takeover of Alcatraz Island was the catalyst that spurred a call to action regarding treaty rights. The movement began with a group of predominantly Native American academics who called themselves

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“intertribal” Indians who were from San Francisco State University as well as members of A.I.M., the American Indian Movement.

Cherokee Wilma Mankiller was a San Francisco State University student who participated in the Alcatraz takeover. Mankiller, in Mankiller, a Chief, and her people, a biography of Mankiller, mentions her time in California and the issues Indigenous people were fighting. She later returned to her homeland of Oklahoma to support her Cherokee community and become the first woman Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Many Native

Americans who participated at Alcatraz eventually returned to their homeland communities to work and support their nation’s sovereignty.

Alcatraz Island, in the San Francisco Bay, was a shared territory of the Ohlone and Tamalko. Today it takes 25 minutes by ferry to get from San Francisco Bay (Ohlone territory) to Alcatraz, and 28 minutes from Sausalito (Tamalko territory). According to the National Park Museum Management Program website on Alcatraz Island, “Oral tradition indicates that the island may have been a place of spirituality and healing.”193

Whose oral tradition?

Ironically there is little documentation about Alcatraz that mentions its connections to Indigenous peoples other than the 1969 intertribal takeover. If there is, such as the Legends of America, a tourist website, there are no references either academic or Indigenous attached to such statements like “Indigenous Ohlone and Tamalko used

Alcatraz to banish people”.194 Such statements use contrived mythologies to encourage tourism by the “prison” intrigue attraction.

193“Indian Occupation,” Alcatraz Island. 194 “California Legends: The Long History of Alcatraz Island.2003,” Legends of America. http://www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-alcatraz.html 341

Also mentioned on the website is “a number of” Native Americans were held on

Alcatraz from 1873 to 1895.” A short statement mentions that there were Hopi

“unfriendlys.” Consequently, the site does not address the reasons the nineteen Hopi men were incarcerated for a year on November 25, 1894, at Alcatraz. According to NARF,

(pg. 6) the Hopi men were trying to stop the U.S. Cavalry from taking their children, where 150 Hopi children were removed from the Hopi community and placed in Indian

Boarding Schools.

Research is underway to determine what happened to the Hopi men and their families. With this information, I hope to inspire future research investigation as to how many Native Americans were imprisoned at Alcatraz, and their histories.

Alcatraz was a fortified prison after the Mexican-American War, and during the

Civil War, Confederate soldiers had been held prisoners. Incidentally, additional documentation alludes to the idea that Alcatraz was always a prison starting with

Indigenous peoples. I do not believe this true. Alcatraz became a penitentiary after the

U.S. military designated it to be a prison. Banishment, does not mean incarceration; it means exiled, not allowed back into the community. Isolated spiritual areas are usually spiritually charged and intended to be approached with conscious intention, respect, and with minimal visitations. No one would be exiled to such places.

Volcanoes National Park in Hawaiʻi at Halemaʾumaʾu (summit caldera of

Kilauea) is a spiritual place and known in Hawaiʻian myth story as the goddess Pele’s home, where traditionally only the Aliʼi (rulers) and the kahunas (holy people/priests) would visit. Now, overtrodden by tourists.

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At Bulyum Pulyuk (Mount Shasta) Panther Meadows (where thousands of New

Agers have assaulted the grounds), the Winnemem are making efforts to work with the

Forest Department to rehabilitate the habitat from the damage. The traditional Winnemem only visit the meadow during the annual Coonrod renewal ceremony, and only those who are adults can attend. Winnemem children and adolescents are not admitted in the meadow, as they do not have the maturity or consciousness to be there. With this knowledge, would a community have banished members on holy ground? In reality, seldom were members banished from communities. The community would rather help to heal perpetrators and bring them to a place of balance for the benefit of their families and the future of the people.

Regarding Alcatraz in 1969, I believe the Spirit of Indigenous North Central

California ancestors spoke to Mohawk Richard Oakes and the Indigenous students who were attending San Francisco State University to take a stand for Indigenous sovereignty.

Unfortunately, Oakes’ twelve-year-old daughter died at Alcatraz by a fall. Oakes and his

Kashaya/Pomo wife Anna left the takeover. According to Kent Blansett,

Oakes established the first wave of organizational leadership that defines the Red Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s. His assassination in 1972 galvanized the Trail of Broken Treaties march on Washington, D.C., and unified a movement that eventually ushered in the era of self-determination in the mid-1970s.195

Ken Blansett states in his dissertation, A Journey to Freedom: The Life of Richard

Oakes, 1942-1972 that Oakes’ efforts exposed the deep and diverse foundations of the larger Red Power movement that informs contemporary definitions of Native politics and

195 Kent Blansett. A Journey to Freedom: Richard Oakes and a History of Red Power. UMass Boston website. 343 sovereignty. I would add that Native politics and sovereignty includes all Indigenous concerns and therefore, must always be attended.

Richard Oakes and Wilma Mankiller relocated in California to better their lives.

In doing so, they reactivated their ancestral connections by meeting other Native

Americans. Joining with Indigenous people from throughout the North American continent they began a healing that became a political movement towards a national

Indigenous sovereignty. The 1969 Alcatraz takeover did not accomplish the demands of the students as it became complicated with many outside non-Indigenous groups who eventually overran the event.

Mohawk Doug George- Kanentiio said, “Richard's group had the idea of making the abandoned prison into a center for learning, a place of healing.”196 I do not believe a center was necessary. Alcatraz was the catalyst for public initiative and awareness that started the long slow walk with the ancestors toward change in colonial society. As long as the people continue to come together, they continue the movement.

Subsequently, The Trail of Broken Treaties in 1972 was a caravan that began in

Seattle WA and San Francisco CA. Along the trail east, caravans picked up Native

Americans from reservations across the country as it journeyed to Washington DC. A proposed document was presented to the government with twenty points of address.

Addressed requests were all based on legal treaties, though broken, are continually being addressed: To provide protection for Indian religious freedom and cultural integrity, provide funding and support for health, housing, education, employment, and economic development. Through the consistent efforts of Elders, Aunties, Uncles and the growing

196 Doug George- Kanentiio. Richard Oakes, the Mohawk and his Path to Alcatraz Island. Jan. 9, 2010. News From Indian Country Today 344

Raconteurs, the points of concern have slowly been in the motion of accomplishment for the benefit of contemporary and future members of Indigenous communities.

In 1978 after a case in Oregon went to the supreme court, the American Indian

Freedom of Religion Act was passed allowing Indigenous people to practice their religion as everyone else. Nonetheless, the supreme court ruling allowed Indigenous peoples to practice their spirituality under conditions within the government's control regarding objects of use, such as eagle feathers, bones and peyote.

An additional case in California went to the supreme court from the Yurok, Karuk and Tolowa communities within the Siskiyou National Forest, Lyng v. Northwest Indian

Cemetary Protective Association. The Northern communities were fighting to protect their sacred ceremonial lands at Chimney Rock. The Forestry Service proposed to cut a

200-mile road through the Indigenous communal spiritual environment to harvest 783 million board feet of timber over eighty years. According to Bowers and Carpenter,

The Forest Service estimated that 76 logging and 92 other vehicles would travel through the Chimney Rock area every day. (Bowers, 505)

Spiritual areas, Chimney Rock, and Docter Rock would then become separated where traditional doctoring Elders go to gather medicines and seek spiritual guidance. The spirit of the land would be destroyed if this division occurred.

Environmental groups and allies supported the fight along with other Indigenous communities. After fifteen years of fighting the State, and then the Supreme Court, the

Supreme Court case ruling in 1988 stated that despite the land in issue was on reservation land, the United States was the owner of the land and could do what it wanted with the

High Country (Bowers, 522). Exhausted of funds, the Indigenous communities, and their allies took to educating the public about the lack of constitutional protections for spiritual

345 sites and religion. The situation became a National concern. Two years after the Lyng v.

Northwest Indian Cemetary Protective Association case, Congress passed the Smith

River National Recreation Area Act of 1990. The Act protected the entire High Country.

Consequently, in 1994, the AIFR American Indian Freedom of Religion Act was amended, The amendment allowed the utilization of items of worship such as eagle feathers and bones as well as peyote buttons (which have been a traditional sacrament in the American Indian Church originating in the southwest and Mexico). With the amendment, rights included were: access to sacred sites, freedom to worship ceremonial and traditional rights, and the use and possession of objects considered sacred.

The Lyng case set precedents regarding Indigenous religious concerns.

NAGPRA, Native American Grave Repatriation Act, was enacted because of the AIFR act, where graves, bones and objects found on predominantly public sites where construction may take place, has set parameters and protocol for artifact retrieval procedures between Indigenous communities and the state and government. NAGPRA also makes it a criminal offense to traffic Native American human remains or Native

American cultural items. Penalties may include a year incarceration and $100,000 in fines. However, there is still no protection for Indigenous spiritual sites, traditional cultural areas, and resources. Each situation regarding the protection of Indigenous designated spiritual sites is approached on an individual basis.

A similar situation occurred with Canadians First Nations regarding the recent

Omnibus Bills C-38 and C-45 that would greatly affect First Nations sovereignty and their environments. The bills were passed in 2012 without First Nations consultation.

The Bills made no revisions to the Indian Act that mirrors the U.S. Termination Act,

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which can destroy any First Nations sovereign rights in Canada while also dismantling

protections regarding the lands and waterways in reserve territories.197

Ultimately, the Omnibus Bills-like the Termination Act-benefits corporations and private enterprise. For Indigenous peoples, it is the overt attempt to terminate unilaterally not only Indigenous people’s political relationship with Canada but their traditional lifeways (RT American 2013 qt. in Marcus 2015: 898)

It was this style of political maneuvering that aligns with how the U.S.

government and especially how the Supreme Court handled the Lyng v. Northwest Indian

Cemetary Protective Association case. Yurok Abby Abinanti, who is now the Chief Judge

in Yurok Tribal Court, says, “Lyng was a complete moral and legal disregard of religious

freedom (Bower 532).” Both U.S. Indigenous and Canadian First Nations stories of the

struggle for sovereignty outrightly reiterate Manifest Destiny principles of conquest.

Bowers and Carpenter say about the Lyng case:

Having already seized the Tribes’ land, the government was now free to destroy their culture, and not even the First Amendment could stop them. (532-533)

Neither stories thus far have ended in disaster. The Yurok, Karuk, and Tolowa

communities banded together along with their allies. The First Nations gathered and

demanded peacefully to be heard with marches, blockades, rallies, and publically re-

enacted the Ghost Dance’s cultivated “round dance.” “The Idle No More Movement”

swept the country and into the United States. Indigenous peoples throughout the world

stood up together and danced into the space of imagination and change.

The Siskiyou forest is preserved, and the new Canadian Trudeau government has

publically pledged more support to First Nations with an assuming campaign to clean up

197 Diveena Marcus, Indigenous Activism beyond Borders, South Atlantic Quarterly. Duke University Press. 114:4. Oct. 2015, 897-898 347 the assaults on the environment and First Nations sovereignty from the former Harper regime.

Conclusion: Muyyen Kennetto: All Together/Belonging

Nelumbo Lutea is a perennial aquatic plant that lives for many years, existing and continuing in the same way for a long time. Lutea’s submerged cycle during the winter season enables her to mature. She is considered to be in her dormant stage during the winter. Definitions for being dormant from dictionary.com within a biological definition are: in a state of minimal metabolic activity with cessation of growth, either as a reaction to adverse conditions as part of an organism's normal annual rhythm and temporarily inactive referring to a volcano as not erupting.

For thousands of years, Indigenous people existed in the same way until European contact. Despite the considerable mild climate in California, in comparison to the rest of

North America, North Central California does have a winter season where traditional

Indigenous communities spent their winters in predominantly closed quarters. Winter’s relevant passage was a time to renew, to learn philosophical aspects of the culture by the influence of the Elders and story-telling. Winter was a natural state of seasonal dormancy that insight traditional intellectual knowledge.

When settlers colonized the environment, much like Nelumbo Lutea’s reaction to adverse conditions as part of her normal annual rhythm and become dormant, North

Central Indigenous California communities were affected by extremely adverse conditions and became inactive by submerging their culture to survive in their territories.

They, as Indigenous peoples became dormant.

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Indigenous North Central Californians were deeply submerged in dormancy for more than fifty years by the enforcement of the Termination Act. Before and during the termination period, in a state of dormancy, many of the people were gestating into a consciousness of maturity. They grew up to understand how to be a human being by releasing the painful aspects of their cultures that did not fit into the settler environment.

Survivors who continued to walk through this transformational experience held onto their visions and imagined a re-cultivated future for those of their children and grandchildren.

They let go of what did not exist for them but held onto the dream for the generations to come. Like w Jenkinson’s words:

Human beings are here to be sure that life lives on and that the world somehow continues. Whether your life continues is not the bottom line to it. That's the beginning of growing up. (Uemura)

For Indigenous North Central Californians, growing up is surviving and learning how to be a human being. It was during the process of surviving that the dominant populace had a mindset that Indigenous Californians did not exist. On the other hand, when the environment and ancestral relatives are threatened, or when the remnants of cultural heritage are on the verge of extinction, then like the voice of an erupting dormant volcano, Indigenous people are noticed. They come together as one force of power.

Then settler society realizes that they do exist.

Despite the dormant invisibility of North Central Indigenous Californians, the activity of Indigenous social change and transformation has been generated from their territories. I believe it is the power of our ancestors who had to endure atrocities for hundreds of years but whose spirit imagined our futures regardless of their lost lives.

Like the Indigenous singing group Unity’s song Ghost Dancer, our ancestor’s Spirit resides in the land and the living breath of the environment with ʼununni ʼunu. 349

Therefore, outsider Indigenous cousins who came to live in our territories can feel the ancestors and are touched by their spirit of strength and power. The ancestors endured for us. When we stand, we stand with them.

It was one hundred and forty-five years ago when my ancestors sought each other to participate in the Ghost Dance. In 1776, settlers who were persecuted religionists proclaimed our land as theirs, a land they had no relationship with or cognition of. In

1804, the Corps of Discovery Expedition lead by Merriweather Louis and William Clark forged across the West and created the Oregon Trail to discover what kind of country they would be colonizing. It was on this expedition that the world of Indigenous peoples of the West was injured and denigrated, and the attitude of Manifest Destiny became the creed of America.

The creed of the Earth is ʼununni ʼunu and a relationship to live hinak towis hennak. Relationship is the first requisite within Indigenous North Central California consciousness. From the premise of relationship, all else that is a part of it supports it. A relationship will not last without respect, nor if each person that is a part of the relationship does not take on the responsibility to care and keep it alive. When there is gratitude for the value of the relationship, then it is honored, and something is given back to the world and community to benefit those in which the blessings of that relationship belong to, the ancestors, the Elders and the family,

It takes courage to have an honest relationship. It takes courage to commit to honoring for all the days of one’s life. Wuskippa (respect) is what the ancestors taught us, and is the legacy and power of North Central Indigenous consciousness in which we strive to have the courage to uphold. As long as we can reach for our ʼinniiko (relatives)

350 and our Indigenous neighbors and cousins, we will continue to stand up with our ancestors and imagine their dreams and memory, and we will continue to travel with the map they have marked with their footsteps before us.

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SECTION V – VISION

Figure 13. Source: Nelumbo Lutea Author: Altairisfar 2 August 2011. Description: American Lotus (Nelumbo Lutea) in bloom on Lake Dannelly, Millers Ferry, Alabama. attribution By Altairisfar (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons [[File:American Lotus (Nelumbo Lutea) 01.jpg|American Lotus (Nelumbo Lutea) 01]] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AAmerican_Lotus_(Nelumbo_lutea)_01.jpg

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CHAPTER 10 - Conclusion: Pakan Yewen: Fragrance of the Flower

California is a myth. California doesn’t exist. In 1848, there was a constitutional convention and a bunch of drunks put a line around some land, and they called it California. It doesn’t reflect anything. It doesn’t reflect topography. It doesn’t reflect culture. It was completely random and completely idiotic. – Malcolm Margolin198

Ironically Indigenous Californians are not Californians. They are Tamalko,

Ohlone, Wintu, Nomlāqa, Maidu and many others. California was created in a fictional

story, “Las Sergas de Esplandian” by Castilian, Garcia Ordonez de Montalvo about an

island paradise ruled by a Black Amazon Queen named Calafia. De Montalvo’s 14th

century romance novels were about adventures and riches, and no doubt a catalyst for

Spanish explorers who used the novels to enticed their needed soldiers in joining them in

their exploitations.

California, was not in the imagination of Indigenous peoples. It only became part

of their lives as they had been forced to accept assimilation. When the Spirit of the

Ancestors speak to allies like Malcolm, or to Bill Richardson, (along with The Trust for

Public Land that returned homelands to Kashia/Pomo), imagination becomes reality, and

then the idea of California can be tolerated by Indigenous people. 199

The Akwesasne held onto the vision of their reality. They never gave up their

lands. Akwesasne homelands straddle New York State and Canada. In Canada, their

territories also border on two Canadian provinces, Ontario, and Quebec. International

boundaries divide the Akwesasne New York community, but the people still consider

themselves one community.

198 Malcolm Margolin, Being Ohlone in the 21st Century, 21 September 2014. Ohlone tumblr. 199 Good News Network. “Farmer Returns 700 Acres of California Coast to Native American Tribe.” Good News Network. 353

On May 17th, 2013, an exercise of sovereignty was led by the Akwesasne

Mohawk Nation. A proud Native American community walked with their Chiefs. The

Chiefs wore traditional feather headdresses, the women sang, rattles shook, and the drums beat as they walked from their American Reservation up to the Canadian border guards and presented the two-row wampum. Their Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs and their people enacted a demonstration of treaty rights for Native American Peoples’ free passage across the International Border.200

The Chiefs restated that their walk was in a path of peace and that they will continue to travel across the border to their Canadian First Nations family members, as it is their sovereign right. This act of Indigenous sovereignty reminds the people they will continue to live as they always have, with the strength of their ancestors. The Akwesasne hold as covenant their Treaties with the U.S. and Canada, in particular, the Jay Treaty that addresses passage between the International borders.

The Jay Treaty was established in 1794. It was a covenant between the British and the United States when the two countries were working to continue trade relations.

The Jay Treaty allowed British and Americans, as well as Native Americans and First

Nations to cross the international boundaries of both sides freely. However in 1956 the

Canadian government stated that the treaties were not made with Indian Nations and since have not honored the free boundary crossing for Native Americans at Canadian borders. 201

200 Katsitsionni Fox, Haudenosaunee Leadership. 201 “Border Crossings under the Jay Treaty.” Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Publication of the American Indian Law Alliance. The U.S. still honors the Jay Treaty for First Nations and Canadians to freely cross American Boarders. 354

In British Columbia, a similar act of sovereingty was diplayed by Chiefs of the

Gitksan and Wet’suwet’en of B.C. at the Canadian court case Delgamuukw vs. British

Columbia; “We do not seek a decision as to whether our system might continue or not. It will continue (Anderson R.).” Gitksan and Wet‘suwet’en illustrate that they are not going to put their lives on hold just because of a Canadian Parliament-court session or ruling.

Gitksan and Wet‘suwet’en have full consciousness that they have been handling the affairs of the land centuries before settler consciousness ever imagined “Canada.” They will not relinguish their sovereignty.

For Indigenous communities, rekindling solidarity is to commemorate history. In

California, the first memorial for the 1969 Alcatraz takeover was on its fortieth anniversary, November 20, 2009. Since then, there has been an annual gathering on the island.

The Round Valley Reservation in Covelo California consists of Yuki, Wailaki,

Nomlāqa, Pomo, Pit River, Konkow and Little Lake, among others. Community members annually walk the 100 mile commemorative Nome Cult March of their ancestors since its

100th anniversary in 1996.

Wailaki, Fred "Coyote" Downey, whose grandfather, at eight years old, was herded across the mountains by the U.S. cavalry, has walked the trail annually since the ritual began. Downey says:

The positive thing from this walk is the healing. We can learn a great deal, and our kids can learn a great deal. (Romney)

Teaching is not sheltering the children, but to be honest about their ancestral past.

Oral histories allow the ancestors’ presence to emerge amongst the living. The tragedies

355 of the ancestors are embraced by their memorial presence. The memory of the ancestors is Indigenous history. By remembering them, history is conducted ethically.

This dissertation honors and validates the ancestors by giving them respect within the broader historical context. Within the Indigenous context, the value of the ancestors and how they continue to live on in the life of the community is not in documentation.

Rather it is that their relatives can hinak towis hennak (make a good life). Memorializing ancestral histories is an example of how Indigenous North Central Californians continue to heal and make a good life despite the past. Memorializing Indigenous histories illustrates how hinak towis hennak is active in the contemporary lives of Indigenous

North Central Californians within settler society.

North Central Indigenous Californians were forced to labor for the invading settlers either in Missions, Rancherias during the Mexican regime, or in the mines and on farms and ranches during the American regime. Their lives were no different from their

Black cousins who were enslaved to labor for the early colonists.

For Indigenous North Central Californians, there remains a connection to their homelands and with the Earth. My great grandfather and grandmother were both ranch laborers, and their ancestors always looked to the Earth to care for their families.

From the ages of twelve to sixteen, I worked in the summers as a farm worker to raise the funds needed so that I and my siblings would have school clothes for the fall term. Working the land in rural Northern California during the summers was a way of life for many of the young people my age. If the harvest season was late, Junior High and

High Schools would delay their opening fall schedules so that the youth would be accessible to help with the harvest. I got to know and love my homelands by working

356 them, even if it was under the colonial thumb. Before contact in California’s abundant

“paradise”, my ancestors had always worked on their beautiful homeland with love.

Somehow within the imagination of De Montalvo’s romances about the intriguing and exotic land, there was a link to California’s uniqueness. With forty mountain peaks and twenty volcanos and a temperate zone from the desert to the subarctic, California’s peoples evolved as genetically diverse as their environment. California North Coast

Athabascan speakers developed elements of the Northwest Coast Cultures, and

California’s Shoshonean speakers of the South were influenced by New Mexico and

Arizona cultures.

Distanced from the rest of the eastern world by the separation of the Sierra

Nevada mountain range, Central California Penutian speakers developed in their unique and particular manner and were, for the most part, an equalitarian society, and the most distinctly Californian. My desire in presenting this research for Indigenous North Central

California people is to rediscover their distinct ʼinniikon hammako he papʼoyyisko, grandmothers and grandfathers. For the many foreigners on our homelands, I would like them to realize that my ancestors existed long before the Americans, the Mexicans, the

Russians, Spanish, Sir Francis Drake and even before the Egyptian pyramids were erected, and that we are still here.

Tamalko David Carrio remembers the narratives his mother told him about

Tamalko warriors who traveled across the Sierra Nevada mountains to join Plains

Indigenous communities as allies to fight against the railroad construction. This story reveals that Tamalko people were not an isolated people. They forged complex relationships and had very sophisticated ways of communicating.

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English author, D. H. Lawrence postulated on a consciousness of Indigenous

North Americans.

. . . their consciousness was fluid, not mechanically fixed, and the rarest impressions upon the physical soul, from the invisible ether, could pass on occasionally into uninterrupted consciousness. A people, or an individual, need only most delicately submit to the message which is being received all the time upon its own finest tissue, and it will be able to prophesy. (173)

I suppose while living in the Southwest, Englishman Lawrence was attempting to attribute stereotypical ideologies about Indigenous peoples, that Indigenous peoples are highly spiritual beings, and have special powers and illustrate what the rest of the human population can do. Realistically, Indigenous people are like everyone else. Just because someone has some Indigenous blood or ancestry does not mean he or she automatically has the abilities of the spiritual.

For instance, many contemporary Indigenous people want to be on equal ground with their settler neighbors in order to fit into the colonial paradigm. However, there is a resurgence of Indigenous people who seek the ancestors and choose a demanding journey and lifestyle in the modern world because they work very diligently to look at the world with a distinct vision, 720-degree vision.

Different ways of seeing the world is a lengthy prescribed protocol of being in the world with integrity. What helps the initiate to endure such prescriptions is that the sensory world has substance. Like the unforgettable scent of the Nelumbo Lutea’s flower, her sensorial essence holds meaning similar to what culture and heritage does for an Indigenous person.

I have learned to build relationships with my plant relatives by having a mother who always kept a garden and by also working the land as a laborer. In addition, because my sense of smell was the weakest of my senses, I wished to enhance it. 358

In smelling along with tasting, there is chemosensor. Chemosensor is the receptor process that detects environmental stimulai that connects to memory, identity, and scent is also present in dreams. It awakens the imagination which can form an entire picture from a particular scent. Though difficult to communicate, it is knowledge from the phenomenal world. Marcel Proust speaks of scent and taste that relate emphatically to an

Indigenous awareness:

When from the distant past nothing remains, after the beings have died, after the things are destroyed and scattered, still, alone, more fragile, yet more vital, more insubstantial, more persistent, more faithful, the smell and taste of things remain poised a long time, like souls, ready to remind us, waiting and hoping for their moment, amid the ruins of everything else; and bear unfaltering, in the tiny and almost impalpable drop of their essence, the immense architecture of memory.(47)202

Memories of the ancestors along with the presence of Elders in the community carry this spiritual phenomenon that Proust describes. Once a scent is detected there is instant spirit travel to its knowledge. Plants emit a fragrance, and the energy of that scent has helped me to be more conscious. It is a sensorial vision that contains a substantial substance that links the knowledge of the past, present, and future.

Cody Pata also asserts through Paskenta knowledge ways of propagating seeds.

Nomlāqa Culture Bearers knew what the soil needed to taste like in order to begin that relationship. The subtle aspects of the senses were traits of his ancestors.

Englishman Alan Ereira conveys to a colonial mindset the reasons Indigenous people seek their ancestors:

I think their notion of acquiring knowledge is opposite ours. Our notion is that each generation knows more than the one before. Their’s is that each generation knows less than the one before. (Aluna)

202 Marcel Proust, “Du côté de chez Swann” (1913) in: À la recherche du temps perdu vol. 1, p. 47 (Pléiade ed. 1954)(S.H. transl.) 359

Reclamation

This dissertation journey is the legacy that my ancestors left for me. Years ago I had given up the possibility of finishing my academic education, but when ka soli weleetak (my dream helper) as Nelumbo Lutea came as a vision, her fragrance was too beautiful, rich, haunting and powerful to ignore. Like the desire Turtle had for the women in Creek myth story, I desired Nelumbo Lutea’s presence in my life.

Unbeknownst to me I needed her promptings so that I would follow the map my ancestors had designed for me. Through her, I discovered my “line” of purpose in my life. My walk upon that “line” started with a beautiful experience of culture, music, and a reconnection to the land.

In the history of the Kashaya Pomo, whom many Tamalko are related, the

Kashaya were relocated onto a forty acre reservation parcel inland away from their cultural resources and oceanfront. Ka Tamalko ʼinniiko (my Coast Miwok relatives) were also removed from our oceanfront territory. For two hundred years, the Kashia lived away from their ocean home. In October 2015, 700 acres were restored to the Kashaya community. Prior to homeland restoration, Kashaya Martina Morgan says on KNTV news, “You know they still say we’re a coastal tribe but we really aren’t. Not until the moment we can touch the water again (Goodnews Network).”

The Earth and its elements are what make everything real for Indigenous peoples.

When I am upon the land and smell the air and feel the moisture of the fog and cool ocean breeze, I feel the strength of my ancestors. I am more in touch with myself than anywhere else. Experiencing the life spirit of the environment is what Martina meant, until she can be with the ocean, she is not fulfilled as an ocean Indigenous woman even

360 though the knowledge of her ancestors remind her that she is. The land, the ancestors, and the people are one.

When I discovered that ka soli weleetak was a North American Indigenous Lotus,

I also learned to acknowledge that she belonged to all of North America. I had to learn to look past all the facts that I had read documented by botanists, scientists, and researchers that Nelumbo Lutea is only endemic to Florida and an invasive species elsewhere. I learned to trust what the ancestors were teaching me and to question Western authority regarding the differences between the cultures.

I grew up as an Indigenous woman believing I was fortunate to have what I was allotted in my life. Daryl Babe Wilson says this more distinctly:

We are not supposed to have anything; we are not supposed to love each other and have tender feelings. We are supposed to be savages we're supposed to be crude and have a caveman mentality. (Westerman)

Wilson’s statement is derived from hundreds of years of propaganda germinated throughout the world. Much as I had been enamored by the works of British playwright

William Shakespeare, I have been enlightened by historical researcher and Japanese author Ronald Takaki, that Shakespeare was a racist and propaganda artist. In The

Tempest in the Wilderness: the Racialization of Savagery, Takaki illustrates that in 1623 during Shakespeare’s writing of The Tempest, the North American New World was undergoing exploration and colonization. To justify the taking of the land, The Tempest depicts Indigenous people of the environment as Caliban, the unwanted and deformed and degenerate offspring of a witch who had deposited him on a “deserted” environment.

Such propaganda has induced the settler mentality to justify the taking of the “New

World” because “savage degenerates” were the only inhabitants of the land who did not belong there. Takaki says: 361

[The] play provided a conclusive clue that the story was indeed about America: Caliban, one of the principal characters, was a New World inhabitant. ‘Carib,’ the name of an Indian tribe, had come to mean a savage of America, and the term cannibal' was derivative. (896)

Such ideologies passed into my consciousness and subconsciousness. I had no confidence to make a claim that I belonged to or possessed a relative as significant as

Nelumbo Lutea. I could easily believe a New Age “authority” on Native Americans who professed that the North American Indigenous flower was not the Lotus of sophistication and consciousness. Rather Indigenous people, who the colonists have referred to as unconscious children with primative and innocent attributes, have the Sun Flower designated as their flower of innocence and “ignorance”..

When I was able to speak with David Swann, I realized that Nelumbo Lutea was very similar to her sister Nelumbo Nucifera, who is a cultural icon to the exotic Oriental

Indigenous world. However, Lutea is prolific only to North America and truly is an icon for North American Indigenous consciousness. I realized that Lutea most likely had relationships with most Indigenous communities in North America and thus Tamalko ancestors. I believe that by Lutea being ka soli weleetak (my dream helper), her spirit and wisdom was guiding me to the path of my origins and was also allowing me to claim her as relative. That process took some years.

When that happened, I discovered the Klamath/Modoc origins of my great- grandfather. The myth story of my great grandparents is truly a North American

Indigenous Romeo and Juliet tragedy without the Shakespeare propaganda. Though an intriguing and unbelievable story, to give it justice, it can only be honored by being told on its own terms at another time.

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At this time, I am in the process of connecting to my Klamath/Modoc relatives, and until we have forged a link towards hinak towis hennak together, I must hold them and my great grandparents with respectful patience. Ultimately, I do believe that to vindicate all of our lives, our Modoc/Klamath and Tamalko grandparents story must be told.

In piecing the fragments of my heritage together, I have regained a stronger relationship to the land of my ancestors in California. I also gained a realization that my heritage is not only from California territories but that both my maternal third great grandfathers originate from the earliest histories of the American colonies. Further, my

European heritage can be traced to Scotland into the 10th century. Thus, the reality is that

I must diligently monitor my heart and mind to allow my Indigenous ancestors to have the opportunity to be present and embodied in my life.

Though I do not look white, I still have white settler ideology embedded in my personal constitution. This is a challenge for many North Central Indigenous

Californians. Confronting the settler consciousness within the Indigenous is a necessary process for healing towards hinak towis hennak. It is a diligent reflective process of what each Indigenous community must face dealing with the pressures put on them by the

Federal government and the dominant society.

Former tribal council chairperson Tracy Edwards from the Redding Tribe in

California comments on the challenges her community confronts with the dominant society:

Every session of Congress, every new legislature that is elected, every new business that we open. Every day it’s a challenge. Whether it’s about our sovereign rights as an Indian Nation, there is always someone out there that is challenging what we are doing. It’s an endless, tireless battle. It will be there for

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my children to fight and their children to fight. (Redding Rancheria: With the Strength of our ancestors)203

The commitment to maintaining an awareness of Indigenous issues in North

America must be a proactive effort within every community. If we become lax, complacency and the colonial mind can quickly replace an Indigenous consciousness because the promotional propaganda that is part and parcel of the colonial capitalist paradigm does not sleep.

The Tamalko community even if it was the farthest north of the missionized

Indigenous communities in California, the ancestors were assimilated into Christianized colonial ideologies and lost most of their Indigneous culture. Again, even though

Tamalko homelands are the smallest of all the Penutiam family territories researched, their significant territorial positioning was pivotal for pre-contact Indigenous communities and their relations. Historically the Tamalko were the gateway from southern Indigenous communities to the northern. It still is today, helping to come together and to celebrate our unique and vibrant cultures. Tamalko have not forgotten the kinship their ancestors had with their neighbors. This thesis supports in strengthening that memory.

Salish Kootenai D’Arcy McNickle reiterates Indigenous strength in Wind from and Enemy sky,

A man by himself was nothing, a shout in the wind. But, men together, each acting for each other as one - even a strong wind from an enemy sky had to respect their power. (McNickle, 197)

The roots for hinak towis hennak in North Central Indigenous California is not simply a political “treaty” that is an agreement between the peoples. There is a quality

203 The Redding Rancheria Documentary. Redding Rancheria: With the Strength of Our Ancestors. 364 that is within the DNA, as the substance of Lutea’s fragrance. When consciousness is one, a strong wind will not change the process of their determined “line” on the Earth.

Such a consciousness takes many generations to develope. This research illustrates that this consciousness is still alive within the lands of Indigneous North Central California.

When California Indigenous people listen to hinti wuskin ʼona (what the heart says) like the students who stood up at Alcatraz in 1969, or followed the Trail of Broken

Treaties Caravan from S.F. in 1972, or even the indigenous farm workers who stood up to colonial capitalism and exploitation with Ceasar Chavez in 1975, or the fight to protect

Chimney Rock in Northern California in 1984, or as recent as 2015 when young

Chiitaaabah Johson stood up for the ethical histories of her ancestors, they initiate change.

All movements mentioned enacted federal laws to benefit human and civil rights for Indigenous and minority peoples in California as well as for those throughout the

Nation. For some, California is the land of milk and honey, for the taking. In truth , the land also contains the blood and bones of many thousands of years of Indigenous ancestors whose Spirit calls for righteousness and healing.

Out of the nine research participants from five communities I visited, three communities represented were federal recognized and owned casinos.

Tamalko FIGR community recently opened their Graton Casino doors on Nov. 6,

2013, a month before I returned to California. Through the casino economy, FIGR is building bridges with connections to environmental communities such as the Occidental

Arts and community center, and forging sustainable relationships within ancestral homelands for future restorative projects. The city of Rohnert Park, Sonoma County,

365 and the state of California have benefitted by the donation of millions of dollars in funding from the Graton Casino. In the contemporary arena, the right and the ability for

Indigenous communities to exist is to have the funds to pay for their existence.

Traditional Indigenous reciprocity is not a political act; it is a fundamental aspect of

Indigenous consciousness. Therefore, when mandates demand payment, such compacts are respected. Hoarding does not allow the spirit of life to grow with ‘ununni ‘unu.

From the Rohnert Park-Cotati Patch publication dated September 19, 2013, it lists FIGR contributions just to the city of Rohnert Park:

Under an agreement between the city and the tribe earlier this year; the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria will give $5 million a year for general impacts on the city, $2.4 million a year for impacts to city services, $500,000 a year for public safety, $125,000 a year for gambling treatment and $50,000 a year for storm water runoff and $1 million to the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. (Welte)

Western society has a degraded outlook on gaming because of its association with organized crime. Floyd Redcrow Westerman says, “Society and the government are upset with Indians and casinos because they are more attractive when they are poor.” I believe it is because the uneducated populace is uncomfortable with the fact that Native

Americans are climbing the social and economic ladder. They feel threatened.

In pre-contact North Central Indigenous California where there was no “war” consciousness, the people came together to socialize. Before the 1987 Indian Regulatory

Gaming Act, which was brought forth by the Supreme Court case California v. Cabazon

Band of Mission Indians, it was well known in North America that Indigenous people have a passion for games and gambling, which existed for thousands of years within their cultures.

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Like almost all North American Indians, those of California were inveterate gamblers as well as enthusiastic participants in games that stressed skill, strength, endurance, and chance. (Maxwell, 271)

The Indian Casino industry has been a boom for Indigenous people who have been marginalized and forced into poverty and degeneration for generations. In the past,

I felt uncomfortable about the situation because my “white” clouded attitude regarding wealth generated by casinos was colored with the idea of unscrupulous methods of income acquisition.

What has developed through continual adjustments in Federal regulations within

Indian Casinos goes beyond what is “monitored” in the free enterprising non-Indigenous casino operations that only benefit the CEO oligarchy. However, in regards to Indian

Casino revenues, I have personally observed its benefits through the self-esteem of members in the FIGR Tamalko community.

As a returning academic, I have not been able to recognize the economic differences because of a dedication to poverty as a graduate student. I do however, understand the process of payment. To gain something of great value, there is a sacrifice whether is is through academia or within Indigenous traditional education.

When I wanted to learn traditional songs from a neighboring Kashaya Culture

Bearer, for payment he asked for my Great Auntie Kay’s abalone collection. I decided not to undergo the teaching because it was something that she would have to give up.

Regardless, she wanted to give everything she had, so I decided to trade for only two of her huge gunny sacks filled with abalone and clam shells. I realized that my great Auntie

Kay offered up such valuable treasures for the benefit of my teachings. I believe that knowledge can never be replaced nor be given a value when attached to such generosity and love. 367

The personal life I have sacrificed can not replace the knowledge and wisdom I have acquired in recultivating within me the knowledge to understand my North Central

Indigenous Californian grandmothers and grandfathers. I promised my great Auntie Kay on her death bed that I would continue to be of value to our people. The return to academia, a lifelong dream became the manner in which ka soli weleetak (my dream helper) directed me.

As an educator, I will continue to be guided by ka soli weleetak and the ancestors. The value I have found in the Biimaadizwin practicum within the Indigenous

Studies Ph.D. program at Trent University has inspired me to enact similar work in developing programs within Institutions and indigenous communities that include Elders and Culture Bearers as valued contributing facilitators. In reciprocity toward all the wisdom ka soli weleetak, and Nelumbo Lutea has given me, I commit to advocating the rehabilitation and protection of wetlands, as the habitat of Lutea is endangered within many Indigenous homelands. Presently I am building relationships with the forestry in

Northern California and Oregon to support the Klamath/Modoc’s Wokas Lily and her environment.

Oneida Mark Dockstator was a mentor at Trent University in the Indigenous

Knowledges courses. In 2014, Dockstator became the newly appointed president of First

Nations University, a federated college of the University of Regina in Saskatchewan,

Canada and the only First Nations University in Canada. Dockstator says the university mirrors First Nations Peoples:

What started as a modest experiment to provide aboriginal youth with ‘a bicultural, bilingual education’ has evolved into Canada’s only aboriginal, university-level institution. ‘We are not just a Native studies department or a

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mainstream university with a focus on indigenous learning,’ proclaims its strategic plan. ‘We are a completely Indigenous Institution.’(Tamburri)

A completely Indigenous Institution would utilize the knowledge of the ancestors, including representing Elders and Culture Bearers leading from an Indigenous perspective. That perspective would include honoring the dream time through creative expression, cultivating memory with oral histories, encouraging Spirit Travel through ceremony, inspiring Imagination through journeying and establishing and instilling pragmatic relations upon the land by developing relationships with endemic environmental relatives. Indigenous pragmatism, as John Mohawk reminds us in his discourse at the 2004 Bioneers, is in respectful and responsible reciprocity and that process is when we make sure we are benefiting those who have been benefitting our lives for centuries.204

Most importantly, when we utilize knowledges that our ancestors have left us, they can be integrated into society where the majority can learn to see from a 720-degree vision. A vision where the physical senses includes their spiritual properties. Nonetheless, this will not happen until the teachings are first sought through hinti wuskin‘ona (what the heart says) and are transferred by those who are in direct line of the ancestors, the

Indigneous people.

Kashaya/Pomo Chairman Reno Franklin says this statement best, regarding his homelands near Fort Ross seashore:

General public come to portions of this land, let Kashaya be the ones who educate them instead of somebody else educating them about us. (Good News Network)

204 John Mohawk. 369

The general public gets a small survey of the Kashaya community from Park Rangers when visiting the Fort Ross complex. Fort Ross was dominated by a very short Russian presence that took place from 1812 to 1842. When the Kashaya’s histories are from time immemorial.

It is about time the general public make themselves ready to be exposed to an ethical history of Indigenous communities. Now in a time of environmental concern, many may choose to be initiated into the wealth of Indigenous consciousness. Nancy

Turner, B.C. author of Earth’s Blanket, advocates the wealth within Indigenous consciousness.

I believe that wealth-real wealth- is found among people who have a sound sense of their place in the world, who link their actions and thoughts with those of others and who are strong, vigorous and co-operative actors in their communities and ecosystems. Rich are those peoples who balance the benefits they receive in life with the responsibilities they assume for themselves, their families and communities and their environment. Wealth dwells in people who know about, appreciate and respect the other life forms around them and who understand the importance of habitants for people and all living things. These teachings are deeply ingrained in many traditional societies and would benefit contemporary societies in general. (24)

Principles for Living by Hinti Wuskin ʼOna: What the Heart Says

In an Anishinaabe legend The Star and Water Lilies, by Frances J. Olcott, water flowers originate from the stars that have fallen to Earth holding vast knowledge filled with love. Lutea’s precious seeds when they are ready to recultivate, fall into the water and bury themselves in mud, only to ascend through difficult environments to reveal her beauty.

From an Indigenous perspective, all the components of Lutea’s constitution are equal in value and are held together like the petals that frame her beauty. Though they are different, they hold inseparable yet individual principals and aspects of her

370 consciousness. The foundation Lutea stands upon is the Earth and ʼununni ʼunu. Like the constitution of the flower, this foundation is inseparable, though different and individual in principals and aspect.

Hall’s study on the biology of Nelumbo Lutea states that there are approximately

7 to 13 petals in her bloom. I have discovered in this research journey 13 valued principals of Indigenous North Central California consciousness.

Relationship is the unspoken denominator, from whence all else becomes a part.

Relationship is imbedded within the principals of the Earth, ʼununni ʼunu and the ancestors. The rhizome and the seed reciprocal contain this central inseparable denomination. From this central foundation, life emerges and upon maturity, the attributes of life, as well as the apriori of inheritance, make up the frame of the bloom in

Indigenous consciousness that are represented in Lutea’s petals.

Thirteen principles and gifts that make up North Central Indigenous California consciousness are Spiritual Gifts: Dreams, Spirit Travel, Memory, Imagination,

Vision; Gifts and Lessons from the Earth and ʼununni ʼunu: Community and

Environment; Gifts and attributes from Life’s Journey: Respect, Reciprocity,

Openness, Transformation, Power, and Abundance.

Through an Indigenous perspective, gifts are the attributes that make up a human being. They may be unconscious but in the journey towards hinak towis hennak, they are learned and remembered as ancestral memory. The foundation of Indigenous consciousness is Relationship which is the lesson only found through life’s journey entwined with the Earth, ʼununni ʼunu and the ancestors. They are represented in the central reciprocal of her bloom, but their consciousness is known to originate in the

371 rhizome, within the unseen darkness of the Earth, a place where all Indigenous relationships began together.

In the process of life, each petal is significant in the bloom. Not one is of greater value or primary in the process of the journey. For the acomplishment of a bloom, it is imperative to listen to hinti wuskin ʼona. When the heart’s voice is acknowledged as a teacher (or the soul from the western perspective), the real journey begins. Then each traveler takes on an enormous responsibility to walk upon the path supported by relationships made within the community and the environment. This journey of purpose opens the traveler (who is always worthy and capable) to aspects and principals of initiation through transformation by the relationships made (or not made) in the search for hinak towis hennak. Like Lutea’s life journey, the map is already made. Where one travels to, is where one belongs and returns.

When hinti wuskin ʼona is continually respected in the search to hinak towis hennak, the gifts of ʼununni ʼunu are awakened and accessible. They are: dreams, spirit travel, memory, imagination, and vision. These gifts allow the traveler to know who they are and his or her personal spiritual power is realized in the world through the beneficial relationships made. When the traveler is conscious of these gifts of great value, then s/he knows s/he is rich in the world. S/he has wealth in her/his life.

The joy of sharing the journey and the wisdom of this consciousness in gratitude is the reciprocating factor in Indigenous consciousness; the traveler is then in league with the spirit of hammako he papʼoyyisko (the grandparents). In this fashion I have taken this research journey.

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The valuable principles I have gleaned on the map to remembering ka hammako he papʼoyyisko about Indigenous North Central California consciousness, I have presented in this research. My hopes are that my Tamalko ʼinniiko and the Tamal

Machchaw (Coast Miwok Language) learners will help to coin contemporary definitions to bring the principles of our ancestors as a living consciousness into our Tamalko lives.

As l I have mentioned earlier, there are no living fluent speakers of the critically endangered Tamal Machchaw. Most recently Dr. Richard Applegate, linguist of Tamal

Machchaw in the FIGR community, has completed an integrated language dictionary. To help the language be more fully useful, words have been borrowed from the neighboring

Lake, Plains and Sierra Miwok languages. Still, the dictionary is limited from such terms like art, religion, history, and terms related to consciousness. Such terminologies were not separate from our ancestors’ lives. Traditional practices included such meaningful lifeways, and were second nature. The ancestors did not question the significance of their lives because they were living it.

Nonetheless, the principles I have revisited have always existed. They carry significant meaning to hinak towis hennak within Indigenous North Central California. I believe the process of lifting principles out of dormancy by the use of the language can be the agency for contemporary Tamalko to ma pichas ‘ope ma hammako he papʼoyyisko (to remember once again our ancestors).

The stars fall to the Earth and grow despite difficult conditions just as Lutea’s presence and myth-story reminds us. Within colonial dominance Indigenous people learn to stand with courage for the love of ma hammako he papʼoyyisko (our grandmothers and

373 grandfathers). By exercising the courage to awaken out of our dormant past, traditional beliefs are strengthened with honor.

In the silence, Lutea grows and Indigenous consciousness awakens. The reemergence of North Central California Indigenous consciousness is the blooming of a magnificent Lutea flower. Within the strength of an awakened Indigenous consciousness, the waters will continue to flow, and the Earth will continue to spin with all peoples feeling the light and warmth of the sun.

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APPENDIX A - GLOSSARY OF TAMAL MACHCHAW (COAST MIWOK)

ʼalmuti hennak - taste of life ʼekette weyan hella chaamati chewwa: when the world had no wight ʼenyak ʼoppoy - long walk hinak towis hennak – to make a good life or making a good life hinti weyan ʼona - what the land says hinti wuskin ‘ona–what the heart says kenne soli – one dream ka molis – I am grateful ka weeyan muku - my ceremonial pathway kolli,ʼinniikon kiwa: Leaves, Ancestral Power ma ʼakkalaako - our stories ma hullu, ma missu: our roots, our beliefs muyyen kennetto: all together ʼossa sut ʼute – two eyes seeing ʼomchu walli – winter season pakan yewen - fragrance of the flower Soli ʼechchen weyatto: dream within the seed talas wuskippaamu - standing with respect Tamal machchaw– Coast Miwok language temneppa - doctoring/healing tootoyʼakkalaako – colonial/white man’s stories/ History ʼununni ʼunun yayyu - great mother’s call

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APPENDIX B

WUKI MA ‘INNIIKOOMU :FIREFROM OUR RELATIVES

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“A Play in Three Acts”

Diveena Marcus

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“Cast of Characters”

Heena: A boy from 10 to 12 years of age.

Kooya: A girl from 6 to 8 years of age.

Hamma: Grandmother

ʼUnu : Mother

ʼAppi: Father

Oyyin ʼOye: Old Man Coyote

Kuluppis: Hummingbird

Kule: Bear

Liilemmele: Eagle

ʼOle: Badger

Mata Kagmi 205: Sasquatch/Big Foot

“Scene”

“Coast Miwok Territory in Northern California”

“Time”

“Ancient Time”

205 Mata Kagmi is the name that the Modoc call Sasquatch, in honor of my Modoc/Klamath Great Grandfather I use this reference in this story. 402

ACT 1

Scene 1

SCENE: Sound of thunder and rain. Dimly lit stage.

AT RISE Only a voice is heard with narrative

OPENING NARRATIVE

ʼOYYIN ʼOYE (Off stage) The world has always been here. It has changed many times. Each time people have learned and lived upon the Earth. This is a story about Tamalko Coast Miwok when they, the first humans, came to be upon their homelands.

(Lights slowly up on stage right. A Coast Miwok family is gathering together for the night. Hamma is putting baskets away. ‘Unu is fixing blankets to lie down on. ‘Appi is putting his bow and arrow outside the dwelling for the next day. The children are playing a game with sticks and stones on the ground. All appear to be cold. (Sound Fades.)

ʼUNU Heena and Kooya come now. It is time to go to sleep.

HEENA Hah! I beat you!

KOOYA That’s not true! We weren’t even finished yet!

HAMMA Hurry. I’m cold. Your game will be there tomorrow. ‘Appi is ready to say our blessings.

ʼUnu (mother) It’s going to be another cold night so the sooner we come together, the warmer it will be.

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(The children leave their game and join their family. Heena goes to his mother and KOOYA goes to her grandmother. APPI puts bay leaf in an abalone shell and lifts up in prayer.)

ʼAPPI ʼOw, ʼununni ʼunu. Oh, Great Mother. Ma Molis, thank you for this day. Thank you for this world. Thank you for the water. Thank you for all the food you give us. We are happy in this land. We are very grateful for all the things you have given us. We only ask that you help us in the coming times ahead. We are cold. Protect us and show us how to live through this cold time. Be with us. ʼOw. Hamma (Grandmother): Ma molis

KOOYA Ma molis (most of the time being very sleepy with eyes closed)

ʼUNU Ma molis

ʼAPPI Ma molis

(Everyone huddles together and falls asleep. Heena wiggles out of his mother’s arms and takes additional bay leaves and places them in the abalone shell. Kooya is slowly waking and watching.)

HEENA We are grateful, Ma molis. (He kisses the bay leaf and replaces it in the abalone shell and goes back to ʼUnu)

(Thunder is sounding now and lights up on center stage revealing Old Man Coyote with his cane with an ear cone at his ear.)

ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE Eh?! What was that? I think I heard something or someone. What’s going on?

(Kuluppis dances into the scene. Kuluppis dances all around Old Man Coyote. Music is very magical.)

KULUPPIS Oh! Oh! Don’t you know?! You heard a prayer from good hearts! Most especially you heard a prayer from a child’s pure heart! Your new people are asking for help. They are cold.

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ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE Ohhhh. What am I going to do? Ohhh. What am I going to do? (Scratching his head) I was on the other side of the world having a good time lying in the sun on the beach. Wow is it cold! Kuluppis you got a point here. Kuluppis, what am I going to do? (Coyote sits down)

ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE Kuluppis, you know there was lightning at one time. Mata Kagmi up in the hills there to the east took a piece of it and made a fire. He has kept it going all this time. This fire will give power and strength to the people like Mata Kagmi. Ohhh, kuluppis, I need to call out to our animal people for their help.

(ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE takes out his clapper and sings a song to call out to the animals to come help him. During this song the Bear wanders on stage, Eagle wanders in on stage and finally Badger joins in as Kuluppis dances around Old Man Coyote as he sings them in.)

ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE Ka Molis. I am grateful you have come. All right this is the story… Our new people are suffering. We need to do something to help them so they can live and be happy here in our home. So I have decided we have to take the fire from Mata Kagmi. KULE OK! Let me at him! I’m gonna knock his lights out!

(KOOYA lets out a giggle and everyone hears her but can’t seem to determine where she is)

ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE Woe… Woe hold on now. Kule, you don’t realize who this guy is. He’s big, ʼomootak, really ʼomootak. Bigger than you kule. He’ll knock your lights out. No, no. I don’t think you’re the right person to do this.

(LIILEMMELE steps forwards and opens his wings wide)

LIILEMMELE ʼOyyin ‘Oyye, I’m the one to go. I’ll just swoop down on Mata Kagmi and grab a chuck of fire in my mighty talons. Then I will fly back and drop it down here.

ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE No way Liilemmele! Mata Kagmi is going to see you a mile away! You don’t want him to get angry and follow you here and do something to our people. I don’t think so. You’re going to have to stay put!

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‘OLE You know Oyyin ‘Oyye … let me go. Let me go! What I’ll do is grab the fire then I’ll hide it in the ground. Mata Kagmi won’t even know it is gone. I’ll dig through the Earth and pop up next to Mat Kagmi’s fire. I’ll grab the fire and I’ll take it in the ground. I’ll come back here so I won’t get burnt, and I’ll show you where it is.

ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE Wait a minute. That’s a good idea … But I’m sorry ‘Ole, that’s not going to work. By the time you come back here to show us where the fire is … the fire will go out. That’s not going to be a good deal.

(ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE sits back down and starts shaking his head. All the while the animals all together start to look at Kuluppis.)

ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE I don’t know what to do now! I don’t know what to do!

(All the animals start to raise their fingers to point at Kuluppis. ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE lifts up his head.)

ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE Ohhhh! Kuluppis! That’s right. You’re faster than anyone! All we need is a little, little, tiny bit of fire! You’re so fast. You could bring it back soooo fast! We can get going! Mata Kagmi won’t see you! You’re so small and you’re so fast! What a wonderful volunteer you are!

(KOOYA is laughing as all the animals give each other a high five.)

KULE Don’t worry Kuluppis. We won’t leave you alone.

‘OLE We’ll come with you for moral support.

LIILEMMELE We’ll watch your back.

(KULUPPIS starts to dance around all the animals and they start to sing a belonging song. KOOYA is also dancing in the edges with them all. Lights dim.)

(FADE OUT)

(END OF SCENE)

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ACT II

SCENE 1

(Well lit stage, early morning. MATA KAGMI is at his fire singing a song and putting bay leaves into his fire. (Song is about the blessings of the bay leaf its smell and its goodness around) KULUPPIS dances up to MATA KAGMI’S fire and around him. MATA KAGMI thinks KULUPPIS is a fly and grabs a fly swatter to smack at KULUPPIS. Fly swatting efforts do not work so MATA KAGMI tries to catch KULUPPIS. This is a dance that they do together. The rest of the animals are dancing softly in the background as well as KOOYA. KULUPPIS knows KOOYA has been around from the beginning. KOOYA dances to the fire (unbeknownst to MATA KAGMI) and shows KULUPPIS which piece to pick up. KULUPPIS eventually gets a hold of an ember and tucks it under her chin and dances away with MATA KAGMI after. MATA KAGMI spots the animals, and they get scared and run in all directions. MATA KAGMI is confused and also gets disoriented and wanders off stage. KOOYA is still at the fire and sings MATA KAGMI’S song. She then leaves to return home off stage.)

(FADE OUT)

(END OF SCENE)

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ACT III

SCENE I

(Back at home front. Family is still asleep. KULUPPIS dances onto stage with the fire ember. Eventually puts the ember into the buckeye tree. KOOYA arrives first and sees the glow in the buckeye tree. KULUPPIS dances around KOOYA, and then they both dance together. They embrace and KOOYA goes back to her family under her father’s arm. Wind starts to whistle. ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE enters stage, followed sporadically by the rest of the animals as well as the bewildered MATA KAGMI. The children wake up first.)

(KOOYA and HEENA look at the yawi, the Buckeye!)

HEENA Wow that is soooo cool!

KOOYA Go take some of the wood.

(HEENA goes to the tree to get the wood as the rest of the family is getting up for the day. Everyone is on stage watching HEENA in silence. KULUPPPIS is dancing and so is KOOYA. HEENA brings the wood back to front stage.)

HEENA OK Kooya so what do I do with these?

(KOOYA looks to KULUPPIS and KULUPPIS comes and whispers in her ear. KOOYA whispers to HEENA to rub the sticks together. HEENA does this at center stage. A fire starts. HEENA sits down and warms his hands. KOOYA joins him. The rest of their family approaches in wonder.)

ʼAPPI Heena my son I am so very proud of you. ʼUnunni ʼunu has guided you to give us this gift to help us.

(ʼUNU goes over to HEENA and puts her arms around him and kisses him.)

HAMMA Heena you are a blessing, how did you do this?

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(Kuluppis is dancing around Kooya and Kooya joins the dance. After she then returns to her family.)

HEENA Ka ʼaamo, my little sister Kooya told me.

ʼUNU Kooya, how did you know?

KOOYA Ka ʼoyyam, my friend Kuluupis helped us. (KULUPPIS is dancing amongst everyone and then goes towards ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE)

KULUPPIS I was very very happy to help. But, it was ʼOYYIN ʼOYE who told me to help you.

(ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE stays upstage with light up on him. As MATA KAGMI comes into view crying he is carrying his bay leaf branch. He places his bay leaf into the fire.)

MATA KAGMI I would have given you the fire. I did not know you needed it. I would have given it to you. (MATA KAGMI is crying the whole time)

(The entire family comes over to MATA KAGMI and comforts him. The animal people also comfort MATA KAGMI. KULUPPIS starts to sing a song, the Blessing Song. Kennum Hii. Everyone joins in. Light slowing fades off of ʼOYYIN ʼOYYE as he dances with his cane into the horizon off stage.)

(BLACK OUT)

(END)

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APPENDIX C - REB Research Consent Form Sample

CONSENT FORM FOR PARTICIPATION IN HUMAN RESEARCH AT TRENT UNIVERSITY

Title of Research: Title: HIYA ‘AA MA PICHAS ‘OPE: MA HAMMAKO HE MA PAP'OYYISKO (LET US UNDERSTAND AGAIN OUR GRANDMOTHERS AND OUR GRANDFATHERS) MAP OF THE ELDERS: CULTIVATING INDIGENOUS CONSCIOUSNESS IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

______you are being asked to participate in a study pertaining to Northern California Indigenous communities. This is a PhD dissertation study by Diveena Marcus, member of the FIGR California Indigenous tribe, who is attending Trent University in the PhD Indigenous Studies Program. This research will help us obtain a better understanding of an Indigenous well being derived from Northern California Indigenous consciousness based within the Penutian aboriginal language family.

You have been identified as a valuable participant who could provide knowledge and insights about this topic. If you agree to participate with the research and your knowledge is included in the dissertation, transcripts will be provided for your review. You will have the opportunity to suggest and make changes to the transcription for your satisfaction.

In addition to your personal interview, an appointment date will be arranged for an optional focus group session if you are able and willing to collaborate with the other knowledge keepers who are participating in the research.

Findings from the focus group will be provided to all participants for review and editing. Copies of the portions of research in regards to the participants within the dissertation will also be given to participants. All participants will receive a full electronic dissertation copy.

A final presentation of the research is offered to each participant’s community/family if requested.

The information you share will be included in a PhD dissertation that will be submitted to Trent University. The dissertation will be published in Canada.

Any future commercialization of the research findings will be by the agreement and collaboration with and for interests and benefits of the participants, their communities and for the support of Indigenous knowledge.

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The participation within this research study is completely voluntary. You are not obligated to answer any questions you do not feel comfortable with or do not wish to. In addition you can discontinue your participation at any time.

Your confidentiality or recognition will be taken into consideration as per your requests. It is preferred to have your participation recorded and/or filmed via digital recording for note taking, as well for your own personal family archives. If you do not feel comfortable with any of these methods then hand written note taking is requested. There will be no other person with the researcher when at the proposed visitation. You are welcome to have someone of support with you during your interview visitation if you choose.

All research data will be stored via Truecrypt an online encryption service through Trent University. If you chose to withdraw from participation, all your participating data will be returned to you or destroyed. Upon completion of the dissertation you will be given a USB storage drive with, a copy of the dissertation, and transcription/audio/video of your participation.

There are no physical risks in this visitation process. Yet when recollecting the past some difficult memories may cause some emotional stress. If you feel it is needed you will be provided access to a councilor designated through Indian Health Services.

If for any reason you have concerns about this project you can contact my supervisor Dr. David Newhouse email [email protected] phone 705-748-1011 ex. 7497. Or, Karan Mauro who is the contact for Trent’s REB on campus, email [email protected] phone 705-748-1011 ex. 7896. Additional questions about the rights of research participants can be directed to Chairman of Research Ethics Review Board, Chris Furgal at 705-748- 1011 ext 7953.

AUTHORIZATION: I have read and understand the above, discomforts, inconvenience and risk of this study. I ______(name of subject) agree to participate in this research. I understand I may later refuse to participate, and that I may withdraw from the study at any time. I have received a copy of this form for my own records.

Signed: ______

Witness: ______

Researcher ______

Date: ______

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I give consent for the information I share as part of this project to be included in future publications. Signed ______Date:______

I only give permission for what I shared to be included in the dissertation. Any future use of my intellectual property will require secondary consent. Signed ______Date: ______

Additional Notation:______

Additional Notes to Applicants: Copies of applications, including consent forms are recorded and retained on file in the Office of Research for future reference. Ongoing projects are required to complete and submit annually, applications for Ethical Update Approval. The Research Ethics Board retains the right to suspend any research projects where there is sufficient evidence to indicate that the project is in violation of the Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. Applicants/researchers may appeal to the Research Ethics Appeals Board which is a Senate recognized committee. File # 23171

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APPENDIX D - Example: Freedom Garden Spring 2012 newsletter (Front Page)

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