New fund to plant seeds of reparations for California’s Native American communities

CALIFORNIA, USA — This story was initially revealed by CalMatters. 

A racial fairness group is saying a brand new fund that can assist Native American communities protect tribal historical past and additional California’s effort to atone for its historical past of violence and wrongdoing towards Native Individuals.

The Decolonizing Wealth Venture, an Indigenous and Black-led group, will distribute $500,000 to California Indigenous communities and nonprofits. It’s to help storytelling and therapeutic, mentioned Carlos Rojas Alvarez, director of government affairs and strategic initiative.

The cash comes from the California Endowment, the Christensen Fund and from the fund supporting the Decolonizing Wealth Venture, primarily based in New York.

The Venture has partnered with The California Reality & Therapeutic Council, which Gov. Gavin Newsom established in 2019, he mentioned, to “make clear the file – and supply their historic perspective  – on the troubled relationship between tribes and the state.” 

The Council on Reality & Therapeutic is anticipated to launch a report on the historic relationship between the state and California Native Individuals by 2025. It might embrace suggestions to the Legislature about reparations or restoration of land for Native communities. 

“California should reckon with our darkish historical past,” Newsom mentioned on the time. “We will by no means undo the wrongs inflicted on the peoples who’ve lived on this land that we now name California … however we are able to work collectively to construct bridges, inform the reality about our previous and start to heal deep wounds.” 

The nation’s first such council, it’s comprised of 12 members of Indigenous tribes from throughout the state and is led by the state’s Tribal Advisor Christina Snider, a lawyer and member of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. 

Newsom in his government order issued a proper apology for the state’s historical past of violence, and disenfranchisement of Native Individuals. He referred to the 1850 Act for the Authorities and Safety of Indians, which eliminated Indigenous individuals from their land and legalized separating households and enslaving them. 

Now the Decolonizing Wealth Venture has set a objective to “promote Native historical past and private narratives as reality and to file the historical past, which clarifies and corrects the historic file that now we have proper now,” Alvarez mentioned.

He added the group hopes to boost greater than $5 million to supply grants to Indigenous communities throughout the state. Amongst different issues, the funds would pay for digitizing tribal oral histories and documenting tribal land loss for analysis and for Land Again initiatives, an Indigenous-led motion to revive land to the unique stewards. 

“We’re actually hoping it is going to attain Native American communities, tribes and households straight,” he mentioned. “That may embrace making use of for transportation, lodging, youngster care, assembly area, or every other obstacles that they might face participating on this essential course of.” 

Indigenous tribes and nonprofits can start making use of for grants of $5,000 to $50,000 in two rounds, in July and October, Alvarez mentioned. 

“We consider that now we have a singular and historic alternative, on condition that California is a state that’s main the best way on reality and therapeutic with Native communities,” he mentioned. 

“We hope that not solely will a wealthy and various group of California Native American communities interact with the method and form it — together with the suggestions that come out — however that they’re resourced to try this. Hopefully it will likely be a catalyst for reality and therapeutic processes throughout the nation.”

CALmatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media enterprise explaining California insurance policies and politics.  

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