"The InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council is a consortium of 10 federally recognized tribes with ancient and enduring ancestral and cultural ties to coastal and inland areas of Mendocino, Lake and southern Humboldt Counties. Our member tribes depend on the ocean for food, for the continuation of their culture, and for their very survival. In 2009, we were alarmed to learn that California, through the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), was starting to design marine protected areas in ancestral territories that might disallow the traditional take of seaweed, shellfish and other marine resources by North Coast tribes.

That planning process could easily have produced another intolerable outcome in the state’s bleak tribal relations history. Instead, it marked the start of a remarkable journey resulting in state officials committing to better honoring tribal contributions, past and present.

What went right? North Coast tribes, from Tolowa and Yurok in the far north to Pomo in the far south of the region, resolved to protect their peoples’ traditional gathering rights through concerted action and came to the table with practical solutions. For the tribes, protection of the ocean and traditional cultural use of marine resources are inseparable ideas. Without careful stewardship, the ocean’s gifts will steadily decline and may someday vanish. North Coast residents, including fishermen, harbor districts and conservation groups, stood in solidarity with the tribes."

Get the Story:
Hawk Rosales: A Sea of Change for Tribal-State Relations (Indian Country Today 11/28)