Review: Mechoopda Tribe shares its own story at new exhibit

As I walked through the outstanding new exhibit in the north room of the Chico Museum, Mik ‘cupu dy [Mechoopda]: This Is Our Home, Here We Remain, I thought of Dr. Stephen Beckham and wished he could see what I was seeing.

Beckham is the Lewis and Clark College professor who, in 2006, issued a report—commissioned and paid for by Butte County—concluding that the Mechoopda Tribe of Chico Rancheria wasn’t an authentic Indian tribe. Rather, they were members of various tribes from all over Northern California who just happened to end up working for John Bidwell, Chico’s founder, and living on his ranch.

Beckham’s report was part of an effort by Butte County to derail the Mechoopda’s plans to build a casino on ancestral lands south of Chico, but it backfired. Chicoans, who knew the tribe was an integral part of the town’s history, repudiated the report and shamed the county for purchasing it.

If there are any remaining doubts about the Mechoopda’s legitimacy, this exhibit should dispel them. As curated by Arlene Ward, a trained archeologist and ethnographer as well as a tribal elder, it creates a compelling image of people who for thousands of years, time immemorial to them, lived off the land without harming it. And they lived well: The earth was so abundant with fish and game, berries and acorns and other foodstuffs, and the weather so mild, that they needed to work only about 15 hours a week for sustenance, on average.