After being accused of
enforcing "state sponsored genocide" against his fellow people, an Indian lawmaker plans to change a repatriation bill in order to include all tribes in California.
Assemblymember James Ramos (D), who is the first California Indian to serve in the Legislature, introduced
AB 275 in January. The bill seeks to improve the repatriation and reburial process.
“I introduced the bill because of the disrespect for tribal elders during the repatriation process that has taken place in the state of California,” Ramos, a former chairman of the
San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, told The Sacramento Bee.
But since the original version of the bill employed a definition of "California Indian tribe" that failed to include all state-recognized tribes and other legitimate groups, Ramos ran into trouble. The
California Indigenous Nations Alliance has been mobilizing opposition.
“When they came for our ancestors, they did not ask if they were federally recognized or not, they did not ask if you came from a reservation. They killed us, hunted us down, took our children and raped our women because they were natives," Norman "Wounded Knee" DeOcampo, a Miwok elder, said at a meeting of the
California Native American Heritage Commission on July 19. "No distinction was made. Every California tribe should be allowed to re-bury their ancestors in their own way, with their own tradition."
As a result, Ramos told The Bee that he will change the bill to address the troublesome definition. Although AB 275 already passed the Assembly, it's up for another
hearing in the Senate on August 12 so there's still some time to update it,
“With any bill, it’s like peeling back an onion – when working to fix a problem issues come up inadvertently," Ramos told the paper. "I look forward to working together as we move forward to address issues facing California Indians.”
Just last month, a different repatriation measure sponsored by Ramos became law.
Assembly Bill 1662 expands the University of California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act Implementation and Oversight Committee to include more tribal representation.
The committee, which was established by the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 2001, will now have four voting tribal representatives. At least one is to come from a non-recognized tribe, according to the bill.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the bill into law on July 12. A month prior, he issued an a formal apology to Native peoples, calling their
treatment by the state a "genocide."
California is home to more than 100 tribes, the largest number in the lower 48.
While most are recognized by the federal government, many are not due to a
history of negative state and federal policies, which included the forced
relocation of
tribal
communities to religious missions, a number of
massacres
of
tribal
peoples, the failure of the U.S. Senate to
ratify
tribal treaties negotiated in the late 1800s and the
termination
of the status of dozens of tribes in the 1950s and 1960s.
Despite the genocidal record, California is home to the largest number of
American Indians and Alaska Natives,
according to
the U.S. Census Bureau. Newsom's apology establishes a Truth and Healing Council that will collect the histories of Native people.
Read More on the Story
What is a ‘California Indian tribe’? How a proposed law unearthed a decades-old wound
(The Sacramento Bee August 5, 2019)
Native American representation expands on repatriation panel. Tribal leaders praise addition
(The Palm Springs Desert Sun July 16, 2019)
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