Panel: Land Rematriation and Cultural Resilience

What does land rematriation mean in contemporary Indigenous time, space and culture? Three local indigenous leaders discuss the sacred responsibility to care for, nurture and protect our land through the Indigenous, fem perspective and why #Landback is more than a hashtag.

Theresa Harlan discusses storytelling as a way to re-build our sacred connections with ancestral lands. Corrina Gould presents the monumental work that Sogorea Té Land Trust has done in the Bay Area to rematriate land to local Indigenous people. Tiśina Parker shares the accomplishments of her tribe, Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, in rematriating nearly 900 acres of land within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park, her tribal homeland. In this engaging conversation they will share dreams, visions and responsibilities about what rematriation means for land stewardship and the future seven generations.

As Sogorea Té Land Trust says: “Rematriation is a term used by Indigenous women to describe the process of restoring balance to the world and sacred relationships between Indigenous people and their Ancestral land.”

Speaker bios:

Theresa Harlan:
Theresa Harlan is the director of the Alliance for Felix Cove, an Indigenous women led organization that works to rematriate, protect and restore her Felix Family home and ancestral lands at Point Reyes National Seashore. Born in San Francisco, Theresa Harlan is the adopted daughter of Elizabeth Campigli Harlan (Támal-ko/Coast Miwok) and John Harlan. By birth she is Jemez Pueblo and an enrolled member of Kewa Pueblo of New Mexico.

https://www.alliance4felixcove.org/

Corrina Gould:
Corrina Gould (Tribal Chair for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation), was born and raised in the village of Huichin, now known as Oakland CA. She is the Co-Founder and Lead Organizer for Indian People Organizing for Change, a small Native run organization and the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, an urban Indigenous women-led organization within her ancestral territory. Through the practices of rematriation, cultural revitalization, and land restoration, the Land Trust calls on Native and non-Native peoples to heal and transform legacies of colonization, genocide, and to do the work our ancestors and future generations are calling us
to do.

https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/ 

Tiśina Parker:
“Tish–ee–na” Tiśina Ta-till-ium Parker, is a visionary Indigenous community arts activist working in collaboration with the inter-tribal Bay Area community. Tiśina is the granddaughter of Ralph and Julia F. Parker, daughter of Louis and Patricia Parker. Her people are Yosemite Southern Sierra Miwuk/Kutzadika’a Mono Lake Paiute from her Grandfather’s lineage and Kashia Pomo/Coast Miwuk from her Grandmother’s lineage. Tiśina currently serves on her tribal council with the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation supporting Indigenous landback efforts and as the Cultural Pathways Manager for the Alliance For Felix Cove. 

https://www.nativeone.org/