Our Land Acknowledgment

After reading and engaging with Indigenous theory, criticism, and storytelling, we (Calaveras con Cariño) would be actively going against what Indigenous critics tell us to do if we didn’t acknowledge the land on which we live and on which we conduct our educational workshops. This land, the San Joaquin Valley, is the unceded homelands of the Yokut people, “The original inhabitants of the San Joaquin Valley were the Yokut-speaking tribes- about 50 dialect groups occupying the territory along the rivers and creeks flowing from the Sierras and around the Tulare Lake. Their descendants today on the Tule River Indian Reservation continue to have the goal of self-government and self-sufficiency on the land” as stated on the Tule River Tribe’s website. Other tribes that also call the San Joaquin Valley and the southern Sierra Foothills home are the Kitanemuk and Yowlumne Tejon Indians, the Santa Rosa Rancheria Tachi Yokut Tribe, Table Mountain Rancheria, and the Tejon Indian Tribe as stated on the State of California: Native American Heritage Commision’s webpage “Southern Valley Yokuts”.

Bakersfield specifically, was built atop one of the prominent villages known as Woilo, according to the “Presentation of Native Place Names for use on the Kern River Parkway: A Proposal by The Native American Heritage Preservation Council of Kern County” by Robert Gomez. The Yokut people have continued to care for this land for generations despite the ongoing colonial violence and displacement they still fight today.

In Becoming Kin by Patty Krawec, Anishinaabeg author and co-founder of the Nii'kinaaganaa Foundation, she reminds us that:
 

“At best, land acknowledgements recognize relationships, the price that Indigenous
people have paid for the existence of this place, and reflect on tangible things people can do…Land acknowledgments are a moment to pause and reflect on the relationship that exists between the current residents and those who were displaced.

What does it mean to live on stolen land?” (39).

The last question is not rhetorical, it’s a call to action and a challenge to reflect on the ways in which settler-colonialism continues to shape the land, the institutions we build, and the people we displace.

We cannot only name the Yokut peoples in order to adequately recognize them and their home. Acknowledging their land requires participation in an ongoing, experiential learning process - one that Krawec emphasizes by shifting the role of the reader to that of a learner, to that of a participant. As a learner and participant who received my MA in English Literature with a focus on engaging with Indigenous storytelling as resistance to colonial trauma and violence, I recognize that this work must begin with a commitment to centering Indigenous voices, stories, and epistemologies. So, not only do we acknowledge the Yokut peoples in name, but also in practice: by supporting their continued presence in community connection and conversation, learning about their history and culture through their websites but also by advocating for land return which “…means profoundly changing our relationship with the land” (my own emphasis) (Krawec 131), and by refusing the erasure of their histories and futures. We recognize the land as an active participant in our academic research, our workshops, and shaping/informing the epistemologies we are passionate to explore. This acknowledgment is an invitation to learn, unlearn, and build relationships rooted in responsibility and reciprocity.

Active steps Calaveras con Cariño takes (and you can too) to support Central Valley Indigenous peoples: 

Engage in the learning process of the Yokut history and culture.

Support Indigenous owned businesses.

Learn about the ecological landscape of the Central Valley and what you can do to help our ecosystem (ie. planting native plants, planting Milkweed for our Monarch butterflies, advocating for the protection of wetlands, using sustainable materials and recycling, etc).

Learn more about the Land Back Movement and what it means for us and our responsibility as settlers.

Learn about settler colonialism and our role that we have been playing in it so we can then understand how we can help Indigenous peoples and lands.

Always be willing to learn.

Sincerely,

Calaveras Con Cariño Team

written by: Citlalli luna, m.a