Making it Right with ~1,000 Acres of Land for Native Americans in the Bay Area
Making it Right with ~1,000 Acres of Land for Native Americans in the Bay Area
Premier of short film tells the story of social justice and conservation success.
On September 17, 2015, the Bay Area Open Space Council will premiere Here and Now — a short film that tells the story of four innovative partnerships between Native Americans and land conservation organizations. Audiences will travel to mountain tops, valleys, and the coast to hear from local tribes, a working farm, a local land trust, an open space district, and a national land trust. We see how access to almost 1,000 acres of land in the Bay Area changes lives today and creates a new future.
“There is not one inch of land, in the United States, that was not indigenous land at one time.” Chairman Val Lopez, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
For thousands of years the Native people stewarded the land such that European settlers described it as a ‘tended garden.’ Today Native Americans live in the Bay Area relearning and applying the ancestors’ knowledge about the plants, animals, and elements. In large part this is possible because of unique partnerships with land conservation organizations of various kinds.
“Indigenous people have been managing these lands for a long time, and through partnerships we now have access to our ancestral lands.” Chairman Reno Franklin, Kashia Band of Pomo Indians
The organizations featured in the Here and Now film are Amah Mutsun Land Trust, Kashia Band of the Pomo Indians, Pie Ranch, Sempervirens Fund, Midpeninsula Open Space District, and The Trust for Public Land. The film provides just a taste of the many partnerships in the Bay Area, State of California, and beyond between Native people and land conservation organizations. The filmmakers hope that Here and Now inspires more such partnerships.
“It’s a new era…people are really starting to see the benefits and the things we can offer.” Abran Lopez, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
This provocative film weaves together social justice, land conservation, human history, and scientific knowledge into a cohesive and moving story about what’s possible by working together.
About the film:
The film will premier on September 17, 2015 at 10am at the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley, CA. The film is made possible with support from The Christensen Fund, Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and The Trust for Public Land. For more information–including the trailer, registration, and stipends to support Native Americans’ attendance — please visit http://openspacecouncil.org/community-events/
About the Bay Area Open Space Council:
The Bay Area Open Space Council is a unique coalition of nonprofits and public agencies at the local, regional, state and federal levels involved in conserving, stewarding, and promoting the use of parks, trails, working lands, and other open spaces in the Bay Area. What started in 1990 as an informal network of like- minded colleagues, it has grown to 65 members that serve tens of millions of people each year, maintain thousands of miles of trails, and steward over 1 million acres of publicly accessible parks. The Bay Area Open Space Council has fostered a culture of collaboration that has resulted in regional conservation funding, innovative projects, and partnerships of many sizes and scopes. Our vision is to preserve the Bay Area’s quality of life for all residents—human and animal—by strengthening the region’s ability to protect, steward, and connect people to the land.
