What a Jewish woman from Brooklyn learned about America's true landowners

A landmark achievement for indigenous rights has returned 73 square miles of land along the Klamath River to the Yurok tribe in California. This represents the conclusion of a 23-year effort and stands as potentially the largest land-back deal in California history.

• The returned land includes Blue Creek watershed, a culturally significant tributary that provides refuge for salmon
• The tribe plans to manage the area as the Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary and Yurok Tribal Community Forest
• Tribal Chair Joseph L James emphasizes "We are salmon people. The river takes care of us"
• The returned land complements ecological restoration efforts, including dam removals that have opened salmon spawning grounds
• The achievement serves as an important example for the Land Back Movement across North America
• Historical context from "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" highlights the systematic displacement of indigenous peoples
• Personal reflection on the importance of acknowledging America's colonial past and indigenous stewardship

If nobody told you they loved you today, I love you because you are you. Be yourself and open your heart today and let people in who are themselves.

Chapters

• 0:00 Afternoon greeting and reflection
• 1:25 Discovering Indigenous American history
• 2:45 Klamath River land returned to Yurok
• 5:35 Land Back Movement significance
• 8:30 Personal connection and closing thoughts

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Afternoon bitches and dolls. Afternoon, bitches and dolls yes, two days in a row. Because something in the paper, the LA Times, really struck me. Today I'm going to read. Let's go back to 1970. I was 23 years old. I had just gotten married, like like 1968, two years after that, you know, got married. Whatever the life was, I don't know, I had no interest really in my marriage. It was a real. You know. I realized that I was being controlled by another person, first my mother, then my husband. So I realized the same for me. So I started to venture out and read books that might interest me, because I loved reading and I still love reading.

Speaker 1: 0:56

I found this book and I want to share it with you. If you've ever wondered about the American heritage because so many people are being kicked out of our country now, well, this isn't even our country. Let's face it. Let's face the reality. Okay, indigenous people were living here before white people came in, all right. So let's just tell the truth, ok, and that is the truth, all right. So I became so fascinated by indigenous people that I got this book Bury my Heart and Wounded Knee an Indian history of the American West, by Dee Brown, published in 1970. By Dee Brown, published in 1970. It's a nonfiction account of the systematic destruction of American Indian tribes in the second half of the 19th century, focusing on the period from the Long War of the Navajos to the Wounded Knee Massacre. The book title alludes to the 1890 massacre of Sioux people at Wounded Knee Creek in South Dakota, and that opened my eyes to what had really happened in our country, what our country was really all about. Stealing the land from the indigenous people Back then Indians, they were called American Indians, now indigenous people Whose land this really is. So today I'm reading in the paper and the Times and I had to share about it because it really affected me emotionally Klamath River land is returned to its ancestral caretakers.

Speaker 1: 2:45

A years-long effort gives Yurok tribe control over 73 square miles of habitat Along the Klamath River in Northern California. This is an article by Ian James, thank you. Along the Klamath River in Northern California, where logging companies once cut ancient redwood trees, where logging companies once cut ancient redwood trees, vast tracts of land have been returned to the Yurok tribe in a years-long effort that tribal leaders say will enable the restoration of forests and the protection of a watershed that is vital for salmon. The effort, which unfolded gradually over the last 23 years, culminated in May as the Western Rivers Conservancy turned over 14,960 acres to the Urock tribe. It was the last portion of 47,097 acres that the non-profit group acquired and transferred to the tribe in what is thought to be the largest land-backed deal in California history. Members of the tribe say they are celebrating the return of their ancestral lands along Blue Creek, a major tributary that meets the Klamath about 40 miles south of the Oregon border.

Speaker 1: 4:18

Blue Creek holds cultural and spiritual significance. The UROC and its cold, clear waters provide a refuge for salmon. We are salmon people, said Joseph L James, chair of the Urock tribe. The river takes care of us and it's our job to take care of the river. In all, the tribe now owns an additional 73 square miles along the lower Klamath River, including much of the Blue Creek watershed. The conifer forests, which were heavily logged over the last century, will be managed by the tribal government as two protected areas the Blue Creek Salmon Sanctuary and the Yurok Tribal Community Forest. Yurok leaders say regaining stewardship of these lands contribute to larger efforts to revive the ecological health of the Klamath watershed, where last year the removal of four dams farther upstream restored a free-flowing stretch of the river and enabled salmon to reach spawning areas that have been inaccessible for more than a century. Wow, amazing. Okay, so this land is back home with us now and we'll continue that work that we have done as Yurok people to protect the land, protect the streams, provide for our people and provide for the environment.

Speaker 1: 5:53

James said Wowee, in addition to Blue Creek, the land includes other streams that flow. Let's see where we are here. I've got to read the paper. Let's see where it says flow. Okay, here we are. Into the climate.

Speaker 1: 6:10

The tribe plans projects to create healthier system habitats for fish and to restore meadows and prairies in the forest. Plans to use controlled burns to thin vegetation that has been built up. Some old logging roads are being decommissioned Good, while other roads are set to be upgraded. We're going to continue to work to bring back our wildlife population, our fish population. James said it's going to take a lot of work, but a lot of people are going to benefit from this local benefit. James said the effort serves as an example for the Land Back Movement. Yes, okay, let's open this. I love that. The Land Back Movement okay, wow, which native people in many areas are seeking to regain ancestral lands that were taken from them generations ago. Okay, anyway, james said the tribe members are delighted to be stewarding these lands and waterways as their ancestors once did. It's a beautiful feeling to know that we'll have this land in our hands, moving forward for the next seven generations, for our Yurok people and our grandchildren.

Speaker 1: 7:35

I don't know why I'm so connected to this. I'm a Jew from Brooklyn, new York. You know my ancestors came from Poland, russia, austria, you know, in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. But since I read this book and learned all about Indian history, I've become connected, you know, to all the people. Maybe it's my love of gambling. I used to go gambling at the casinos and I'm so happy that, you know, indigenous people own casinos.

Speaker 1: 8:13

Now I don't know, but before that, just reading about this, this book back in 1970, when I was 23 years old, opened my heart to so many things that have happened to our country because we don't own this country. We never did. We came here and pushed people out of the country. We white people came here and pushed people out of our country. You know it didn't belong to us before. Okay, so it's horrible. I used to watch cowboy and Indian movies with my brother on the Indians were always being, you know, like they were the bad people. No, they were never the bad people. Okay, we were the bad people, always trying to take over the land not even owned by us.

Speaker 1: 9:04

So, if you get a chance, read that book. I'm sure you could find it, bury my Heart and Wounded Knee. Okay, get a chance to read it, because your heart will break, like mine did in reading that book, and just open my eyes, as so many things in my lifetime have opened my eyes to so many things. So, if nobody told you they loved you, today, I love you because you are you, be yourself. Open your heart today and let people in, and let people in who are themselves, and stop trying to change people, because they are who they are. I am who I am. That's right, and don't forget that. And I'm still here. Well, that didn't sound so good because I just had an ice cream, but I'm still here, that's better. Anyway, I love you. Bye.