- Author: Elizabeth Moon
- Contributor: Saoimanu Sope
Chris McDonald, Inland and Desert Natural Resources advisor, brought together 80 people from various federal, state, county, and university affiliations at the Pala Band of Mission Indian Administrative Building in Pala for the Southern California Tribal Partnerships Workshop. The Pala Tribal community graciously welcomed us to their community with a homemade lunch and an invocation by Pala Tribal Member, Eric Ortega.
The two-day event kicked off with foundational knowledge about Pala Tribal life, Tribal civics, and building partnerships with John “Bud” Machado, Cupeño Language Instructor for the Tribe, Shasta Gaughen, Environmental Director and Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, and Heidi Brow, Water Resource Specialist in the Environmental Department.
For many in the audience, the knowledge gained was new and nuanced. For example, did you know that despite a Tribe's sovereignty, meaning they are recognized as an independent nation, the federal government is required to serve as a ‘guardian'? This reality is truly horrendous considering the genocide of native people and the stealing of their lands.
The nuance of this Civics 101 is a minimum foundation for how outsiders to the Tribe need to, first, do their own learning before attempting any partnership with a Tribe. Second, it is a reminder that partnerships must be based on what the Tribe needs and, third, that all efforts need to involve the Tribal community every step of the way. Overall, the presentations offered a clear example of what many of us in the audience believe to be missing in education.
We ended the first day with McDonald's advice on studying your organization's history. ]Knowing the history of your organization will help to identify how it has affected the Indigenous communities where you currently or will work, and offer guidance on how to avoid repeating a cycle of harm.
I spent the evening beginning to reflect on my personal and professional communities. I thought about how I could build out this living history and build safe spaces for exploration of how to create trust through training and composing questions that allow us to hear the words of the Native communities in California.
Day two started in the demonstration garden located outside the Pala Administration building. Attendees had the opportunity to take a walking field trip of the on-ground projects being accomplished with partnerships. Upon entering the garden, where cherry tomatoes were ripening and a few workers were shoveling dirt from one pile to another, we learned how the Pala Tribe gained access to this trust land and their vision to make it an educational space for both gardening and culture.
The demonstration garden is in the process of building out its composting structures and future goal for a turtle pond. Next on our tour was the aquaponics demonstration site, which I found to be the most interesting. Learning about the infrastructure and financial resources required to get the site off the ground was fascinating. I cannot wait to see it fully in action with its solar energy source and the proliferation of greens and reeds for use by the Tribe. We ended our tour with a walk around the sports complex adjacent to the Pala Administration Building to see the pollinator garden and the Trujillo Creek restoration project.
Perfect timing for us to return inside for another mouthwatering lunch provided by the Pala Tribe and a conversation around the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Pala partnership on a fuels reduction project. Our afternoon gave us the opportunity to learn directly from the following Tribal members and affiliates: Will Madrigal Jr. from Climate Science Alliance, Lisset Valencia-Pigman and Andrew Pigman from Condor Visual Media, Jeremy Zagarella from TriHydro, Lena Ortega from the Intertribal Agriculture Council, and Tina Fernandez from the Pala Environmental Department.
Each person freely gifted us their knowledge and expertise. Lena Ortega's presentation awoke in me the need for honesty in assessing my motives through the lens of my actions. “How many of you know the five tribes closest to where you work?” Lena asked. “How many of you have attended an open event in the tribal community you wish to partner with in the last month or two?”, “Do you know the history of the Tribe?”, she continued. More questions were calling us out for our passive expectations to gain knowledge and partnerships without the work, something I appreciated then and now.
We ended our time together in circles of learning and sharing - providing another opportunity to build connections, deepen learning, and find ways to collaborate and co-create as organizations with the Tribes in our communities.
I am looking forward to our NorCal Tribal Partnerships Workshop in August in Davis. I hope to see many more folks join in this learning and be challenged to learn more about the land where we reside and how we can show respect to those whose land and knowledge we aspire to partner with in the future.
- Author: Elizabeth Moon
Every day I feel pride in working for ANR. This organization continually inspires me with the work being done to achieve our vision of serving and supporting every Californian.
As a community, we have shown pride through our commitment to the Principles of Community 2.0. Over 23 county offices and business units shared their thoughts and creativity to further cement our commitment to show respect to each other. If you haven't already, you still have time to vote for the final refreshed version. The survey takes 10 minutes and can be found here.
Most importantly, at this time of the year, is the support and respect we provide in celebrating our LGBTQ+ community through PRIDE celebrations in June. At the core of this month is the celebration to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots and the strides being made to achieve equal justice and opportunity for LGBTQ+ Americans. Our LGBTQ+ employee resource group provided the following history and information to welcome us into PRIDE MONTH. To continue to learn more be on the look out for our employee resource group's virtual learning through ANR-wide emails.
Numbers in US, 2023
LGBTQ+ identification is at 7.2% in the latest U.S. estimate, up from 5.6% in Gallup's previous 2020 data.
Of those identifying at LGBTQ+, 58.2% identified as bisexual, 20.2% identified as gay, 13.4% identified as lesbian, and 8.8% identified as transgender. Other identities chosen include pansexual (1.7%), asexual (1.3%), queer (1.2%) and "other LGBT" (1.8%).
Real numbers are probably higher due to people feeling unsafe or not ready to identify.
Main reason LGBTQ+ identification has been increasing over time is that younger generations are far more likely to consider themselves to be something other than heterosexual. 19.7% of people from Generation Z identify as LGBTQ+.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/470708/lgbt-identification-steady.aspx
What were the Stonewall Riots?
June 28,1969 marked the beginning of the Stonewall Uprising, a series of events between police and LGBTQ+ protesters which stretched over six days at the StoneWall inn located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The Stonewall riots served as a catalyst for the modern gay rights movement in the United States.
Article:
Stonewall Then and Now:
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/06/harvard-scholars-reflect-on-the-history-and-legacy-of-the-stonewall-riots/ (10-15m read)
Videos:
How the Stonewall Riots Sparked a Movement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9wdMJmuBlA (3m:54s)
The Stonewall You Know is a Myth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7jnzOMxb14&t=86s (9m45s)
More Learning
Milestone in the Gay Rights Movement:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/stonewall-milestones-american-gay-rights-movement/
The first Pride march in New York City was held on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. https://www.loc.gov/lgbt-pride-month/about/#pride-50th-anniversary (12m01s)
History of the Pride Rainbow Flag https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMM-ybN3K5g (2m48s)
NYU Documentary celebrating 50 years of the Stonewall riots: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31CX1Y0cen8 (27m56s)
The Day the Stonewall Riots Shook America https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCFwOJcMjM0 (2m52s)
Wanda Sykes Take Us Through the History of LGBTQ+ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkzwDOCEDCo&t=57s (4m31s)
If you identify as LGBTQIA+ and you're interested in joining the confidential LGBTQIA+ Employee Resource Group, please email Belinda Messenger-Sikes bmsikes@ucanr.edu or Pia Wright pwright@ucanr.edu
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- Author: Elizabeth Moon
I love this time of year. The weather is the perfect blend of cold and warm and the gardens are abundant with flowers and possibilities. It is also a time of many celebrations.
INAUGURAL WORKPLACE INCLUSION & BELONGING AWARD
In honor of the many celebrations the Workplace Inclusion & Belonging unit is establishing an annual award to coincide with the Staff Recognition and Award Ceremony on June 20th. This award aims to honor and celebrate individuals or groups who are leading the way in creating inclusive and equitable environments throughout UC ANR. Full information on the inaugural Workplace Inclusion & Belonging Award can be found here.
The time line to submit a nomination is April 30 - May 15. Think about a colleague(s), workgroups, employee groups, or others within ANR who have shown a continuous commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and nominate them today!
PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY 2.0 SURVEY
We are nearing the final stages of our refreshed Principles of Community. To build stronger shared language throughout UC ANR, I engaged in conversations and workshops across 23 counties/units, to identify the language, actions and definitions that best connected with how many of you see us upholding our commitment to our Principles of Community.
At our EDI Summit in January/February, the participants read through all the suggestions on the introductions, principle statements and conclusions, and through a process of rankings, the top four in each area were chosen for our final survey out to the UC ANR community.
Please take 10 minutes to choose the introduction, principle, and conclusion that most deeply resonates for you in the work you do within UC ANR. The survey will be open through May 31.
PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY 2.0 Survey Link
- Author: Elizabeth Moon
Photo by Saoimanu Sope, Staff Assembly Ambassador
Our Inaugural EDI Summit has brought together over thirty ANR colleagues celebrating the work and wins, while also focusing on the challenges to continue creating transformation within our organization. Together in community we have representatives from each Affinity/ERG group, Staff/Academic Assembly, Our Senior Leadership Team, DEI Advisory Council, Program/Workgroup Teams, and a few other staff whose roles directly impact EDI in their respective units.
We started off our first day, January 31, with a welcome from Vice-President Glenda Humiston who shared her perspective on the history, current conditions, and future vision of EDI work within ANR. Lively discussions followed with an opportunity to create a time line of wins and significant moments over the last seven or more years.
Our keynote speaker, Lady Idos, Chief Diversity Officer, Berkeley Labs continued our first morning by sharing her expertise in building stronger groups that impact change and support organizational goals in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion. She shared the over ten year journey of the lab to creation of their IDEA office (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accountability). Lady Idos words inspired many ideas and conversations over the rest of the day.
With today, February 1, being our closing day, and the start of Black History Month, I am excited to bring the learnings of how we can continue to advocate, educate, and inform on issues around equity, diversity, and inclusion.
- Author: Elizabeth Moon
- Author: Andrew Lyons
We were thrilled to attend the 2023 Land-Grant Partners Summit [https://landgrantpartners.org/events/land-grant-partners-summit-october-12-13-2023] last week in Denver. The focus of this national meeting was to bring together people who have been working within land-grant universities to strengthen support for Native American students and Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and explore the opportunities to work together. Splitting into four working groups, each group explored meaningful short and long-term strategic actions to collaborate and share resources with commitments to continue meeting over the next six months.
The Summit was held immediately before the 2023 FALCON [https://www.falcontribalcollege.org/annual-conference] (First Americans Land-Grant Consortium) Conference, another great conference which brings together hundreds of administrators, faculty, extension educators, researchers and students who work on land grant programs at TCUs and share program successes. Both meetings were amazing. While FALCON has been around for 19 years, this was only the second national meeting of the Land-Grant Partners consortium, and it was our first time at either event.
What's with the dates? We felt in good company being with so many people working in land grant institutions. What land grant institutions have in common is a mission to support communities, agriculture, and natural resources through research and extension. However it was immediately apparent that most of the presentations, and even the conferences themselves, were structured around the three classes of land grant institutions which have become known by the year that federal legislation provided the initial funding: 1862, 1890, and 1994.
The 1862s are land grant universities that were established by the 1862 Morrill Act. This act gave ‘public lands' to every state, most of which was sold to create endowments for universities with programs in agriculture and engineering. Today, these are mostly the big state schools, like the University of California or Penn State, where Cooperative Extension programs are run from. The 1890s are historically Black Colleges and Universities, which Congress had to establish through separate legislation because the 1862 schools discriminated against people of color. Finally, more than a hundred years later, Congress provided funding in 1994 to support Tribal Colleges and Universities, collectively known as the 1994s or TCUs.
source: USDA [https://www.nifa.usda.gov/sites/default/files/2022-06/NIFALGUs_MapREV_AI0522_508.pdf ]
Why all the fuss?, you might ask, about the three categories of land grant institutions? Well, the sad reality is that although 1862s, 1890s, and 1994s all have similar missions, there are enormous gaps in how much funding they receive from federal and state sources. Not surprisingly, this results in unequal levels of resources for research and extension, and fewer programs for Native Americans and people of color. This is precisely the nut the LGP and FALCON alliances are trying to crack.
Land-Grant Partners Summit
Most of the attendees at the LGP Summit were from 1862 institutions, with a handful of TCUs, federal agencies, and federally funded programs. Many 1862s are trying to do a better job serving Native Americans. This is in line with their mission to serve the entire public, and in recognition that there has been a huge gap for generations. Since 2020, the call for 1862s to try harder has grown louder, informed by research detailing how they got their start by selling millions of acres of stolen Indian land (Lee at al, 2020), and widespread interest in dismantling structural inequality.
Everyone attending the LGP Summit knew this history, and although it needs to be told to a lot more people the focus of the Summit was looking forward. It was exciting to be with so many kindred spirits, to hear what other 1862s are doing, and think about how we can be more effective working together than individually. Some of the leaders in the movement include The Ohio State, which has started a program to reach tribes that were forcibly removed from Ohio, and South Dakota State University, which has diverted funding from its Morrill Act lands to support Native American students and collaborations with Tribal Colleges,
Sponsors and Collaborators of the 2023 Land-Grant Partners Summit
Although the University of California is not at the head of the pack when it comes to spearheading reconciliation and collaboration with Tribes, the ball is definitely rolling. It was wonderful to connect with new and old UC colleagues from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and UC ANR, to hear what everyone is working on, and think about how we can work together more effectively. There are no shortages of ideas, and many faculty, students, and programs across UC are already doing amazing work to foster understanding and provide support for Native American students and other underserved populations. However the goal will not be reached through the work of a few individuals. Rather, we need to shift UC as an institution - its policies, priorities, governance, incentive structure, and culture - so that the hard but rewarding work of healing and learning from Tribes is not the exception but the norm.
From left to right: Phenocia Bauerle (UC Berkeley), Michelle Villegas-Frazier (UC Davis),
Rosalie Fanshel (UC Berkeley), Elizabeth Moon (UC ANR), Andy Lyons (UC ANR), Kase Wheatley (UC Davis)
Making Space for Native Voices
A cross-cutting theme expressed in many sessions was the importance of including Native Americans as co-equal partners in designing and developing university programs and policies. Without Native voices at the table, and in meaningful leadership roles, we run the risk of planning programs with the same paternalistic processes that are well intentioned but ultimately fail to produce results. This is hard work, particularly within a university setting where administrators and academics are used to thinking a certain way, and doing things a certain way. But by learning from others, working together, and listening to those our institution owes a debt to, we can become a better university.