Earth's First InterTribal Park
by Sharon Skolnick

The Sinkyone coastal wilderness, a rugged area south of Cape Mendocino has supported great cultural and biological diversity for over 8,000 years.

In recent years, the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council [ITSWC, 1190 N. State St. #333, Ukiah, CA 95482. (707) 463-6745] has planted redwoods, restored salmon habitat, removed logging roads and restored cultural resources. In an action hailed by environmentalists and opposed by the timber industry, the Council - made up of eleven federally-recognized American Indian groups in Mendocino County - has acquired ownership of the Sinkyone.

The Trust for Public Land Regional Director Ted Harrison says the TPL sold the land to the ITSWC to "ensure long-term conservation stewardship - and serve as an historically important social justice achievement."

The 3,900 acres of rugged cliffs and redwood groves will return to the descendants of its original inhabitants. After ITSWC supporters raised more than $100,000, the balance of the $1.4 million needed for the purchase was donated by the Lannan Foundation.

The Council includes nine bands of the Pomo tribe and the Yurok and Hoopa tribes. The groups, forcibly removed from the area 150 years ago, have agreed to develop the history and artifact-laden parcel as an intertribal park, where native people will practice traditional ways while protecting the fragile, over-logged ecosystem from further destruction by reinstating traditional land management practices.

"The Council envisions a park based on 10,000-year old native traditions in which humans are seen as an asset to the ecosystem, not as a threat," stated ITSWC Chair Priscilla Hunter, pointing out that "indigenous people worldwide are watching developments here."

Now that the InterTribal Park is a reality, a trail network providing limited public access to the area is planned, as well as a series of California Indian-led eco-tours that will offer visitors a rare chance to experience indigenous perspectives on Indian land.