By Belén Bernal, Nature for All Executive Director
We were happy to attend a public listening session hosted by the US Department of Agriculture and US Forest Service this month with tribal leaders, elected officials, community leaders, and other organizations. Our local community voiced their support to expand the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument and for adequate resources to care for these treasured public lands.
In addition to addressing the climate and biodiversity crises, expanding the national monument will help honor the region’s rich and diverse cultural heritage and increase equitable access to nature. (Have you signed our petition to expand the monument yet?)
Efforts like these to engage our communities are necessary and sometimes long overdue. In November, we mark National Native American Heritage Month and celebrate the culture, contributions, and heritage of Native Americans. While we appreciate the tradition of expressing gratitude for our blessings on Thanksgiving, it is a mournful holiday for ancestors of those Native Americans who faced oppression and genocide for hundreds of years.
As it relates to our work, we honor the legacy and present-day culture of Native Americans who are the original stewards and inhabitants of what are now publicly-managed lands, like the San Gabriel Mountains. Nature for All acknowledges that our mission is delivered in the ancestral homelands of the Gabrieleino-Tongva, Kizh, and Shoshone Nations of Southern California, the Fernandeno Tataviam, Serrano, and Chumash. We value the vibrant indigenous communities and honor them as the original caretakers of the lands and waterways of what is now Los Angeles County.
Every day we strive to acknowledge the indigenous peoples of these ancestral homelands,, and each small step reminds us that access to the outdoors is still considered a privilege for many, when in reality it is a right that we should all be able to enjoy and protect.
Read our acknowledgment of the Indigenous peoples of ancestral homelands here and you can learn more about the ancestral homelands here.
I also encourage you to take time to learn more about the history of our local lands and about the Indigenous peoples, who continue to care for and protect these lands from the effects of colonization. You can start here:
Why Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color Should Be At the Center of 30×30 Conservation Efforts (Justice Outside)
Native American History Month (Los Angeles County Public Library)
Native American History Month (Los Angeles Public Library)
Indigenous Peoples of California (Los Angeles County Public Library)
