The Maidu have been among the most successful at using grants to benefit their tribe. They have a huge cultural center in Roseville, CA to which many local 4th graders go on field trip. ($$$ of course.) They're the most high-profile of the Indian tribes around here.
They also have a casino (of course -- every tribe does here) up by Oroville. It's small, but surely a tribe that is running slot machines can afford to fund its own religious fire ceremonies.
Can you also look at public land that has been locked down as a monument here in CA? It’s been accepted that it’s the area where the tribe was “created”.
So their religious beliefs give them access to have land set aside for their religious purposes.
Much of this article sounds like the taxpayers are supporting a certain groups religious practices.
I understand the argument that expenditures like this seem excessive given some of California’s fiscal challenges, but I don’t think the awards are without merit. Give our general acknowledgement that the historical treatment of Native Americans and their culture has been regrettable, the use of tax dollars to support tribes and their cultural practices which we once sought to eradicate is appropriate both as a remedial measure and as a means to celebrate California’s multicultural expression. I realize saying this pegs me (most likely) as a some heinous variety of liberal or progressive, but I’ll just add that while I support the idea of the funding described here, some of it looks excessive and could be reigned in.
I'm partially with you on some funds going to bolster Native American tribes, especially as it pertains to wildfire management, land management, and other types of cultural centers open to the public. But I feel like a wedge is being driven when it comes to how and what some people do with a narrative. For example "Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, believes that California was founded on a “state-sanctioned policy of genocide” and that the state has pursued “decades of land dispossession, discrimination, and disconnection.” " - if we were to follow this through to the logical conclusion, as it plays out in classrooms and policies, we would have some mix of La Reconquista, granting all the land back to Native tribes, and managed decline of California as a state within the U.S. - ultimately for some people there would be no more states, and no more United States. The expression is essentially that the U.S. identity is SOLELY a settler/colonizer project built on the backs of POC and white supremacy, and ultimately unredeemable, therefore.. [enter policy to undo it all]. I don't think I'd want our tax dollars to go to people who express this sentiment.. if they are willing to agree the U.S. has a future as a place we all share, and not some failed project to be disassembled or deconstructed, then I don't think it's an issue to use some tax money in a way that has good results for native tribes. But that there is another issue, California seems to have a REAL problem with following up and holding people responsible for results, so fraud runs rampant.
The Maidu have been among the most successful at using grants to benefit their tribe. They have a huge cultural center in Roseville, CA to which many local 4th graders go on field trip. ($$$ of course.) They're the most high-profile of the Indian tribes around here.
They also have a casino (of course -- every tribe does here) up by Oroville. It's small, but surely a tribe that is running slot machines can afford to fund its own religious fire ceremonies.
....."and they use dollar bills to light the fire.....".......
More kickbacks and money laundering.
Can you also look at public land that has been locked down as a monument here in CA? It’s been accepted that it’s the area where the tribe was “created”.
So their religious beliefs give them access to have land set aside for their religious purposes.
Much of this article sounds like the taxpayers are supporting a certain groups religious practices.
Has that angle been explored?
If it weren’t for the graft involved, this would be great for a good laugh anytime!
Idiocy and corruption at it’s finest
I suspect the Palisades Fire was a cultural burn.
$166,000 to observe owls. You gotta give it to the creative genius who came up with the grant idea!
Government excels at squandering wealth. Nothing else.
I wonder if they pay for fire fighters if their "controlled" fire gets out of control. Or do taxpayers get to pay for that, too?
What could possibly go wrong here?
What could possibly go wrong? I know the Indians here in my (Niagara Falls) area do deliberate burns but we're also not in a terribly dry area.
Tax dollars at work.
I understand the argument that expenditures like this seem excessive given some of California’s fiscal challenges, but I don’t think the awards are without merit. Give our general acknowledgement that the historical treatment of Native Americans and their culture has been regrettable, the use of tax dollars to support tribes and their cultural practices which we once sought to eradicate is appropriate both as a remedial measure and as a means to celebrate California’s multicultural expression. I realize saying this pegs me (most likely) as a some heinous variety of liberal or progressive, but I’ll just add that while I support the idea of the funding described here, some of it looks excessive and could be reigned in.
I'm partially with you on some funds going to bolster Native American tribes, especially as it pertains to wildfire management, land management, and other types of cultural centers open to the public. But I feel like a wedge is being driven when it comes to how and what some people do with a narrative. For example "Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, believes that California was founded on a “state-sanctioned policy of genocide” and that the state has pursued “decades of land dispossession, discrimination, and disconnection.” " - if we were to follow this through to the logical conclusion, as it plays out in classrooms and policies, we would have some mix of La Reconquista, granting all the land back to Native tribes, and managed decline of California as a state within the U.S. - ultimately for some people there would be no more states, and no more United States. The expression is essentially that the U.S. identity is SOLELY a settler/colonizer project built on the backs of POC and white supremacy, and ultimately unredeemable, therefore.. [enter policy to undo it all]. I don't think I'd want our tax dollars to go to people who express this sentiment.. if they are willing to agree the U.S. has a future as a place we all share, and not some failed project to be disassembled or deconstructed, then I don't think it's an issue to use some tax money in a way that has good results for native tribes. But that there is another issue, California seems to have a REAL problem with following up and holding people responsible for results, so fraud runs rampant.