(AmericanProsperity.com) – The Yurok Tribe, which is located in California, is now working with the National Park Service to maintain their land. They originally had most of their land stolen from them in the gold rush hundreds of years ago, but now they are getting a little piece back by helping to manage the land for Redwood National and other state parks.
This tribe is the first to manage tribal land alongside the National Park Service. This agreement was brought up by the tribe, as well as the state parks and the non-profit named Save the Redwoods League. CEO of the non-profit, Sam Hodder, said that this agreement “starts the process of changing the narrative about how by whom and for whom we steward natural lands.”
Rosie Clayburn, who is the tribe’s cultural resources director said that this is proof that the tribe doesn’t give up. For the Yurok tribe, they view Redwoods as living beings and they do not use the wood for materials unless they have fallen.
Said Clayburn, “As the original stewards of this land, we look forward to working together with the Redwood National and state parks to manage it.”
She continued, “This is work that we’ve always done, and continued to fight for, but I feel like the rest of the world is catching up right now and starting to see that Native people know how to manage this land the best.”
Once the land was stolen from the tribe, it was used to cut down redwoods for material. However, following this, the Save the Redwood non-profit bought the land back and started working with the tribe to restore it.
There are some plans for the land, which include a Yurok village with houses and a sweat house, plus a new visitor center and cultural center that will display artifacts. The center will also be a home for the tribe to carry out their traditions. Following this, they will add more than a mile of new trails as well.
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