[00:00:02] Speaker A: HeyMud podcast presents.
Welcome to Heart of the Earth. This is a program about Native Americans and other indigenous cultures. My name is Agnes. I have with me a member of the Pitt River Nation. Her name is Morningstar Galley. She's director of Indigenous justice, an organization that she started. But right now I wanted to interview her because about 25 years ago, I was at Medicine Lake in Northeastern California, where the Pitt River Nation is located. And they were trying to save this place called Medicine Lake. And last week, President Biden came through and preserved this area. So I wanted to talk to a morning star about it. Good morning, morning star.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: Good morning, Agnes. Tuzi Matica. It's good to be on with you this morning.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: I am, I am. You know, when I read last week that, you know, the lake was saved, I just, I was just like jumping up, you know, for joy and I said, oh, I have to talk to Morningstar about this because I know you're the Pitt River Nation. So maybe you can tell us about the struggle to save this area, its indigenous name, and what it means to you now.
[00:01:23] Speaker B: Sure, yeah. Such great news in especially challenging times. It was just yesterday that it was officially signed into designation as a national monument. It was supposed to take place a week ago, but with the heavy winds and fires within the Coachella area, that's close. That's where it was originally supposed to be. And so yesterday, our tribal council members and our tribal chair, Yaj Bamford, they were all in Washington D.C. to witness the historic signing. It has been over 28 years now in the struggle to protect Citlaw. Citla is known as Obsidian, the Obsidian place. And so the translation in our Ajumawi language and to have the national monument designation be in our language is really incredible. And so it's been a decades long fight. I was first brought to Medicine lake in the mid-1990s after a close family member had passed away, was introduced to our ceremonial rituals of how to bathe in the lake and how to cleanse yourself. And so since that time, I've attended our and helped to coordinate our tribal gatherings that take place there every year. I worked for my tribe between 2012-2016 as the tribal Historic Preservation officer. And so during those four years, but prior to that, it was really and has been an ongoing grassroots effort. And so there were lots of folks that were involved that are no longer with us today. I'd like to name the late Floyd Buckskin, who's our hereditary chief who passed away a few years ago now. He really provided a lot of the background and information and our stories that were connected to the lake and shared health creator based in the lake and left those natural healing properties and so for in the English language, for it to even be called Medicine Lake, you know, that recognition of those properties. My good friend that has passed on, who passed on a year ago, he was really supportive with all of us in protecting sacred places in California. And then the late Wounded Knee Dio Campo, who just passed on a few months ago. You know, these are the people that I think of that really were there with us, that really stood with us and helped us in gaining this wind that is now being celebrated.
[00:04:09] Speaker A: Well, it sounds like, well, what a good feeling. I know when I was there, there was ceremony at the lake, and I've just never forgotten it. And so when I heard this, like I said, it just. It made me just jump up. And I know that you're involved in so much more. I know you emcee the Alcatraz events every year, and I remember you just as a I young child. I remember you standing with your father at Big Mountain. And then you've grown up to be this incredible woman, a mother of four children, and doing all this work not only for your people, but for all the indigenous people. Maybe you could tell us about your organization, Indigenous Justice.
[00:04:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing that. This has been 16 years now of coordinating the annual sunrise gatherings that happen to take place every October and November on Alcatraz Island. As you may remember, you know, just a small boat, maybe 25, 30 people, when it was led by Bill Wapapa over 45 years ago. Now we have a crowd of over 5000 in attendance for the November gathering, over 1500 for the October gathering. And it really just does make me appreciative of all of the sacrifices that have been made, you know, by. By my father, by all of our ancestors who are, you know, all of the people that are now ancestors, you know, And I do think about how, you know, they couldn't have even imagined that we would have, you know, the visibility and, you know, the narrative shift that they were really working for at the time to reclaim these days as our own, to hold the prayers, you know, in a way that really reaches across the world and affects so many people. It's pretty incredible to think about. And so back in 2016, when I was working for my tribe, I was offered a fellowship to actually continue on some of the work that my father was doing in terms of addressing. He had an organization called American Indians, and the death penalty was an anti death penalty group that focused on supporting Native peoples back in the mid-80s to mid-90s before he passed. And so I continued on the work in terms of the policy and advocacy piece of it. And so through Indigenous justice, we have a program called Returning Relatives where we support incarcerated tribal members. We provide reentry services to them. We also have a program that addresses the intersections of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples. And so through that, we support a number of families that have been affected by the crisis of having their loved ones go missing or found not alive. And so really supporting the families through their grief and healing process. Through the city and county of San Francisco, we have a guaranteed income pilot project where survivors of violence receive $1,000 a month through a guaranteed income. And so lots, you know, big urban Native population in San Francisco. And so that was two years for us to develop that program. It's something that is being in it that is within its pilot phase right now. And so I'm really proud of that work and, you know, of those efforts of seeing the changes and supporting and resourcing our relatives. And then we also have some youth programming. And part of that youth programming includes taking young people, you know, young tribal people up to our sacred places. So taking them to Medicine Lake, taking. We have a youth camp up at Bernie Falls. We will take them to take part in the ancestral run from Mount Shasta to Mount Lassen this summer. And so really engaging our young people to be able to learn about our sacred places such as the Titla, learn of the importance of it, and, you know, it's really supporting in, in their healing and access to ceremony. Just as myself and my siblings were raised as, you know, that was a big part of our experience, is traveling during the summer and attending all of the ceremonies with our families.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: You know, when I hear about, you know, that with the youth and the revitalization of languages, the Land Back movement, you know, I just take a deep breath and, you know, I just can see, you know, this beautiful, beautiful place now. Beautiful Turtle Island. I mean, so much and so much destruction and death. And it's almost like full circle, it's coming back. And you know, people, it's like, what's happening in Los Angeles right now, you know, if they had maybe just done a little of the Indigenous knowledge that they refused to acknowledge way back 100 years ago that are now going, oh, whoops, maybe we should have listened. You know, maybe they had it down since Native people were living on this land for thousands of years before the.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: White man came yeah, the indigenous cultural burning, the tk, the traditional ecological knowledge, you know, it's also important. And we're seeing the effects of that right now. We're seeing the effects of, you know, the climate disasters and, you know, the catastrophes that are taking place. And we've been checking in with our relatives out in Tovangar, out in Tongva territories, and checking in on them and, you know, just seeing what they need, sending, you know, some herbs over to them for respiratory issues and really just, you know, supporting through mutual aid efforts however we can. And our heart really goes out to all of them. And, you know, it was that same day where some of our tribal leaders had, as I mentioned, you know, traveled over to Coachella with both the Chuckwalla and the Satitla monument that were supposed to be signed on that day. And then now it's been delayed and officially in place. But, you know, I think about that as, as well as, like, as we're celebrating this huge win and something that we fought for for decades. You know, the impact that our relatives are having down to the south on their tribal lands is just what it's going to look like in terms of the cleanup. And yeah, we know all throughout California as we, you know, it's starting to come back through the cultural burning and, you know, the partnerships with tribes such as Yurok Tribe and Paduk Tribe. But, you know, I know I was at Burning Falls this summer when we had our tribal youth camp, and they told us, oh, you can't pick up any, you know, of the wood that's laying on the ground. You can't pick, you know, if you pick any of the medicines, you have to tell us how many and you have to count how much that you're gathering. And I was like, that's actually not any of your business. And you should be encouraging people to clean up all of the underbrush and, you know, the, the wood that's here because it really is a tinder box and, you know, where the conditions are so dry throughout California. And so as we just saw, you know, there's, you know, this can cause wildfire, you know, that can really devastate through our communities.
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[00:12:11] Speaker A: I know, and, you know, with the dam removals just this past week, the Yurich, I think the last couple of days, they planted like 11,000 seeds along the riverbanks to try to bring back the natural state. I know in the next couple of months. They're gonna do all kinds of different plant seedlings to get them to grow and bring it back to its original state. And I just, you know, it brings tears to my eyes to know how important it was to have those dams removed and then to hear some idiot on TV that's supposed to be a news person, you know, say that the fires in LA were the Indians fault because they damned the river, you know, they undammed the rivers, when, you know, the Klamath river has nothing to do with Southern California. And so it's just, I see such beautiful things happening. But at the same time, you know, when I read about President Biden who he's gonna give everybody that's, you know, that got disrupted by the fire $770 while he's writing a check for 60 million to is.
[00:13:15] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that's.
That is something that I have been really grappling with as well. And it's just outrageous in terms of, of, you know, basically, you know, giving, you know, tens of thousands, tens of billions of dollars over to Israel and then, you know, the $770 for LA fire victims. It's just, you know, goes to show that, you know, this US regime, you know, there's a change in regime that's coming up and, you know, it really is us as indigenous peoples, you know, that are going to, you know, have to continue to spread that message of, you know, living sustainably with the land. And yeah, I just received a really beautiful.
I serve as vice chair for state California salmon. And so I just received a really beautiful gift that says we undammed the Klamath and beautiful jewelry, a traditional dentalium necklace from them and just really appreciative of all of the efforts that was also, you know, a 20, 25 plus year battle to, in terms of even having the conversations. And so for my parents that were supporting during the fishing wars, for so many that were involved and active, you know, in the late 70s and early 80s during that time. And so that's something to look back on and say this was something that my parents were involved in and, you know, that they had started and in terms of the awareness and education and something that I was able to help, you know, on the tail end of it in terms of some of the advocacy around that. And it just does feel really good to be able to just know that there's, you know, there's a purpose in all of it. And that purpose is, you know, that my children will be able to eat salmon out of the Klamath river. That haven't been in there for close to 100 years now. Know that my children will be able to be able to go and visit and learn, you know, traditional fishing practices that we haven't been able to practice for the past 80 to 100 years on. On our own rivers, on the Pit River. And so really utilizing that as a blueprint in dam removal and recognizing that, you know, these are very outdated systems and that, you know, no bringing the salmon back and undamming the Klamath did not, you know, it was not any fault of Northern California tribes. That's really outrageous to say so. And it just goes to show the, you know, the ignorance of mainstream media.
[00:16:11] Speaker A: I know. And you talk about the salmon, you know, like, if I'm, you know, I buy, you know, salmon here, and it probably comes from Alaska. It's at the health food store, but, you know, it's kind of flat. And you go up to the Yurok days every summer. I go up there when they have their salmon, salmon days. And the salmon is just so, you know, it's like three times the size of thickness. And I remember I finally just said, I just can't, you know, I can't believe this. And the Yurok man that was doing the fire and stuff, he said, well, Agnes, it's because, you know, in Alaska they have. Those fish have to go a long way spawning on those rivers, and they lose a lot of their fat and their body where at the Klamath, they don't have to travel as far. And so they're more plump when you get them. And, boy, you can really notice the difference.
[00:17:00] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:17:02] Speaker A: Yeah. I really appreciate talking to you this morning. Is there any other words you'd like to share with our listening audience?
[00:17:11] Speaker B: Well, thank you so much for having me on. And I'll be traveling to Guatemala in the next few weeks here for an indigenous women's symposium.
It will be the fourth annual. I also serve as the California tribal and community liaison for the International Indian Treaty Council. And so that's the coordination with the Alcatraz Sunrise gatherings. And so I will be sharing about the toxic legacy of mercury mining, how that continues to affect us through bold greed and genocide and, you know, and also the sexual violence aspect of it, you know, with missing and murdered indigenous peoples and how that's something that we're still experiencing today as California Indian peoples, you know, with mip, starting when Native women were trafficked, you know, during the. During the Gold Rush and missionization era.
And so for more information, you can go to treaty council.org. for more information on Indigenous, you can go to indigenousjustice.org or follow our social media accounts. And just really appreciative for you having me on this morning. Thank you.
[00:18:30] Speaker A: Oh, thank you so much, morningstar. All right. Ho, ho. And I've been, oh, all my relations. And I was talking to Morningstar Galley from the Pitt River Nation, which is in the Northeast California. And they just had, you know, a very special place declared a national monument by President Biden. And we have till Monday morning to hear him say he's granting clemency for Leonard Peltier. We have to keep visualizing it. We have to keep praying for it because it's just a little time left on that. And on Sunday on the World Beat Show, I'll be doing a special music show for Martin Luther King because Monday is the day they celebrate it. Yes. This year, it's just amazing that Martin Luther King Day in the Ignorance Inauguration is on the same day.
[00:19:26] Speaker B: This has been a KMUT podcast to listen to other shows and more episodes of this show. Find us on all the platforms where you get your podcast and also on our website, kmud.org.
