As a key component of this project, the project team is partnering with two California Native American Tribes, Pechanga Band of Indians and Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. Both Tribes are sharing their substantial lived experience engaging with state/local agencies under AB 52 and SB 18 to:
- Evaluate with ELI and NATHPO the on-the-ground effectiveness of consultation under both laws through illustrative examples
- Co-produce Indigenous Health Indicators (IHIs) with Dr. Jamie Donatuto. The IHIs will serve as invaluable tools the Tribes can use to identify and advocate for their health/wellness priorities and interests during the state/local environmental decision-making process
Pechanga Band of Indians
The Pechanga Band of Indians is a federally recognized Indian tribe that has called the Temecula Valley in Southern California home since time immemorial. The Pechanga Indian Reservation was established by presidential executive order in 1882, affirming the Tribe’s sovereign rights and land-base. The Pechanga Band directly employs over 4,000 people and owns and operates the award-winning Pechanga Resort Casino and several economic enterprises.
Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians
The Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians’ ancestral homeland covers 86,000 acres in northern inland Sonoma County. For at least 10,000 years the natural fertility of these lands provided a settled and satisfying life, but that life changed drastically with the arrival of White settlers in the early 1800s. During the next century, most of the Tribe’s ancestors perished. The few that did survive were rendered homeless. The Tribe’s original 75-acres Rancheria was established by the federal government in 1915 to rectify this condition. The Rancheria is 80 miles north of San Francisco, located near the Wine Country town of Healdsburg. Because the Tribe built the mid-sized River Rock Casino on the Rancheria in 2002 to help generate income for its approximately 1,300 members, today no Tribal members live there, but most reside in the surrounding towns and suburbs.
Support for this project was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Policies for Action program and the Henry Luce Foundation. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of either Foundation.
