Challenging Colonialism

In part one of a four part episode, we examine the negative environmental and cultural impact of hydroelectric dams, and the Indigenous-led movement to remove them. This episode explores the Indigenous-led movement to restore salmon in California rivers through dam removal. These dams, deemed Weapons of Mass Destruction by Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk, have devastated salmon populations--and the communities whose histories have been in relationship with salmon since time immemorial.

Interviewees for s01e03 p.I:

Ron Reed (Karuk)

Brittani Orona (Hoopa Valley Tribe)

Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning

Dr. Kari Norgaard

Craig Tucker

Credits:

Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom

All interviews conducted and recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Music written, performed, and recorded by G. Gonzales

Ambient sounds recorded by Ariel Stonebloom

Follow us on Twitter: @ChalColonialPod

For further reading and to get involved, see the following:

Bring the Salmon Home

http://www.bringthesalmonhome.org

Save California Salmon

https://www.californiasalmon.org/

Reconnect Klamath

https://reconnectklamath.org/

Klamath River Renewal Corporation

https://klamathrenewal.org/

Run4Salmon - A prayerful journey led by Chief Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to restore our salmon runs, protect our waters, and our indigenous lifeways.

http://run4salmon.org/

West Coast Water Justice - Podcast focused on Indigenous centered water justice movement

https://www.westcoastwaterjustice.org/

“Salmon and Acorns Feed our People: Colonialism, Nature, and Social Action,” by Dr. Kari Norgaard

https://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/salmon-and-acorns-feed-our-people/9780813584195

“Upstream: Trust Lands and Power on the Feather River,” by Dr. Beth Rose Middleton Manning

https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/upstream

Challenging Colonialism in California is produced by Martin Rizzo-Martinez, Historian, & Daniel Stonebloom, a Public School Administrator. It is not our intention to further colonize the narrative, or to misrepresent stories that are not our own. It is our intention to create an educational resource where everyone can hear the perspectives of Indigenous peoples in their own words. Please leave your feedback, suggestions, reviews, ideas for future episodes, and more at the episode page. And please share and promote the podcast in your networks.

This podcast produced with support from the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

Part II will be released on February 7th.

This episode examines the San Francisco Bay Area mounded monuments known today as the Shellmounds. These sacred sites have long histories stretching back thousands of years, but are under threat by ongoing development projects. This episode explores the history and significance of these monuments, as well as the Indigenous-led fight to protect them.

Challenging Colonialism in California is produced by Martin Rizzo-Martinez, Historian, & Daniel Stonebloom, a Public School Administrator. It is not our intention to further colonize the narrative, or to misrepresent stories that are not our own. It is our intention to create an educational resource where everyone can hear the perspectives of Indigenous peoples in their own words. Please leave your feedback, suggestions, reviews, ideas for future episodes, and more at the episode page. And please share and promote the podcast in your networks.

Our next episode will focus on the negative environmental and cultural impact of dams, and the Indigenous led movement to remove them.

Interviewees for s01e02:

Corrina Gould, Chair of Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone

Johnella LaRose (Shoshone Bannock and Carrizo Tribes)

Dr. Tsim Schneider (Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria)

Dr. Abel Gomez

Stephanie Manning

Perry Matlock

Mark Hylkema

Toby McLeod

Credits:

Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom

All interviews conducted and recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez

Ambient sounds recorded by Ariel Stonebloom

Music written and recorded by Hilson Parker and G. Gonzales

Follow us on Twitter: @ChalColonialPod

This podcast produced with support from the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

For further reading and to get involved, see the following:

Shellmound: Ohlone Heritage Site & Sacred Grounds organization website:

https://shellmound.org/

Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC) “Shellmound Walk” website:

http://ipocshellmoundwalk.homestead.com/

Sogorea Te Land Trust: Sogorea Te' Land Trust is an urban Indigenous women-led land trust that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people:

https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/

Sacred Land Films & Blog:

https://sacredland.org/

“Buried” - Animated short on shellmounds:

https://www.injunuity.org/#!/show/1

Tsim Schneider’s book, Archaeology of Refuge and Recourse: Coast Miwok Resilience and Indigenous Hinterlands in Colonial California:

https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/the-archaeology-of-refuge-and-recourse

Tsim Schneider’s dissertation on shell mounds, Placing Refuge: Shell Mounds and the Archaeology of Colonial Encounters in the San Francisco Bay Area, California

https://escholarship.org/content/qt605189z7/qt605189z7noSplash52b17d7207bfc76d1e4929c6151195a1.pdf

This recording is the opening conversation entitled “Uncovering Difficult Histories at Santa Cruz Mission,” which was part of the Telling and Teaching the Truth of the California Missions event, held on August 27, 2021, preceding the Mission Bell removal.

This opening conversation started with comments by Amah Mutsun Tribal Chair, Valentin Lopez, followed by Dr. Martin Rizzo-Martinez, State Park Historian for the Santa Cruz District. Martin is also the co-producer of this podcast.

Music by G. Gonzales

Video of this talk can also be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxS2NYQRTNI

Telling and Teaching the Truth of the California Missions was co-sponsored by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, the Ohlone-Costanoan Esselen Nation, the UC Santa Cruz American Indian Resource Center & the University of California Critical Mission Studies Program.

Additional information on the Critical Mission Studies Program can be found here: https://criticalmissionstudies.ucsd.edu/

This podcast is supported by the California State Parks Foundation: https://www.calparks.org/

This episode contains graphic descriptions of slavery, genocide, & sexual violence.

44:10

Episode 1 of a new podcast amplifying indigenous voices and providing context for contemporary events in California. This episode discusses the El Camino Real bells & Mission bells, their impact and legacy, and the movement for their removal. 30 minutes.

Please leave your feedback, suggestions, reviews, and include ideas for future episodes. Please share and promote the podcast in your networks.

For more information: https://removethebells.org/

Interviews were recorded by Martin Rizzo-Martinez & Alexii Sigona

Audio engineering and editing by Daniel Stonebloom

Music in this episode was created by Bernard Gordillo & Hilson Parker

The title of today’s episode comes from the work of:

Grzegorz Welizarowicz, who uses the term “instruments of colonization” in his piece "California Mission Bells: Listening Against the 'Fantasy Heritage'" published in 2016 in Beyond Philology.

Speakers:

Amah Mutsun Tribal Chairman Valentin Lopez

Annie Danis

Dr. Bernard Gordillo

Dr. Yve Chavez

Dr. Julissa Lopez

Dr. Alexii Sigona

Dr. Gregor Welizarowicz

and Will Parrish.

Renya K. Ramirez & Valentin Lopez called "Valentin Lopez, Healing, and Decolonization: Contesting Mission Bells, El Camino Real, and California Governor Newsom"

Ann E. Danis, "Franciscans, Russians, and Indians on the International Borders of Alta California" (with Kent Lightfoot)