As the Fifth District sits upon portions of the traditional homelands of four federally recognized tribes (Yurok, Karuk, Hoopa, Wyott.) Please speak to your experience working with local tribal communities, and how you plan to work with tribal communities as Fifth District Supervisor. 

— Chris Hatton

Responses

Evan Schwartz

Thank you for your question, Chris. I do not have any direct technical experience working with local Tribal communities. However, I have an idea of how I would hope to work with local Tribal communities givin the chance to serve as 5th District Supervisor. First and foremost, I will respect Tribal sovereignty. I will do my best to demonstrate that I can be a reliable, compassionate, and available partner where County functions and Tribal government overlap. I hope to show through my actions that I genuinely care about supporting Tribal efforts to preserve culture, land, water, and the success of future generations. Thanks!

Mary Burke

Since 2013 I’ve been working on issues of land and water along our coast within the ancestral lands of Wiyot and Yurok people. In this work I’ve developed relationships and opened opportunities like when I worked with the Indian Ed program out of Arcata High School and offered internship experiences where we got muddy planting sedges for juvenile fish habitat in McKinleyville.

One of the projects I am most inspired by was when I got to work with cultural practitioner and artist Alme Allen and the Wiyot Tribe to develop interpretive signage at my project site at the end of School Road in McKinleyville. The opportunity arose through a formal consultation where I made a commitment to tell a more complete story about the area where the project was built. The outcome was a remarkable series of panels and pedestals that creates a unique visitor experience and connects us with this special place.

Up the coast in Orick, I worked for the past 5 years with the Yurok Tribe and their construction corporation to complete a massive salmon habitat restoration and public access project that will soon be property of the Yurok Tribe. The outcome is a destination that locals and visitors from around the world will visit and be inspired by the story of the Yurok Tribe and get to experience the restored and surrounding landscape.

I will continue to work with sovereign nations and local native people by listening, demonstrating respect, building trust and practicing transparency. By working in this way we will make progress on the critically important issues of restoring foodways, caring for our youth and elderly, solving issues of missing and murdered indigenous people, and building local economic opportunities so we can all have a livable, thriving future. 

I look forward to continuing Supervisor Madrone’s practice of visiting Hoopa for open office hours and will expand this practice to reach into Orleans and Orick meeting with tribal representatives and native people along the coast and upriver.

 

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