Indigenous Peoples’ Acknowledgement

Indigenous Peoples’ Acknowledgement

The WRMP wishes to honor the Native People who have stewarded the lands and waters of the San Francisco Estuary since time immemorial. We acknowledge that the San Francisco Estuary is the unceded ancestral homeland of the Karkin, Chochenyo, Tamien, and Ramaytush-speaking peoples; and the Miwok, Wappo, Patwin, Nisenan, and Wintun peoples. We recognize that, through a violent history of colonization and dispossession, today, as guests, we benefit from living and working in their traditional homeland. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the ancestors, elders, and relatives of these Tribal Communities and by affirming their sovereign rights as First Peoples of these Nations. Beyond acknowledging the ancestral and unceded territories of the original Native Peoples of the Estuary, we acknowledge that Native Peoples remain dedicated to fulfilling their obligation to Creator to care for Mother Earth and all living things and return sacredness to the land, water and air through the restoration of traditional knowledge and stewardship led by the original Tribes of the Estuary region and beyond.*

The WRMP is committed to supporting the Native Peoples who continue to form a crucial part of our Estuary community today, and is taking action towards restorative justice in a few ways, including setting aside funding for Tribes and Tribal organizations to be part of program development and governance, inviting ideas for monitoring that Tribes would like to implement or see implemented by the program, respecting Indigenous data sovereignty, and following better practices for Tribal engagement and partnership-building. In monitoring and reporting about wetland health and stewardship, we are also tracking Tribal involvement in wetland stewardship and decision-making to support progress Tribes would like to see in these areas.

*This acknowledgement evolved out of the collaborative efforts of the original Native Peoples of the San Francisco Bay Region and has been adapted to apply to the broader San Francisco Estuary.