Native American center in West Sacramento breaks ground. How it will honor tribes
Tribes and Gov. Gavin Newsom broke ground on the long awaited California Indian Heritage Center in West Sacramento on Tuesday morning.
The new center, which will replace the California State Indian Museum in midtown, will reside at the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers.
The first phase of the center is expected to be finished by this fall, according to the governor’s office.
What will be at the center?
The California Indian Heritage Center’s home will be on a 51-acre property within the confluence. As the center officially begins construction, the first phase includes a welcome area with cultural and education information, amphitheater seating, bathrooms and parking.
“The area offers a space for all to enjoy the outdoors, as they reflect on the diversity, stewardship, expertise, and cultures of California tribes,” the governor’s office press release said. “(They are the) first and original stewards of this land.”
Originally started in 2007, the project was halted due to budgetary constraints, Larry Myers, the chairperson of the center, previously told The Sacramento Bee. But 11 years later, the center’s construction began after the project received $100 million in the governor’s budget.
The whole museum is set to be completed by 2030, according to Myers.
‘Worth the time and effort’
California has 109 federally recognized tribes within 34 counties across the state, according to the Northern California Indian Development Council.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said the center is a part of his almost eight-year-long effort to collaborate with tribes. He said he has worked with California tribes to “recognize past wrongs, address them where possible, and establish new systems, resources, and initiatives to help Native communities thrive.”
“The California Indian Heritage Center will be a long-standing part of this work, teaching generations yet to come about one of the fundamental parts of the state’s heritage,” Newsom said in a statement.
California has the largest Native American population in the country with more than 700,000 people in the state, according to the United States Census Bureau.
“Now, 175 years into California’s statehood, we can finally say that we are following through on a commitment to honor the First People of this place,” Christina Snider-Ashtari, California’s tribal affairs secretary, said in a statement.
Despite having the biggest statewide population, the Native community is small in the Sacramento region. In Sacramento County, Native people are around 1% of the population, according to the United States Census Bureau.
“Having a place where all California Native people can see that they are genuinely celebrated and belong as the foundational people of this state is worth the time and effort it has taken to get here,” Snider-Ashtari said in a press release.
Myers told The Bee the center seeks to be a place of belonging for Native people, a place where they can “just be” and have no feelings of being an outcast.
“You’re different. Everyone else is different. You don’t feel quite right. You’re kind of alert to where you are and who’s looking at you,” Myers previously said. “(But the center) will be a place where there will be other Indian people. You’ll feel comfortable and you’ll feel at home.”
