Creating a Climate Resilient Monterey Bay

This program supports non-Indigenous organizations to: 

1. Deepen their understanding of the history and current dynamics that impact Indigenous Peoples and ways in which participants and their organizations can harm or advance Indigenous priorities for self-determination and Earth care,

2. Strengthen relationships across non-Indigenous and Indigenous leaders and organizations,

3. Design and adopt new practices for engaging and supporting Indigenous Peoples.

With this foundation, Walking the Path of Right Relations will form a bridge for Indigenous and non-Indigenous groups to explore and initiate partnerships around climate resilience in ways that build capacity for these groups to work together in meaningful and impactful ways.

Core Resources

• Two Ways of Knowing: an Interview with Robin Wall Kimmerer article in Sun Magazine

• How the Conquest of Indigenous Peoples Parallels the Conquest of Nature by John Mohawk

• Contact List for Participants 

• Please dedicate a journal to Walking the Path of Right Relations

Launch Meeting:

If you missed our opening session, you can find the recording here.

Passcode: 3cD?CbrX

Federal Indian Policy

June 13, 2025​

Speaker: Cheryl Fairbanks, Tlingit-Tsimpshian justice and peacemaker

Resources:

• Overview of the Doctrine of Discovery

• Communique 15 - Papal Bulls of 1452 and 1493 

• The California Native American Genocide in the Fullerton Observer 

• Short video of Land Loss

• BIA has a very high-level overview of Federal Indian Law and Policy

• Visit Cheryl's talk, here. 
  Passcode: p3v?pyyd

California Context for Right Relations

September 5th, 2025​

Dr. Beth Rose Middleton and Gregg Castro will provide an overview of the eras of Native California, particularly as it relates to their relationships with land and waters and making sense of the current dynamics in California. ​

Resources to review in advance:​

• Short Overview of California Indian History by the CA Native American Heritage Commission

• The California Native American Genocide in the Fullerton Observer (yes, you read this for Federal Indian Policy session, and it is relevant for this session, too.)

• Bad Indians by Deborah Miranda

• Short Video: Former Amah Mutsun Tribal Chairman Val Lopez speaking about the History of California that is Never Told

• Short Video: Val Lopez speaking about their Work in land stewardship

• We Are the Middle of Forever: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island on the Changing Earth by Stan Rushworth and Dahr Jamail 

Meeting Recording: 

If you missed Beth Rose and Gregg's talk, you can find the recording here
Passcode: Yp$=8JAn

Opening Retreat at Costanoa

October 13-15, 2025

The opening retreat will be held between Costanoa and Deep Medicine Circle. Lodging is at Costanoa:

2001 Rossi Road at Hwy 1
Pescadero, CA 94060

Arrival is at 9:30, Monday Oct. 13 at Costanoa

Departure is at 3:30, Wednesday Oct. 15

​

Resources to review in advance:

• Ǫ da gaho dḛ:s by Norma Jacobs and Tim Leduc: Select Chapters in the link

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer: Chapter "In the Footsteps of Nanabozho: Becoming Indigenous to Place"

• ​Optional: We Are the Middle of Forever: Indigenous Voices from Turtle Island on the Changing Earth by Stan Rushworth and Dahr Jamail: Read the interview with Raquel Ramirez and Gregg Castro​

Below are some resources we recommend:

​O da gaho de:s by Gae Ho Hwako (Norma Jacobs) & Tim Leduc

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Red Alert: Saving the Planet with Indigenous Knowledge book by Dr. Dan R. Wildcat

We Are the Land: A History of Native California by Damon A. Akins & William J. Bauer Jr.