People in Support of Native Co-Management of Land and Water

Since Time Immemorial, Payómkawichum and Kumeyaay people have lived here in Panáa'o or what is now called Encinitas, California. Through their own science, medicine, and belief systems they have maintained regenerative practices in harmony with the water and land. For the past 482 years, Kumeyaay and Payómkawichum people have been subjected to genocide and cultural erasure since the colonization of California. Ripped from their coastlines and relocated inland, their ability to gather plants and as a community was made illegal until 1978, and now face contaminated and/or limited resources for culturally significant food, crafts, and ceremonial purposes.

As one of the most iconic and beloved surf communities in the world, Encinitas has the opportunity to make history with grassroots reparations by petitioning to return 1.5 acres of coastline to the first surfers of San Diego - the Kumeyaay and Payómkawichum People - as an attempt to protect the Ponto surf break, heal the past and regenerate our future. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Payómkawichum Artist and Culture Bearer, Alexis Munoa Dyer, paints a picture of what Land Back would look like and signify for Native residents. (click link for full caption: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2KyXVCx_WE/)

 

Surfing is an Indigenous practice born from First Peoples' incredibly efficient systems of living in harmony with our environment. Without Native Peoples and the Native Plants that made the first crafts for riding waves, surfing would not exist. We are all in immense debt for the gift of surfing that shapes our city, our lives, and our global surfing family, for the centuries of attempted erasure of their communities, language, culture, and practices, AND for the successful land management, long before colonization and throughout it as well, that allows us the beauty and healthy ecosystems that surround us today. 

Now is the time for surfers and non-Natives to stand behind our Native community members and encourage our City Council to implement grassroots reparations for people and planet from the harms of colonization. Indigenous peoples represent only 3% of the population and protect 80% of the world’s biodiversity. There are thousands of examples of sustainable Indigenous societies and not one from the industrialized world. Traditional ecological knowledge and Indigenous land management are essential to climate change solutions as we face an adverse future and ever changing planet. 

Signing this petition for a historic "Land Back" initiative is not only a symbol of our progression towards racial equity and justice in San Diego and the world, but a dire call-to-action for protection of our lands, waterways and communities as we endure the effects of climate change in real time.

Land Returns in the State of California:

• 688 acres returned to Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, Sonoma, CA (2017)
• 242 acres returned to the Wiyot Tribe in Eureka, CA (2018)
• 1200 acres returned to Essalen Tribe, Big Sur, CA (2020)

Surely Encinitas City Council can ensure the return of 1.5 acres to the Kumeyaay and Payómkawichum to begin healing the past and regenerate our future.

“We can’t go back and rewrite history, the effects of injustice remain. When we can help remediate the wrongs of the past, it provides healing for us all.” - Stephen Kullman, Former Natural Resources Director Wiyot Tribe, and current Humboldt Bay Harbor Comissioner

 

WANT TO HELP EVEN MORE? MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT!

Click HERE to submit an online comment

Meeting Date: Tuesday, February 6, 2024

Agenda Item #: 1

Title: 1.5 Acres on La Costa and Hwy 101

Not sure what to say? Here are some sample talking points:

- I support “Land Back” and the use of this land as a preserve for Native plant restoration and intertribal gathering space for Indigenous Peoples

- I support “Land Back” as a proposed climate change strategy in California Governor Gavin Newsom’s 30x30 Climate Plan

- Indigenous people make up only 3% of the global population yet protect 80% of the world’s biodiversity - give them "Land Back"

- ⁠There are thousands of examples of sustainable Indigenous societies and zero from the industrialized world - give them "Land Back"

- ⁠”Land Back” is reparations for people and planet for the harm of colonization, industrialization and over development 

Feel free to use your own words and ideas that show you care about human rights and environmental justice. Thanks everyone for your support!

ADDITIONAL INFO FOR CITY COUNCIL MEETING TUES 2/6:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C23PwP5vT4-/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==