www.mpacollaborative.org/sonoma

Director: Kevin White

Producers: Kevin White & David Donnenfield

The Kashia band of Pomo Indians occupied areas along the Sonoma coast for thousands of years and many generations. 150 years ago, this coastal tribe was forcibly separated from their coastal home and confined to just 40 acres 5 miles inland from the coast. In the face of great challenge, they managed to maintain their traditions, language, and way of life they practiced for millennia, passing their lore and knowledge onto succeeding generations.

In 2016, with the creation of the Kashia Coastal Reserve, the Kashia were reunited with a portion of their ancestral homeland along the coast. As part of the process, the tribe collaborated with the local Marine Protected Areas to help the agency understand their traditional ecological knowledge of the Sonoma coastal marine environment, which in turn broadened the perspective and practices of the agency leadership.

Partners:

Kashia Band of Pomo Indians and the Sonoma Marine Protected Areas

Goal:

Show how the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians are uniquely positioned through their long history and traditional practices and values to be an important partner in the recovery of Sonoma’s coastal resources.

Strategy:

Create a short 6-minute video profiling the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians and their connection to the Kashia Coastal Reserve. Through these perspectives, we show how the Kashia can restore the ocean’s resources in partnership with the Sonoma Marine Protected Areas while also restoring their own traditional culture.

Audience:

Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, Sonoma Marine Protected Area stakeholders – resource managers and scientists, rangers, coastal conservancies, and engaged citizens who either work or recreate in the Sonoma marine areas.

Approach:

We told this story through the words and practices of the Kashia. Members representing different generations describe their relationship to the coast and their traditions. From an elder who is passing on language and traditions to her grandchildren to a former Council Chair who talks about upholding tradition in the face of growing regulations in the oceans, we get a perspective of all the values that make the Kashia Coastal Reserve important. The visual elements of the ocean, ceremonies, spiritual objects, and wildlife all come together to share the cultural life of the Kashia and their role in preserving our coastal areas for the future, a goal also shared with the Sonoma Marine Protected Areas.

Impact:

The video has been distributed online by the Sonoma MPA and has been viewed thousands of times on multiple platforms. It was also chosen as an Official Selection at Wild & Scenic Film Festival, the largest environmental film festival in the country. Perhaps most importantly, it helped cement the collaboration and respect of the Sonoma Marine Protected Areas and their leadership for the traditional ecological knowledge of the tribe and their participation in preserving the coastal marine ecosystem.