Cosumnes River College held a land recognition ceremony for the Miwok and Nisenan people in the main quad on Wednesday.
The event featured a few guest speakers, a performance by Cali Kalte Crew and a plaque-hanging ceremony. One of the speakers was the Chairman of Wilton Rancheria, Jesus Tarango.
“It was easy for me as a leader to represent my tribe and to work with CRC and again, it’s a dream of mine that one day we won’t have to come here and have the Native people tell you where you stand, you will know because it’s taught to you and you’ve made it an important thing to you to understand the value of who’s land you stand on,” Tarango said.
Tarango said he was thankful for CRC allowing him and his tribe to be represented.
“Us being here today, it’s an honor for me to represent my people and all the people of California and I urge other universities and other organizations to do the same,” Tarango said.
CRC President Ed Bush gave a brief speech and expressed that not remembering who has been here before is a dangerous act.
“For us to assert today that we need to provide physical evidence and representation regarding the land that this college is sitting on is significant,” Bush said. “If we forget the genocide, if we forget the atrocity, if we forget the land we are occupying, then we are destined to repeat those same behavior systems and actions.”
Bush noted that the ceremony was an important event to occur at CRC.
“We hope that today’s event is a demarcation in time that sets CRC apart to say we are committed to remembering, not only remembering in terms of recalling events in time, but remembering ourselves putting our community literally back together again because we realize who’s shoulders of who’s land we are standing upon,” Bush said.
Twenty-one-year-old theater major Dominic Palmer said it was about time for CRC to acknowledge the Native American tribes that have lived on the land before.
Palmer thought the ceremony was beautiful and was a pleasant surprise.
Thirty-two-year-old history major Lisa Stade said she thought the ceremony was great.
“As a history major, I think we should remember history, that’s how we prevent (bad) stuff from happening,” Stade said.