Welcome!
Welcome to Episode 127 of Ramping Up your English. This episode is the second part of Land Matters in our unit on Native Americans.
Watching Episode 127
Episode 127 was cablecast on Rogue TV. To watch the episode on archive.org, click here.
Episode 127 Summary
Throughout Indian Country, traditional land is finding it way back to Tribes that once lived there. We begin with the Siletz buying land near one of the sacred Table Rocks. Without other ways of having Tribal land returned, many Native American groups are purchasing land that was lost to their people in the past.
In some cases, the land is returned by the government as part of a movement known as Land Back. The Biden Administration accelerated this process that goes back to the Franklin Roosevelt Administration.
A form of Land Back is also featured. The Yurok Tribe is working with the National Park Service in creating a visitor’s center and gateway area that educates the public from the Native American point of view. The Chumash is managing their traditional coastal California area with cooperation from NOAA and the Marine Reserve System. While these are not ownership situations, Tribes are managing areas where their ancestors once lived.
Videos Used in Episode 127
The featured video for this episode shared the title Land Matters. Click here to see a less-edited version of the featured video. A shorter video fits within the time slot of the program. Click here to see that more edited version.
Outside Links to videos
Some video content was created by other producers. Below are links to their productions. Indian Country Today presents the first video in this episode. Click here to learn about the return of thousands of acres of traditional land to the Yurok Tribe.
Swift Water Films produced an excellent video that we used with permission in this episode. Click here to learn about the effort to restore the Klamath River with help from Tribes after the removal of four dams.
There are many videos not used in this episode that are well worth watching. The Yurok Tribe produced several excellent-quality videos. Let’s start with this one about salmon returning to the free-running sections of the Klamath River. Click here to watch about salmon recovery after dam removals.
Click here for a short video about how dam removal is bringing hope to the people. Click here to learn about California State Parks entering an historical agreement with the Yurok.
Voice of America produced an outstanding video about the removal of four dams on the klamath River. Click here to watch the video on You Tube while you still can.
Oregon Public Broadcasting produced a video about the Klamath River before and after the dam removals. Click here to see the video while you still can.
ABC Channel 10 did some fantastic work on telling the whole story of the dam removal. Click here to see their documentary. The removal of dams on the Klamath River was the largest dam removal project in the world. Click here to see Resource Environmental Solutions presentation about this incredible project produced by Swift-water Films.
You Tube has many more videos about this historical undertaking. Search for Klamath River Dam Removals, and you’ll get plenty of videos to choose from.
Click here to see a video from Portland General Electric documenting the removal of a single dam.
A personal Note
While most Americans are welcoming to people from other countries, the U.S. Government is undertaking a brutal attack on those without documentation. This often violent behavior targets mothers taking their children to school, day laborers seeking work, and even refugees as they report to authorities as they are instructed to do. People are thrown into detention camps, even when later found to be citizens. Victims of this horror include citizens, as well as Native Americans. Yes, there is deep irony there.
Many citizens in communities from Los Angeles to Chicago to Portland are fighting for immigrants in their communities. The administration claims to target the “worst of the worst” of criminals, yet the majority of their victims have no criminal records. No communities want to protect the very criminals who make their lives miserable, yet they put themselves at risk to protect neighbors being brutalized by this cruel process.
This speaks volumes about reality. Communities are standing up for neighbors because they are valued members of their communities – not criminals. It seems that the characterization of most undocumented immigrants as dangerous and criminal is a lie. That lie is why many Americans supported the idea of deportation. We see by the actions of communities from coast to coast that most undocumented immigrants become valued members of American communities. Why else would the people resist their removal so energetically?
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Thanks for your patience!