In Northern California, indigenous nations are fighting massive infrastructure projects that threaten their waters, fish, and indigenous lifeways. Increased water diversions from the Sacramento River watershed to Southern California cities and farmland threaten to drive Chinook salmon and other at-risk species to extinction.

In the Monterey Bay area, the Amah Mutsun tribe is waging an all-out campaign to stop a proposed sand and gravel quarry that would desecrate one of their most important sacred places. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band know it as Juristac, a sacred place where healing ceremonies and dances took place for centuries. The public knows it as Sargent Ranch, 6,500 acres of nearly pristine open space at the tail end of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the foothills slope down towards the broad agricultural fields south of Gilroy. To the Debt Acquisition Company of America (DACA), the property’s owner, it is a potential sand and gravel quarry.

The Amah Mutsun are calling on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to acknowledge the difficult truth regarding the history of California Indians. “Please understand, we do not expect apologies,” said Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. “What we want is for Santa Clara County to deny the Sargent Ranch/Juristac mining proposal. This proposal will forever alter one of the few remaining sacred lands of our people. The impact of this mine to the Silicon Valley economy will be minuscule, the impact to this sacred land and to our people will be catastrophic."

Event in Morgan Hill on Dec. 4 | Amah Mutsun Land Trust | Petition to Santa Clara County: Protect Juristac

See Also: Amah Mutsun Tribal Chairman Speaks at United Nations to Call for Protection of Tribal Sacred Site from Surface Mining Proposal

Previous Events: Run4Salmon Tour in Santa Cruz: The Waters Connect Us | Juristac, Amah Mutsun Sacred Land: Presentation by Chairman Lopez