Creating Partnership, Investing in Communities

Poppies on the Anza Trail in Oakland, CA, located on Huichin, the ancestral and unceded homelands of Ohlone peoples.

NPS/Kimberly Twardochleb

To maintain transparency and acknowledge the asymmetrical relationships between the federal government, Department of the Interior (DOI), National Park Service (NPS), and Native and Indigenous nations and communities, the document below outlines our values and goals on the Anza National Historic Trail (Anza NHT). This is a flexible, living document. We welcome additions, corrections, and revisions as we work collectively to create a respectful partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples within the structure of the NPS.

We understand that we are agents of the federal government, and our positions on the trail are made possible by the violence of historical colonialism and ongoing acts of settler colonialism. We take the weight of this violence seriously and are committed to creating ethical protocol and building reciprocal relationships with Indigenous communities along the trail. We are committed to co-stewardship and the caretaking of life along the trail, including Indigenous peoples' lands and relations.

What we do

Education and Interpretation

As part of the National Park Service, the Anza NHT team seeks to educate visitors about diverse cultural perspectives and provide an opportunity to link the past with the present. We recognize that Indigenous pathways existed millennia before the expedition route or Anza trail emerged. People living in what is now Arizona and California have been and continue to be impacted by the Spanish Empire's colonial and settler colonial violence. Indigenous peoples were displaced, subjugated, and dispossessed of their ancestral lands and relations. Indigenous peoples also survived and continue to resist ongoing occupation. Our mission is to raise awareness of these truths and preserve the many stories that have been minimized or erased along the trail. Education, interpretation, and public humanities outreach are part of our effort to maintain awareness and ensure integrity.

 

San Juan Bautista,CA is located on Popeloutchom, the ancestral homelands of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of Ohlone peoples.

©Bhoj Rai

Caretaking and Preservation

Trail leaders, managers, and interpreters work with volunteer and non-profit groups to establish, maintain, and steward the trail for the benefit of present and future generations. Leadership prioritizes community collaboration and manages relationships and partnerships with these historical sites through Indigenous knowledge pathways, sustainable land management principles, safety, inclusivity, and accountability. Developing and sustaining tribal relationships helps us raise awareness of the trail's natural and cultural history and resources.

Staff on the Anza NHT are not land managers or owners, but we do work to care for resources which hold cultural and historical significance. This includes identified and visible sites of Indigenous habitation noted in the trail’s Comprehensive Management Plan. Many of these areas are protected because they are on lands defined by federal, state, county, or local municipalities as public. Decisions about recreational trail placement are often guided by the need to protect and mitigate the risk of damage to cultural sites. These decisions are made in partnership with landowners and managers which may include entities like California and Arizona State Parks, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, and other National Park system units.

We understand the language the federal government uses does not necessarily reflect Indigenous beliefs, values, or ways of relating to land. Indigenous communities are more than “stakeholders,” and land and sacred sites are more than natural or cultural resources to be managed by the state. We want to clarify that the designation of the Anza National Historic Trail is not a legal claim to the land along the trail and the designation cannot be used as grounds for the federal government to appropriate the land.

Our commitments to Indigenous Nations on the Anza Trail

Accountability

We recognize that Indigenous lifeways are underrepresented on the Anza NHT and on our website. We are committed to rectifying this gap and building relationships with tribal communities and partners. The newly created 2023 Anza NHT Foundation Document stipulates our pursuit of projects that “embrace native voices in collaboration [and] develop an interpretive program that allows for both stories to be told equitably.”

We view consent as integral to our accountability practice, and we understand consent can be withdrawn at any time for any reason. We deeply respect the Indigenous right to refuse participation and the right to protect the community, ancestral knowledge, sacred areas, and relations. When building projects and partnerships, we will work to ensure Indigenous data sovereignty and respect all data and intellectual property protocols stipulated by the community.

We take all feedback seriously, even if it brings discomfort to our previously held perceptions or ideas, as we learn new ways of relating to each other.

 

The Anza Trail Cultural History Park is located on the ancestral homelands of the Hohokam and Sobaipuri, the predecessors of the Tohono O’odham and Akimel O’odham peoples.

NPS/Kimberly Twardochleb

Community-led Projects

In the past, there has been limited involvement with tribal communities along the Anza NHT. Previous staff and funding supported reenactment and activities that did not

accurately represent historical events and colonization. As we reckon with these harmful practices, we have shifted our focus to community-centered education, partnerships, and ways to channel resources toward Native-centered projects.

We are actively developing interpretive and educational programs that promote and amplify Indigenous knowledge and culture in collaboration with Indigenous organizations. From 2014-2017, we provided funding through a Cooperative Agreement in partnership with the California Indian Heritage Center to commission a series of paintings from Native artists depicting the expedition’s impact on Native peoples. In 2021, Indigenous leaders and scholars collaborated with us to update the trail’s interpretive themes which are now reflected in the 2023 Foundation Document. At this time, we also entered into a cooperative agreement with the American Indian Studies department at San Francisco State University to create a public history project focused on the Indigenous experience in response to the Anza expedition in the Bay Area.

More recently, the Anza NHT has built relationships with the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA and the Anza Trail) and collaborated in the January 2023 opening of the Anza Trail Cultural History Park, a project designed with staff and students from Arizona State School for the Deaf and Blind (ASDB) which includes an art installation archway created by Tohono O'odham/Kiowa multimedia artist Quinton Antone.

Transparency and Flexibility

We are a team made up of NPS staff in various roles, Mellon Humanities Fellows employed through American Conservation Experience, and short-term interns funded through a variety of partner organizations. We also partner with organizations like The Anza Trail Foundation who may fundraise and distribute funds to support projects and programs along the trail. Each of our roles brings with it various funders and mechanisms for delivering funds. We understand these administrative arrangements can be confusing, and we will do our best to provide clarifying information at all stages of contact and respond to information requests promptly.

We are committed to staying transparent and flexible to create mutually beneficial partnerships. We understand our ideas may or may not align with the community’s interests and capacities at that time. We understand we need to follow specific community protocols, and timelines can be adjusted. When we have potential projects, we will provide clear information about the project or opportunity, including institutional processes, budgets, roles, and any foreseeable limitations. We listen to feedback and respond promptly and respectfully.