Bay Native Circle – September 4, 2024

You know, it's been over 200 years since the gold was discovered here.

It was against the law at that time to be Indian.

Reliable to destroy our own rivers and metals, the same man that put us on reserves and ghettos,

the same man that sold us dirty dollar bills that you praise,

the same white collar ballers that be treating you like slaves.

Oh, great spirit, grandfather, grandmother,

thank you for this beautiful red day you've given us and thank you for our lives.

I'm Petu Teyetu, good evening relatives and welcome to Bay Native Circle here on KPFA

and online at kpfa.org.

This is the Bay Native Circle.

This is Tony Gonzalez, your host this evening, September the 4th, 2024.

And tonight my relatives will be speaking with Gary McKinney of Fort McDermott out in Nevada,

of the Paiute Nation.

He'll be talking to us about the lithium mining that's underway there at Thacker Pass

and give us an update on what's going on there to include the U.S. Supreme Court case

of the Apache Stronghold people for Oak Flat will be heard September 11th

will have an effect on the Fort McDermott peoples there at Thatcher Pass as well

and all across the country for that matter in terms of sacred sites

and protection of the well-being of the traditional peoples on those lands by relatives.

And so we'll also play for your recording tape.

I did with Dr. Concepcion or Concha Saucedo Martinez of San Francisco

and many people in the greater Bay Area know of her.

And she just celebrated her 90th birthday, 90 winters, my relatives, on Saturday the 24th.

I believe it was there in San Francisco at the Hummingbird Farm out there on Geneva Street.

And before we get there, my relatives,

I just want to give a salute to the great nation, Acoma Nation there in Nuevo Mexico.

And they had their feast day on September the 2nd up there in what's called referred to as Sky City.

I don't know if people have been up there, but there was a strong ceremony on feast day

for the community there as I spoke to some people.

And also Navajo Nation Fair is coming right up.

My relatives, that's on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,

the largest gathering of Navajo and other indigenous peoples coming together.

Navajo Fair there at Window Rock in the Navajo Nation.

My relatives, the Navajo Queen determination will be made and powwows, rodeo, aho.

All right, my relatives, let's go into that interview with Gary McKinney.

Aho, my relatives, and on the line here for Bay Native Circle,

I've invited Gary McKinney to join us to talk about the lithium mining

and all that's going on there at Thacker Pass in northwestern Nevada.

I believe he'll describe it to us, but Gary is also a tribal member there at Fort McDermott.

And Gary, welcome to the program.

Aho, thank you for having me on today.

Yes, and your patience here.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me record this program here for September 4th.

And Gary, if you can give us an update, we do want to talk about the lithium mining for sure

that's going on there in Thacker Pass.

We've had past interviews in the last year or so, and before that with several guests.

And the most recent, can you tell us about a court case that was transferred,

sent to Los Angeles to be heard by the 9th District Court?

And if you can bring it.

And also introduce yourself, describe the land you're on.

Thank you.

My name is Gary McKinney.

I'm from Duck Valley Indian Reservation next door to Fort McDermott Indian Reservation.

I am a spokesperson for Atakwadakwa Wanula, the Paiute group of descendants.

We've been active in spreading awareness and conducting different events, prayerful events,

throughout the past three to four years.

And so it's an honor to be on the show today and to get some of the words out.

Some more awareness is always good.

So that 2 a.m. is where I'm from.

And thank you again.

Yes, Gary.

And you mentioned being a spokesperson for the descendants there in the area.

Tell us the history there at Thacker Pass.

There was a massacre that occurred there, a massacre of several dozen of your peoples.

Can you describe that and explain that short history?

Sure.

Yeah.

There's a couple burial sites there on within the Thacker Pass project within that location.

And one of them that is involving the our Paiute Nation and the group of volunteer cavalrymen back in 1865.

There was a it was along the timeline of the Snake War, one of the deadliest wars in the West.

You know, we had these Indian wars going.

And this is our story.

This is part of what part of what happened throughout our.

Our, you know, the hard time in our history.

So Thacker Pass is between two mountains and it's one side is Kings River Valley.

The other side is the Quinn River Valley.

And, you know, it's been migrated through, you know, it's been hunting grounds.

It's just been a livable environment since time immemorial.

And so there's evidence of our people being through there.

And, you know, we left tons and tons of, you know, artifacts like, you know, there's arrowheads out there.

Spears, spearheads, just to name a couple of things.

And a lot of those artifacts have been documented and they they are in survey results.

But with the Thacker Pass project, it was fast-track during the time of Covid.

And so always questionable the F pick, you know, free prior and informed consultation.

So with the pandemic that happened, a lot of our Indian nations here, like the Paiute,

Paiute, the Northern Paiute and the Western Shoshones who have burial, you know, ancestors

buried in those places. We're never consulted. We're never asked about the relationship we have

with those, I guess, you know, those buried there in those mass graves. So that's kind of a little

piece of like the cultural issue, the cultural fight that's been with the Thakur Pass. And it's

been red flagged. You know, it's there. It's not going to go away because the lithium is being

co-signed by, you know, the United States government. The fact still remains that there

are burial sites there. And so they have to follow NAGPRA. And when bones are found out there,

you know, they're supposed to halt construction. And then FPIC comes in, you know, the consultation

part, I mean. And so we have a large company.

General Motors making investment in the lithium there at Thakur Pass without properly or adequately

talking and knowing about the history there, which tribal nations were laid to rest in the

McDermott Caldera on Thakur Pass being inside the McDermott Caldera. So there's still a lot in

question. So it's good to have indigenous relatives aware no matter where you are,

what state you're in, no matter what reservation you're from,

what tribe you're affiliated with. You know, this is, you like to compare it to Standing Rock,

but this is a Standing Rock situation that's wearing an invisibility cloak.

So I'll leave it at that if there's another question you got for me.

Yes. If you can tell us where about is the mine site located at? Is that north of Winnemeca?

And how many tribes does this mining affect? Because I know it's an economic issue as well,

Gary.

Yeah.

I haven't explored that so much, but there may be a tribe that supports the project

and it's all economics.

Yeah. Well, Thakur Pass is about 75 or so miles north of Winnemeca, about 180 miles northeast of

Reno. So it's on the Idaho or not the Idaho, the Nevada-Oregon border. And I have to mention the

McDermott Caldera because they're trying to turn the McDermott Caldera into a mining district for

lithium.

And so I have to mention that part because then it's all going to start lining up once people start

doing the research and getting more involved in supporting and things. You know, it's going to

affect our northern Paiute relatives, western Shoshone and Snake River Shoshone and Bannock

nations, because those are the relatives that had co-inhabited those territories before reservations

before.

Before that displacement, before 1849, you know, the reservations were implemented throughout the

1850s and throughout that time is when our leaders, you know, the Paiute leaders and Shoshone leaders

were leading the people because their mining has always been present in the state for one.

And so before the reservations were fully implemented in the mid-1860s, a lot of settling

happened.

A lot of places were built. A lot of the traditional homelands were, you know, the soil

degradation was a really major issue. So it carries over until, you know, up until today. And

those traditional food, they still grow out in places like Tacker Pass. So we're really concerned

about the traditional foods and the medicines out there. You know, because the more that I read and

I've gone through documents, I've seen that there's a lot of, you know, there's a lot of

documents that are, you can't find by searching on Google or, or, you know, it's, it's not out there

yet. So these are documents that kind of tie us all together in the narrative that, the narrative

that is true to our Northern Nevada Indigenous communities has not been heard yet. And it's big.

It's, it affected more than our Paiute, Shoshone, and Bannock people. It affected non-natives and

this lithium mine continues to violate.

On private and public lands, it's taking water from already contaminated water, water tables. So

it's an existing issue. So, you know, there's just, I just have to say, there's just, there's

our relatives here that's just faced these types of issues for a long time now. So this, this whole

green energy transition is not green. So that's why it's so important for us to keep, keep pushing

no matter what.

And, you know, the lithium,

is only growing stronger in popularity and switching over to more green and less fossil fuel.

And yeah, we just recently heard, for example, that the government seemingly is supporting even

fracking to speed up the oil production. So it's a contradiction how the U.S. policy altogether is

working on both ends there. And Gary, the lithium project has been underway and the construction,

the preparation,

started what a couple of years ago? There's been protests from your peoples and others.

People have gotten arrested. Now you've gone to court. Can you tell us, bring us up to date on that court case from,

must've been a year ago when it was heard in the 9th district, what was the result of that?

The court case that was in California?

Yes. The case was transferred to the 9th district in Los Angeles?

Yeah. Yeah. They, the federal judge here in Nevada, Miranda

Her decision was appealed to the bigger, the higher courts in California and Pasadena.

So we attended that court hearing and the six panel judges there ruled in favor of Lithium Americas.

And a highlight argument in this case was the fact that the Bureau of Land Management violated or violated, broke the law by allowing this project to continue forward without properly showing proof of whether or not they were going to be wasting or dumping their waste on public or private land.

And it turns out that it was on private land.

So the mine was able to move forward with this red flag.

The Bureau of Land Management was not sanctioned.

Everything stayed the way it was.

It was fast-tracked.

So that's what the ruling was partially in that case last year in California.

So in a nutshell, that's what happened.

Gary McKinney, the case itself, I guess you didn't proceed with an appeal.

But I'm wondering if in the case itself you included those issues such as you mentioned free prior informed consent.

You know, that it wasn't presented to the people and all that evidently did matter with the courts inciting with the lithium project.

And I don't know what other appeal process your people, your organizations may be considering.

But the recent court case regarding Oak Flat and the Apache Stronghold, people representative there, Winsler Nosey, has began a campaign tour across the country because Oak Flat will be heard.

Okay.

In Washington, D.C., September 11th, which is going to be a major case affecting a lot of people.

How do you see that case and how you can use it to further defend your people's adventure past?

Well, the Apache Stronghold case is unique because it's one of the first times a grassroots movement has gone this far in, you know, through the court system.

And it's challenging different aspects.

It's challenging different aspects of religion, of the right to practice your religion.

And it's one of those things I, you know, in my opinion, you know, like for us, it's the United States government not giving any crap about the sacred areas where these ceremonies are taking place.

And for our indigenous people throughout Turtle Island, we can all relate to our spirituality.

And by all means, you know, through NAGPRA, through AIRFA, through these different policies that were set up over time to help protect our religious freedoms, that whole aspect is being violated.

It's in jeopardy now.

And for us, you know, it's the same in a different way, if that makes any sense.

You know, we had a prayer camp out there.

That was we.

We utilized our cedar, the sage, our fire, the water.

We had sweat lodges up there more than once.

You know, this has a lot of significance for us.

You know, we're revitalizing and reconnecting to the culture.

And, you know, it's difficult when we're trying to do this for our young ones.

And a lithium mine is or, you know, any type of mine is encroaching on your rights to pray.

And we all look at Mother Earth as, you know, this is our church here.

And places like Thacker Pass hold that.

It holds that connection.

And we don't want to see that broken.

But it's happening right before everybody's eyes.

And the bigger picture here is that there are a lot more sites that Thacker Pass holds on a larger scale.

So it's relating our two.

Our two struggles, this lithium and this copper, both for the green energy transition.

Our relatives, the Apache Stronghold, you know, they hold oak flat near and dear to them.

And it's been that way for longer than Americans have written down.

And it's the same for the McDermott Caldera.

So in our case, you know, we're not here to be sacrificed.

We're not willing to let our history and our culture be erased.

You know, we're not that group of Indians to be colonialized, colonized.

You know, we're looking to rebuild our communities in a more traditional, culture-heavy type of way.

Instead of, you know, we've always had mining here.

There's churches around.

That's an Indian reservation here.

But for us, you know, having these prayer runs and rides across our state to connect our communities,

to share our struggles.

You know, it's, like I said, for us, it's also unique.

And so we support our relatives, the Apache Stronghold, 100%.

And, you know, it's a relative kind of thing.

And there are more.

I first called Winsler back in 21 when we were doing our prayer walk run through Winnemucca.

We pulled over on the side of the road and I happened to call him up and we talked for about 15 minutes.

And, you know, we seen a lot.

A lot of similarities with how things were being handled and us being another grassroots organization.

We're a group of descendants that we're at, you know, at this point without a lawyer.

We're doing all the research, all the homework, all the filing.

We're doing all the statements and we're doing all that on our own.

And so it's an honor to be brothers with Winsler in this way, in this fight, you know,

for the people and for our traditions and cultures.

You know, we're still here and we just want to share that light with the other indigenous communities

that are facing these different things, you know, reach out to us and let's work together.

That's how we're going to continue on.

And, you know, these policies that these mining corporations, they force on us.

You know, we have another way to stay prayerful, pray that, you know,

we're going to make it through this in a good way and communicate.

Communicate that with our relatives, with your relatives, you know,

we're going to be all right, this ain't it, this mining, this green energy transit, this ain't it.

That's not what it's about.

This is about our medicines and our water and the things that were before this country.

So, again, you know, in honor of our uncles and the American Indian movement

and our aunties and the American Indian movement, you know, all over the world in this country,

you know, this fight's for you in honor of you, you know, that's what a big motivation is.

Oh, yeah.

I'm glad you mentioned these words and these things like that.

And Windsor Noisy, when you called him, when was that, 2021?

Back in 2021.

And as you well know, Gary, Windsor Noisy, he's a determined man.

I mean, his activism goes back.

He doesn't quit and, you know, suffers some defeat, but he keeps going.

And he's bringing a lot of attention to the Oak Flat case, you know,

as it heads to the Supreme Court on September 11th.

But he goes back.

I recall the Mount Graham, I don't know if you recall, back in the 80s,

and the Catholic Church and other researchers wanted to put a telescope on Mount Graham

back at that time.

It eventually happened, but Windsor Noisy doesn't give up.

He's still going strong.

Let me ask you, Gary, you had mentioned the BLM, the Bureau of Land Management,

and their involvement, and it's on private land, yet the BLM tried to move on that.

And the Department of Interior that I believe oversees,

the BLM, the Bureau of Land Management, and we have Deb Howland in that position

as Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

Gary, what do you feel?

Is she under pressure?

Has she connected, communicated about this at all?

Not with us specifically.

We, over the past three or four years, you know, of course,

have been bugging the Department of the Interior.

We've been there to lobby for the Owyhee National Monument.

Last year, last October, where we got as close to talking with the DOI staffers

there at the office in D.C., and, you know, we don't ever get these types of things

voiced or heard too often, you know, in this grassroots kind of a way.

So it's really been difficult getting politicians to adhere to these types of requests

from our grassroots.

You know, organizations.

So we decided to go to them.

You know, we have been doing our piece to vocalize our narrative on the snake war

and the water issues and the land issues, cultural issues.

We left that seed there in D.C. last year.

So, you know, we've managed to stay away from incarceration, from slap suit,

and it's...

It's allowed for us to have the opportunity to keep sending these arrows to these different

offices and, you know, because we're thinking a lot about sacrifice and lithium, you know.

So I would have to say that we are not going to give up, you know.

It's just a whole different story when it's the lawyer jargon talk and judges and filing

motions and stuff.

But it's a different story when it's the truth.

And, you know, you got people utilizing elected officials in a smart way.

You know, so we're working with our...

You know, Duck Valley has been pretty good at standing their ground here and holding

to our ancestors, you know, keeping our own well-being intact.

So we...

I would like to see our tribes bring out the secretary of...

The Interior, you know, Deb Howland or whoever that next official might be.

You know, we're thinking that far down the road, you know.

Right on.

Hoping that...

Really hoping that she could see this issue here as what it is, a very, very serious one

with violations and red flags.

So it's a matter of how many of these...

How many of the people are able to see what's going on inside of that invisibility cloak

that we talked about.

And so, you know, we, the people, protect ourselves.

You know, we have every right to come together and utilize our intelligence in a good way.

Put that down in a petition format or write a statement and submit it.

Because now is that time where, you know, there's a lot of attention on what's going

on, but there hasn't been too much vocalization coming from the directly impacted tribe, the

Fort McDermott Paiute Shoshone.

So from where I live, we're seeing all these things happen, NAGPRA violations, and it's

not going to...

Well, we're not going to allow this to happen for too much longer.

You know, our tribal relatives are in need of that type of support.

So hopefully, Deb Howland, with the help of Duck Valley and our other supporting tribal

nations, we could get that type of attention changed from being low.

To being recognized.

And, you know, again, I'll mention, too, we'll be more vocal, we'll be more opportunistic

with what's going on.

So the fight's not over yet.

And the politicians and people, you know, their jobs might be important, but, you know,

our family's livelihood in the future, the seven generations after us, you know, it's

more crucial that we keep them intact.

So, again.

And, you know, I'm just going to leave it at that, I hope.

Oh, no, Gary, thank you very much on that score.

And you mentioned NAGPRA for our listeners as an acronym, the Native American Graves

Protection and Repatriation Act, I believe you were referring to.

And that goes to the sacred site as the bones of the massacre that did occur there back

in the day that you mentioned, Gary.

And I was going to mention, Gary, the phase one by 2026.

What does that mean for the lithium?

Is that by then they're going to start digging?

And for our listeners to know, we're talking about a projected hole in the ground, two

miles wide, a thousand feet deep, my relatives, not to mention the exorbitant waters and

affecting, contaminating the aquifers there.

But for more information, Gary McKinney.

Yeah, you could go to the website, www.peopleofredmountain.com.

And it's a website.

It's set up as a resource site.

There's a lot of information for people to get caught up on.

There's articles there, events to look out for, save the day, recent activities.

We're trying to keep things current there.

I'm on Facebook, social media, Instagram.

Look me up, Gary McKinney.

And I post just a lot of information that you wouldn't necessarily see.

So I'm also the lead strategist.

I'm the head of the American Indian movement, Northern Nevada chapter out here.

And so I just want our people to be informed and aware about what's going on in our

homeland. And so more more coming there.

Follow me on social media.

So I think that those are some really good places to go.

Look, keep yourself updated and appreciate the support.

Oh, oh, thank you very much, Gary McKinney, a tribal member there at Fort McDermott.

And yeah.

We'll go to the website.

I'll call you as often as you can.

Or you call me on events being planned as well.

Hopefully we'll see you in Washington, D.C.

September 11th in support of Wizard Nosey and the Apache Stronghold on the decision

there to protect the sacred sites, including Oak Flat.

Thank you very much, Gary McKinney.

Washington.

Oh, thank you, Gary McKinney.

Paiute Nation.

Paiute Nation there in Fort McDermott will be reporting as often as we can on the demonstration

and the protest against the Thatcher Pass and lithium mining.

All right.

Let's go into that tape recording I had done with Concha Saucedo.

Doña Concha Saucedo.

Oh, all my relations.

And on the phone tonight, I've invited Dr.

Concepcion.

Concepcion Saucedo Martinez.

Otherwise, here is the mission of San Francisco as Doña Concha, elder, to join us for this

grand occasion.

If I may say, Concha, your 90th birthday, 90 winters with us as an elder Chicana, indígena,

you know, I think it's going to be great talking with you tonight.

So Concha, my relatives, is the former executive director there at Instituto Familiar de la

Raza.

She was also...

One of the founding members of that and also board member, past board member with the RAP

organization, the Latino Youth Organization, the Real Alternatives program.

And Concha, if you can tell us a little bit about yourself, I've invited you to welcome

you to talk to the community a little bit about yourself and your birthday and also

because of your past 50 years of activism.

And, you know, yesterday, August 29, is a historical date in Chicano history.

If we can talk about that a little bit.

But please, Doña Concepcion Salcedo, if you could reintroduce yourself and welcome the

community.

Okay.

Thank you very much, Tony.

I'm happy to be on this program.

I'm always happy to be able to talk.

I like to talk.

And a little bit about myself is that I was born in San Francisco, but I grew up in Niles,

California.

I grew up in the country.

So I'm really kind of...

I identify a lot with the country and with Africa.

I grew up in agriculture.

And my family came from Mexico.

My parents, my mother was Yaki native.

So I identify in that way.

And they came in 1927 after the revolutions.

My father came for political reasons because he was involved in a movement there that was

not sanctioned by the government.

So I have that kind of in my genes.

You know?

be an upstart and to try to make change and I've done pretty much what I wanted to do you know

which was to be there for people I've been fortunate to have education and I was taught that

by my parents that if I had a talent or if I had anything that I knew of value that it was my

responsibility to share it with others so I try to live up to that belief and I know we don't have

a lot of time so I do I want to talk about the importance of Chicano Moratorio particularly at

this time you know the Chicanos as we called ourselves in 1970 stood up for peace and against

the war in Vietnam and that was an important

moment I think that they did this in a peaceful way and to demonstrate that you know the Vietnamese

just as the Palestinians they are not our enemy and we would not go to war and there was a peaceful

demonstration in Los Angeles and the people that were for the war plus the police

attacked them and in that process three people were killed and many people were

injured.

injured. But it was an important moment because the action that we decided to take was a peaceful

action. Sometimes we kind of think that peace is not in motion, but it is. And I think it has

taught us a lesson and it continues to teach it to us because now, you know, where we live,

this nation is at war, undeclared, but we are warring on the Palestinian people

by being on the side of Israel government and providing, you know, arms and money for them.

And, you know, this is wrong. And I think we have no business supporting that kind of genocide

because it is a genocide. The Israeli government has said they want,

to eliminate the Palestinians and this cannot happen. That is their land. I identify very much

with them because I feel like this is my land here, right? This whole continent and kind of,

you know, they want to remove us too at different times. And so we have to work across borders

with people who are, you know, suffering the same kind of hostility and violence.

So I think it's important for everybody to really be aware of that history,

that's going on there. And to participate in some way of trying to stop it because it will

annihilate them. I mean, I think I read today that 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza

just during this time. And most of them are, many of them are children and most of them are

civilians. So we have to stand up for ourselves and for others that are suffering the same kinds

of oppressions. Thank you.

Thank you.

No, no, thank you for saying that, Concha, and for Palestine, and we are witnessing indeed

a genocide and we're witnessing the denial of their right to self-determination. I think that's

a very important terminology that is well suited even for the Chicano peoples, you know,

and our right to self-determination, which was also the clarion calls there during the Chicano

moratorio. But Concha, I also want to share, you know, with our listeners, yourself,

at 90 winters, 90 years old, strong and activist. And we welcomed you with the morning light

Saturday. What was it? The 24th there in San Francisco at the Hummingbird Farms. We had a

nice gathering at 5.30, 6 in the morning. You know, it looked like about 200 strong people to

welcome you on your birthday and all of us to share a little bit of history about the Chicano

moratorio. But for our listeners to know, we're going to be there. We're going to be there. We're

going to be there. You have a doctorate degree in psychology, Concha. And with that, you've used

it very well to the best that you could in addressing that to the health and well-being,

mental health, and traditional indigenous ways. Can you elaborate about that teaching,

that healing method? And, you know,

it's your spirit from your youth that brought you even through colegio, a farm worker background,

you know, and raised in San Francisco. But you achieved that doctorate and you've been using it,

you know, as you did at the Instituto. Can you elaborate a little bit about that type of healing

and indigenous teaching and the impact, the positive impact it's had in our community?

Yeah, I thank you for that question. I think that our people

have a strength of spirit. And in our traditions and the whole continent,

we understand that if our spirit is not strong and if our spirit is not centered,

then we can't be whole. So that reclaiming these ancient, and these are not, you know,

our people were psychologists, right? And psychology is not new to us. We know what it means to,

you know, be whole and how to help each other. And so, it's important, I think,

as part of it to reclaim the old ways. That's why we do the sunrise ceremony

because our people always gave thanks for what was above us and what was around us.

And we have to reclaim these things to be whole. You know, there's so much distraction and some

of it may be positive. Technology, I believe in technology, and I wouldn't be talking on the phone,

But I think we still have to have our spirit to be whole. So the more that we can use the old ways, cultural ways, spiritual ways, to be thankful to what we have and to offer prayers for others who may need that kind of strength.

So the more we can connect in modern times to the root of who we are and to understand that Argente were philosophers. Argente were psychologists, were historians. They kept records. They knew about medicine. All of these things that people think we don't know about was already there.

And so it's part of doing the ceremonies that we use.

One of the things that we use is to remind us of who we are in a modern day. And we can be as modern as can be. We can wear the latest shoes. But our hearts have to carry, our mind and our hearts have to carry who we really are and what we know and how we care about each other.

One of the things about Rasa is that we do carry about each other and of helping each other and of helping others because it's a world right now that is in danger.

You know, our elders.

Told us and, you know, part of our history, this, the last 500 years were in sold a movie me and it was a tinto sold. We're still in it. And our ancestors had left this message that if we were to enter, we had the possibility of entering into the six to sold, which was to be a time of peace and harmony.

We then had to, in a sense, take care of business and get prepared.

To enter that and to do and learn the things that we had to do so we could go into and arrive at the six sun at the six time of peace.

And those elders have told us and they have left the message that we need to change how we interact with each other and how we be with each other so that we have to remember who we really are and how we are related.

To the universe, to the creator into everything that is around us. If we are to make it into the six sun, which was unnamed they didn't name it didn't. We're in the sun of movie me and then we've had a lot of movement but they didn't name this one, because they didn't know whether we would be able to make those kinds of changes.

So that's why it's very important at all of this time to make changes in our ways of being with each other, not just here but throughout the world.

The message is.

For the world. If we are going to survive. And I have hope, because I see many changes in people people attending ceremonies, people taking care of Colibri farm, all the things that generate kind of goodness and health.

And it's happening and I see it. I see the young people that are eager to learn more to eager about learned about their roots.

That.

They are ancient, but they are present. And we can be modern play pickleball if we want, but still carry our traditions. That's, I think, the most important message that we need to give each other.

Let's keep on learning about who we really are, and what we have to offer, not just to our community, but to other communities. People are looking for different ways. And I think our ancient people knew those ways.

So the more that we can learn.

And pass it on to others, the better the whole world will be.

And, Tonya Concha, you use the terms before, like Kalmeca, and Lak'ech.

Lak'ech.

Can you elaborate, expand, and give us a little definition to those terms, Mesheifa terms, Kalmeca, and Lak'ech, please.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Thank you for asking that.

Because, and Lak'ech is.

It's called a way of life.

a principle in our old belief system. In Spanish, it means,

tú eres mi otro yo. And if we truly believe you are my other self, what does that say? We are one.

We are connected in this way through the spirit with each other. And so that's why we should do

what we do, because I'm connected to you and you're connected to me. And so then I have a

responsibility to help in any way that I can to assist you in whatever it is that you may need.

And that's essential to what the philosophy of our ancient people was and is, because it's still

practice. But you know, it gets other things distort us here and distract us. But en la

que tú eres mi otro yo, you are my other self. And if we understand it, when I'm seeing you,

I'm seeing myself.

So if I help you, I help myself.

You help me.

And so that energy flows.

You know, it's about that energy flowing among all of us.

Strong principle.

And you asked another question.

Yeah, Kalameka, please.

That was a place of learning.

That's where the young people were sent to learn not only, you know, practical things,

but to understand the philosophy that the people believed in and how to honor it.

And how to express it in their everyday life.

And I think now we use it and can use it as a kind of school so that we can talk about

these things and learn more, really, about how deep our roots go and how strong they

still are.

And that many of these ways are here, but were hidden for a long time because for the

last 500 years, we have been oppressed and have been persecuted.

So the people hid some of these ways so that they would be safe.

The ways would be safe.

And the same thing happened to the northern natives.

And so for a long time, many of these things were not discussed or people weren't talked

to about these ways.

But now it's more than time.

You know, these last, I'd say, 50 years, that has been coming forth.

Yeah.

Well, you know, I see people now doing things that they never did before, like when somebody

has died on the street, putting up a little altar and putting the candles and maybe, you

know, going out and saying a prayer or bringing a smoke to clean the area so it would be safe

again.

And what I find in young people that they're eager to learn.

And so the older people have to learn what maybe they have forgotten or have chosen not

to remember.

Or they have to.

Or they have to learn it for the first time.

But it's something that we can do together.

Did I answer that for you?

Yeah.

Yes, you did very well and completely.

And I just want to tell the listeners again, your activism through at least 50 years or

more, and particularly in the Mission District, to let people know that your involvement with

the youth organization WRAP, the Real Alternatives Program, and even Dia de los Muertos helping

be a part of that initiation during your time here.

Yeah.

And then in La Misión, with La Policía, La Placa always coming in and the brutality

that inflicted on our communities here in the 70s and 60s and 70s, you know, the police

shootings, even gang shootings, if you will.

Can you describe a little bit about that era, whereas it's not like that as it was before?

No, actually, that's when I got involved with WRAP and Mitchell Salazar.

Mitchell Salazar, who was the director of WRAP.

He was a young man of 22 or so.

And I think one year there were something like, you know, 40 deaths of young people.

And that's when we said, you know, this has to stop.

And it was a gatherings that were organized around peace, not only marches, but in talking

about these different ways that conflict can be resolved, that it doesn't have to be, you

know, in violent ways and that there we can still be men and women and stand up and figure

out a way to resolve even the most serious conflicts.

But, you know, at that time, there were a lot more guns around and easily available.

And the violence was in all directions, right, with the violence of the police, which doesn't

help.

And then, you know, that kind of jumps off into the violence that we begin.

That's how we begin dealing with each other, because people, you know, the young people

didn't know another word, another way if somebody offended you or insulted you.

So that has, I think, changed a great deal over the years.

And a lot of the young people being involved directly in that to make that kind of change.

And WRAP was that.

Much of the leadership that you have now that is older now in their 50s, maybe, or 60s,

most of them came through WRAP as a young person.

So, you know, what we do in our organizations becomes very important.

And a place like WRAP taught, you know, leadership skills, how to be a good leader, how to motivate

people.

They learned about the old ways.

You know, they eventually put up an altar in their offices and they learned about Dia

de los Muertos and they did it in their way.

So, you know, young people, I find, are eager to learn.

Sometimes the ones that are resisting are the older people, but the older people should

be helping the younger people learn about these things.

And I think we can.

We can do it.

You know, it's Colibri Park.

Many things are done there and in the open so that people can see what it is and not

think it's something weird or strange, you know, that so many people came that day at

five, as you said, five and five.

Thirty.

I'm waiting to see how many come.

We'll do sunrise again in September.

So I invite people to come.

Yeah.

So say hello to each other and to the sun and to the sky and to what's all around us.

Yeah.

No.

A few people, a few people miss roll call.

We are fortunate because we have so much compared.

If we compare ourselves right now to what's happening to the Palestinians, they are really

suffering.

So I think we should join their effort as well.

And you're absolutely right.

Yes, you're absolutely right.

And I'm glad you mentioned the activism of the people who have wrapped the Real Alternatives

program that used to be there in the mission.

And Mitch Salazar, who sadly passed away several, just several years ago.

And some notables are still, you know, Valerie Tullier.

She's still active in community and the Indian community, California Indian community.

You got Roberto Hernandez.

One of the longtime employees and motivators that también he's running for, for an office

here in San Francisco.

Yeah.

County Board of Supervisors for District 9.

Homegrown activista.

It looks like a sure shot in that regard, you know, Concha.

Pero, you know, the lucha continues.

I want to thank you for sharing your 90 years around the sun and the wisdom that you've

acquired.

Any final words to la juventud?

The challenges ahead, Concha?

Yes, pardon me?

Any words to the young people about facing the challenges ahead?

Well, don't be afraid.

Have no fear or have fear and work through the fear and learn as much as you can about

who you are.

And you will find an exciting and interesting person who came from a deep rooted culture

with much wisdom.

Thank you.

People may not appreciate who we are.

They see us as, you know, poor people that don't have too much value.

And that doesn't matter.

I say you can do just about anything that you set your mind and your will on and ask

for help.

We're here to help.

Ask for help if you can't figure something out, you know, and people will give you that

hand that you need.

And be strong and learn as much as you can about your roots.

And there are many answers in those roots.

And then try to put them into practice, right?

Do something that you haven't done.

Maybe you go down to Colibri Park and volunteer and put your hands in the good earth and it

will feel good and you will get strength from the earth.

We get strength from nature.

You know, you can even hug.

I have a song called Hug a Tree.

I like to write little songs, but you know, but there's a reason for that because the

trees are elders.

They have a lot of energy and you can, by touching them, you can receive that energy.

So do things that maybe you ordinarily wouldn't do, but try something different.

And believe me, you're strong and I depend on you and you help me.

So help others.

You know, if somebody helps us, you help someone else.

And then on it goes, you know, that circle continues.

So that's what I can say.

Do the best.

Do the best you can in anything that you do.

You know?

You sweep floors, do the best you can.

If you wash cars, do the best you can.

If you work in a bank, do the best you can.

If you teach, whatever you choose to do that you like, enjoy it and be of service.

Be of service to others.

You will feel good when you do something for someone else, when you don't have to, when

you're not asked to.

You just do it because you want to.

That's what our cultura is about.

Thank you very much, Dr. Concepcion Salcedo.

Martínez, and in the words of you taught us here tonight, in La Queche,

tú eres mi otro yo.

You are my other self.

Thank you very much.

And happy birthday.

Thank you for having me.

I'm willing to talk anytime.

Very good.

So thank you again, Tony.

And thank you, those who are listening.

You know, take it up.

Do something.

Be of service.

Hasta luego y gracias.

Aho.

Take my hand for a while

Explain it to me once again

Just for the sake of my broken heart

Look into my eyes

And maybe I will understand

How love I'd counted on

Was never there

You see, I thought

That you might love me

So you caught me, it seems

Off balance

With a heart that's full

Of love and pretty dreams

That two should share

And so I know

But please, before you go

I know

But please, before you go

And so I know

Take my hand for a while

Explain it to me once again

Just for the sake of my broken heart

Oh, I want to thank

Doña Concha Saucedo,

Elder Yaki Chicana,

traditional lady as can be,

you know, living in an urban city,

born here in San Francisco, in fact.

I want to thank her for her insight,

her wisdom,

and the challenges she poses to the youth

and to stay strong

and not be afraid as we all,

you know, face the wind together.

And with that, my relatives,

we come in close to the hour,

but before we do, once again,

Leonard Peltier, still in prison,

political prisoner here in the United States,

in prison nearly 50 years now,

and he's going on 80 years old

on September 12th.

And as you know,

he was denied his parole

back in July

and was told that he won't have

another parole hearing until 2039.

He can't,

take it that long, my relative says.

He's got to come home now.

You have to call the White House,

leave a message with President Joe Biden,

and certainly before he leaves,

but try to call every day if you can,

Monday through Friday,

area code 202-456-1111,

456-1111.

And also, you may want to write

to the Senate Judiciary Committee

who oversees,

the prison systems,

and call on them to investigate

the prison system,

the medical assistance that they provide

to incarcerated people,

and to look into the case of Leonard Peltier

in particular.

And with that, my relatives,

I just want to tell you

that the United Nations Special Rapporteur

on Indigenous Issues, Francisco Gali,

visited with Leonard Peltier last week.

And that's very good news, my relatives,

because the Special Rapporteur

who came to visit Leonard Peltier

will include that in his report

and submit it to the highest level

within the UN system.

And I'm sure he will include

the medical attention that Leonard Peltier,

has been denied.

So we'll see how it goes with that.

But very good news,

the UN, United Nations Special Rapporteur,

Francisco Gali, on Indigenous Issues,

visited Leonard Peltier, my relatives.

All right.

This has been Tony Gonzalez, my relatives.

You've been listening to Bay Native Circle.

Our producers, Janine Antoine,

opening music was Al Frank Manriquez,

mixed with Ross Cadie,

Robert Maribel, and Rare Tribal Mobs.

Thank yous go out to Falcón Molina

for helping engineer,

Diane Williams for opening prayer.

We also thank our musical artists, our guests,

and you, our listening audience,

for your continued support.

We want to give a shout out to our brothers and sisters

on the inside, especially those on death row.

Thank you to Creator, to Indigenous peoples

whose lands we occupy, to ancestors,

and to those yet to come.

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