Written by Alexandria Ybarra
On Saturday, June 26, Native and non-Native Communities across the ancestral lands now known as California gathered at the Autry Museum of the American West for a powerful, community-guided conversation centered on the Futures of Sovereignty, marking the final episode of Reclaiming Our Stories: Voices of Indigenous People of California Podcast.
Joined by Relatives from across the state, they felt an immediate breeze of collective joy, warmth, and excitement fill the air. While many arrived with existing relationships, others were meeting for the very first time. Yet there was an undeniable force of familiarity that emerged from our shared commitment to imagining and cultivating futures in which our sovereignty is fully realized and actively practiced.
While California Humanities has been entrusted with supporting California Native communities in telling our own stories through the contemporary medium of podcasting, the evening was equally enriched by traditional Indigenous storytelling. Local Tribal singers and cultural practitioners—including Toveema, Carmelo Family (Gabrielino/Tongva), Rudy Ortega and Noli Ortega (Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians), Louie Robles, Jr. (Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation), and the Chumash Cultural Collective—and by Indigenous educator, ethnobotanist, and cultural practitioner Sienna Thomas (Piipaash/Tsitsistas).
Each Tribal group shared stories through songs, regalia, and traditional instruments. Bringing life into the space, sharing language, and reawakening ancestral memory. Sienna Thomas further grounded us in a “Tea Time” offering, inviting us into relationship with the medicines she had thoughtfully gathered. Her offering served as a reminder that tending our homelands, learning from our plant relatives, harvesting with care, and using these medicines in reciprocal relationship are all living expressions of sovereignty. Together, these teachings demonstrated that sovereignty is not simply an aspiration—it is something we practice every day.
These meaningful additions to the evening grounded the conversation that was guided by our Storyweaver, Victorio Shaw (Hoopa), and carried forward by panelists, Chairwoman Erica Pinto (Jamul Indian Village of California), Chairwoman Darlene Franco (Wukchumni Yokut), and Juan A. Reynoso (Ipai-Kumeyaay San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians). Without giving away the heart of the episode, I will share that it felt especially timely to be reminded that sovereignty is our inherent responsibility and gift from the Creator, and that practicing it requires us to imagine what is possible through our collective power. As Victorio Shaw beautifully asked, “What responsibilities do we carry to the future, and how are our choices today shaping worlds yet to come?” I invite all of us to sit with this question as we continue our own journeys.
I hope others will continue the journey by listening to Episode 6 and spending time with the stories, teachings, and questions shared throughout the conversation. My hope is that these stories continue to ripple outward, finding their way into our homes, our communities, and the futures we are all helping to shape.
