EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Source: https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/6.18.19-Executive-Order.pdf
WHEREAS, in the early decades of California’s statehood, the relationship between the State of California and California Native Americans was fraught with violence, exploitation, dispossession and the attempted destruction of tribal communities, as summed up by California’s first Governor, Peter Burnett, in his 1851 address to the Legislature: “[t]hat a war of extermination will continue to be waged between the two races until the Indian race becomes extinct must be expected“; and
WHEREAS, the State of California’s laws and policies discriminating against Native Americans and denying the existence of tribal government powers persisted well into the twentieth century; and
WHEREAS, despite these wrongs, California Native Americans resisted, survived and carried on cultural and linguistic traditions defying all odds; and
WHEREAS, the State of California and California Native Americans have never jointly formally examined or documented their relationship for the express purpose of acknowledging and accounting for historical wrongs committed by the State of California toward California Native Americans; and
WHEREAS, the State of California has never formally apologized for historical wrongs tolerated, encouraged, subsidized and committed by State actors against California Native Americans; and
WHEREAS, the State of California seeks to more closely explore the historical relationship between the State of California and California Native Americans in the spirit of truth and healing through the establishment of a Truth and Healing Council; and
WHEREAS, the State of California intends that the work of the Truth and Healing Council be done respectfully and in collaboration and consultation with California Native American tribes pursuant to this Executive Order and Executive Order B-10-11 .
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the Constitution and statutes of the State of California, do hereby issue the following order to become effective immediately.
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT:
- The State of California hereby:
a. recognizes that the State historically sanctioned over a century of depredations and prejudicial policies against California Native Americans;
b. commends and honors California Native Americans for persisting, carrying on cultural and linguistic traditions, and stewarding and protecting this land that we now share;
c. apologizes on behalf of the citizens of the State of California to all California Native Americans for the many instances of violence, maltreatment and neglect California inflicted on tribes; and
d. reaffirms and incorporates by reference the principles outlined in Executive Order B-10-11 , which requires the Governor’s Tribal Advisor and the Administration to engage in government-togovernment consultation with California Native American tribes regarding policies that may affect tribal communities. - The Governor’s Tribal Advisor shall establish the Truth and Healing Council to bear witness to, record, examine existing documentation of, and receive California Native American narratives regarding the historical relationship between the State of California and California Native Americans in order to clarify the historical record of this relationship in the spirit of truth and healing. The Truth and Healing Council shall be led and convened by the Governor’s Tribal Advisor and shall include representatives or delegates from California Native American tribes, and may include relevant state and local agencies, as well other relevant non-governmental stakeholders.
- The Truth and Healing Council shall consult with California Native American tribes to shape the overarching focus and develop the work of the Council and shall endeavor to accurately represent the diversity of experience of California Native Americans within the State of California.
- The Truth and Healing Council shall: (i) report draft findings to the Governor’s Tribal Advisor on an annual basis beginning January 1, 2020 and (ii) produce a final written report of findings regarding the historical relationship between the State of California and California Native Americans on or before January 1, 2025.
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that as soon as hereafter possible, this Order shall be filed with the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice shall be given to this Order.
This Order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity, against the State of California, its agencies, departments, entities, officers, employees, or any other person.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 18th day of 2019.