Pomo Project/
Miwoks: "Over our dead bodies"
By Steve Hart, Staff Writer
Claiming Tomales Bay as their territory, the Miwok Indians are angry
about the Cloverdale Pomos' plans for a reservation, resort, and
golf-course on the picturesque inlet in Marin County.
"They are trespassing," said Greg Sarris, a Coast Miwok opposed to the
Pomos' project. "This is going to happen over our dead bodies."
Jeff Wilson, chief of the Cloverdale tribe, said he isn't trying to
start a fight with the Miwoks. "We need to heal each other, not fight each
other," he said.
He said the project will be a "shared resource" for Indians.
Marin County leaders and some Tomales Bay residents also are opposed to
the Pomos' plans. Marin County Supervisor Gary Giacomini charged a
developer is using the Pomo tribe to avoid county zoning restrictions.
The Cloverdale Pomo leader and a San Francisco developer, Takuo Kanno,
are planning an ambitious development on the 360-acre Marconi Cove Ranch
near Marshall, complete with a marina, hotel, 40 vacation homes, 40 Indian
homes and golf course.
Current county zoning allows only limited commercial development, with a
maximum of six homes on the property. Indian land held in federal trust
status is exempt from county zoning, however.
The Colverdale tribe, which has been looking for a reservation site
since it was reorganized last year, is applying to the US Dept of Interior
to establish one along Tomales Bay. The tribe's former reservation, just
south of Cloverdale, is being split by the $40 million Cloverdale freeway
bypass.
Interior Secy Manuel Lujan said the tribe's proposal for Tomales Bay "appears
to have the makings of a potentially viable economic venture." But Sarris
said the Miwoks will try to block federal approval of a Pomo reservation
on Tomales Bay.
"We find it appalling that a Pomo tribe from 100 miles away all of a
sudden comes along and claims this is their territory," Sarris said.
According to tribal history, Miwoks inhabited the Tomales and Bodega Bay
areas, as well as Petaluma and other areas of Marin and southern Sonoma
counties.
But Wilson said the Pomos used the Tomales Bay shoreline to gather salmon,
shellfish, seaweed and salt. He said the Pomos intermarried with the Miwok
tribe.
"They are related to us," Wilson said. "My great-grandfather is buried in
Marshall."
Sarris, an assistant professor at UCLA, said its true that Pomos came to
Tomales Bay to trade and gather food. He also acknowledged intermarriage
between the tribes.
But Sarris said that doesn't give Pomos the right to establish a
reservation in Miwok territory.
"They came here only with permission of the Indians of the area," Sarris said.
"Miwok people were extremely touchy about their territory. We respected other
peoples' territory. They are coming into Indian country without permission.
In the old days, that's what caused warfare."
Sarris said the Tomales Bay Miwoks were promised a reservation near Marshall
in the 1920s, but the US Govt never kept the promise and most Miwoks were
driven away. Sarris, who grew up in Santa Rosa, said the Miwoks were never
recognized by the US Govt, but they, too, are trying to organize a tribal
government and gain federal recognition.
Sarris said the tribe has no immediate plans to establish a reservation,
however.
He said at least 1,000 Coast Miwok descendants live in Marin and Sonoma
counties.
Wilson claims the Pomo project has backing from a San Jose-based Indian
organization that represents Miwoks. But Sarris said the organization has
no connection with the Coast Miwoks.
Harold Bradford, supt of the Central California Agency of the BIA, said he
hasn't seen the tribe's application to establish a new reservation. He said
it would take at least a year for the US to approve such a project, and said
his agency would consider the comments of other Indian tribes and local govt.