County tribes gather for census outreach

Saying it was time for Native Americans in Sonoma County to
“stand up and be counted” members of five county tribes visited
family and friends, ate a bountiful lunch and listened to community
leaders urge them to be sure and take part in the upcoming 2010
Census April 1.
“We want to be noticed in Sonoma County,” said Dry Creek
Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians Tribal Chairman Harvey Hopkins,
“being undercounted impacts health, education and housing for the
tribes. We want people to stand up and be Indians.”
The Dry Creek Rancheria hosted the event, which was held outside
the offices of the rancheria’s tribal offices.
Hopkins added that although many older Indian people have often
resisted what they have often perceived as outside interference
into community matters, such as the census, he said a new, more
digitally sophisticated generation, is providing a chance for the
residents of Indian Country – the nation’s reservations, rancherias
and other tribal and community land – to become more effective.
“If all of the Native American Indians are counted then the U.S.
would recognized our real numbers, which are much larger than many
assume,” Hopkins said. “Right now the younger people are
increasingly Internet savvy and are in contact concerning the
census. It’s an opportunity for Indian Country.”
“The elders are afraid or hesitant of the census,” Hopkins said,
while casting an approving eye over the tables and displays put up
by the participants. “But it’s the younger generation that will
change that.
According to officials, more than $400 billion in federal
dollars are allocated to state, local communities and tribal
governments, and uses the census data to decide on what community
services are provided.
The feds also say, that with only 10 questions – the answers are
strictly confidential – the Aprils census will be the shortest
census forms in history.
Tribes represented at the event, which included a full blown
production of U.S. Census information from one of the agency’s
giant, blue “2010 Census Portrait of America Road Tour” van,
included, in addition to the Dry Creek Rancheria, the Lytton
Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians, Kashia Band of Pomo Indians,
Cloverdale Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians and the Federated Indians
of Graton Rancheria.
The Sonoma County Indian Health Project (SCIHP) also
participated in the event. SCIHP provides medical, dental and
health education services to all five tribes, including a diabetes
prevention outreach component, which is increasingly important in
combating a disease striking particularly hard at Native Americans,
according to program representative Amy Lemmer.
Tim Campbell, a Miwok member of the Federated Indians of Graton
Rancheria and Project Coordinator of the SCIHP Healthy Traditions
Department said “this time the U.S. Census is conducting outreach
to nations that have been here from time immemorial. It will be
good to hear their voices.”
Other participants included former pro football star and
Cardinal Newman graduate Jerry Robinson, along with former Harlem
Globetrotter Jerry Smith, both Santa Rosa area residents Dry Creek
Rancheria Cultural Coordinator Reg Elgin called “longtime tribal
friends and supporters.”
In addition to the sports figures, Sonoma County District
Attorney Stephan Passalacqua, also urged the 150 or so attendees to
sign up for the census, adding that seniors and children especially
needed to be heard from.
Elgin, a major organizer of the event, agreed with the others in
speaking to the assembled people.
“The census is important to the community and its resources and
it is important that everyone be included, especially members of
the sovereign nations in order that their stories may be told,” he
said.
“We had ten thousand years of being here, five hundred years of
not being counted and one year to get it right,” Elgin said of the
county’s Indian population.
“The problem has been that Indians from all nations have the
basic distrust of government, they got used to being looked at and
ignored,” he added. “We need to stand up and be counted.”
That idea is particularly important to George Somersall, an
elder who is both Dry Creek Pomo and Wappo.
“It’s great if Native Americans get themselves counted but
better if they are counted by tribe. I remember sitting in an
audience and they said ‘there are no more Wappo.’ Well, I was
sitting with my family and raised my hand. There are some Wappo
here! I say stand up and be counted as Wappo so they know we are
still here.”