KELSEYVILLE, Calif. — California State Parks officials gathered with members of the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians on Friday to celebrate a new collaborative agreement meant to support greater use of the park by the tribe, whose leaders said it is part of their original homeland.

The event at the park’s pavilion featured prayers by tribal elders and the signing of a memorandum of understanding, or MOU, which State Parks Director Armando Quintero said formalizes the relationship between the state and Big Valley.

The MOU State Parks signed with Big Valley on Friday is the 12th such agreement the state has entered into with a tribe. Quintero said the agreements vary from tribe to tribe.

The first tribal MOU was between State Parks and the Koi Nation of Northern California. That agreement, signed in April 2017, was for the purpose of collaboration and cooperation, and protecting cultural and natural resources in Anderson Marsh State Historic Park in Lower Lake.

That five-year MOU was renewed on Aug. 30 during a signing ceremony in which Lewis Ridge — reportedly named for Lewis’s woodpeckers that, in turn, are named after explorer Meriwether Lewis — was renamed Mxqawlay’ba Knowin Xyoykith Ridge, which translates to “the grandmothers/ancestors heal on this mountain,” in Southeastern Pomo.

At that time, McVicar Trail — named for a property donor — was renamed Dawa Qanoq’ana, which translates into “south way in front of me.”

Those renaming actions are part of the State Parks Reexamining our Past Initiative, which the agency said “seeks to remove derogatory and inaccurate names and materials from the State Park System while restoring native names and other significant aspects of California's cultural heritage.”

In the case of Clear Lake State Park, State Parks officials said the Big Valley tribe will contribute information on interpretation and resources, and will collaborate on actions around planning.

The MOU also will streamline communications and be a foundational document for care and stewardship.

The 590-acre park on the shore of Clear Lake was founded in 1949. It remains a popular and busy park year-round.

A momentous time for the tribe

Big Valley Tribal Chair Flaman McCloud Jr. offered a prayer at the start of the ceremony. He credited Philip Gomez, his predecessor as tribal chair, for helping start the process to establish the agreement with State Parks. Gomez died in February.

McCloud also welcomed a big group of runners taking part in the 500 Mile American Indian Spirit Marathon, who stop each year at the rancheria and decided to stop in at the ceremony.

“This is a momentous time for our tribe,” said McCloud, explaining their ancestral connection to the land. “This is where our people came from.”

He added, “The goal is to have this as ours,” not a part but the whole thing.

McCloud said they can talk about suffering, but they also have many blessings.

He thanked State Parks staff for working with the tribe to make the agreement happen.

Quintero, who along with McCloud signed the agreement at the event, recognized his own Indigenous heritage, tracing back to the Huichol people of central Mexico.

For Quintero, the event was particularly meaningful since it fell on the longest day of the year, which he said is a pause between the old year and the new one. “For me there is a sense of power and presence.”

He said it’s much more than an agreement. It allows for the tribe to practice ceremonies and gather plants and other materials for their use.

“These are your lands,” he told tribal members.

Tribal Secretary Vivian McCloud, Flaman McCloud’s sister, also credited the previous council — including Gomez — with starting the work that led to the agreement.

She said the tribe is looking forward to the future, and she thanked State Parks for sitting at the table with them.

“There’s so many things to be thankful for when it comes to Big Valley,” she said.

McCloud said she was humbled to be there. “It is an honorable place to be,” adding, “What a day in history, right?”

She said there are a lot of good things happening for the tribe, including the upcoming Tule Boat Festival in July.

The tribe, she said, is a good community partner that stands firm on tribal sovereignty. They have to speak for their ancestors and think about the seven generations to come when making decisions. “It’s not just about now.”

Brian Walsh, the State Parks archaeologist and district tribal liaison, said the agency received its first request from the tribe to work on an agreement in October 2021 and held the first meeting the following month.

After the ceremony, Quintero told Lake County News that the agreement gives full access to the park to tribal members for gathering of plants and minerals. They also will collaborate with State Parks in a full partnership to protect cultural sites.

The agreement also will facilitate the return of ceremonies within the park lands.

“Our charge is to protect cultural and natural history,” Quintero said.

He said it’s important to tell the truth about the history of the tribes.

Quintero referred to the changes at Sutter's Fort State Historic Park, where the master plan has been rewritten to represent the tribes. Now, no improvements at the site can involve putting materials into the ground because the fort was built on top of a village.

“It gives me a very powerful sense of pause,” Quintero said of including tribal history in the planning and understanding of park sites.

A lot of parks are doing fire planning with the tribes as part of safely managing the landscapes, he said.

In the newest state park, Dos Rios in Modesto, they also have included an area with plants for making basketry and other items. Quintero said it’s important to offer a safe place for plant gathering and growing, as most of the plants have been only available along roadsides. Indigenous women use their mouths to work on the materials, and as a result have the highest rate of mouth cancer, which he believes is a result of pollutants from the roadsides.

It’s expected Big Valley will be involved in the general plan update process for Clear Lake State Park that officials said is now getting underway.

Asked about statements made by tribal members about a desire to have the parklands back, Leslie Harzell, State Parks’ cultural resources division chief, department preservation officer and tribal liaison, said the agency doesn’t have statutory authority to return parklands.

Rather, they do consultation on access and capacity for co-management. In the case of the Yurok, in April 2022 the tribe — in partnership with State Parks, Parks California and Redwood National Park — opened the Stone Lagoon Visitor Center, the first tribally operated visitor center within the State Park system.

Hartzell said the California Natural Resources Agency has a grant program for tribes to explore a land back program through acquiring surplus state lands.

The park as resource

Tribal Secretary Vivian McCloud told Lake County News that she and her family didn’t grow up in Lake County but came back to live here between 10 and 15 years ago. They have ancestral ties through their grandmothers.

“The park has always been a resource” for medicine and materials like tules, she said.

They will gather tules at the park in July in preparation for the Tule Boat Festival, which takes place July 25 to 27 at Big Valley Rancheria.

The work to create the boats is a three-day process, from gathering to construction, she said.

McCloud said the MOU is creating new opportunities, such as allowing tribal members to visit and camp there without cost.

The agreement also is giving rise to new relationships and understanding. “It’s very healing to us,” she said.

During his comments at the start of the ceremony, Tribal Chair Flaman McCloud Jr. said he had envisioned “little feet” moving across the park, a reference to his ancestors.

On Friday, there were more little feet active in the park, but these weren’t from the past. Rather, they showed the shape of the tribe’s future — including the young dancers who swayed and twirled on the lawn near the pavilion.

There also were the tribe’s children, playing along the creek, sitting at the water’s edge, and catching and holding lizards.

Looking out across the park and the multicultural blend of people enjoying and using it, Quintero said, “The work here I think is going to go on well into the future.”

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.