_{Thumbnail photo courtesy of the Smith River School Local Organizing Committee}

It took more than a year of “energy, passion and advocacy,” but the Tolowa community, parents, teachers and advocates finally received the green light to formally recognize that their school stands on Tolowa homeland.

Andromeda Lopez, a Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation citizen and a True North Organizing Network leader, called the unanimous approval from Del Norte County Unified School District trustees to install a public land acknowledgment sign at Smith River Elementary School a landmark moment in local history.

But the Board’s decision on Thursday came after its president, Charlaine Mazzei, cut the public comment period short amid outcry over what she and her colleagues said was a misunderstanding over the definition of the word territory.

“I’m the one that brought up my concern about the word territory and I’ll admit it was probably out of ignorance (about) how others view the word,” she said. “There was never any intention to erase people. It wasn’t that you aren’t still here, that you don’t deserve respect and you don’t deserve acknowledgment. It isn’t fragile to feel attacked when people come at me with that. It’s not what I intended, it’s not what I said and it’s not who I am.”

Members of the Smith River School Local Organizing Committee began working to install a land acknowledgment sign at the school in April 2025. The group was inspired by a similar sign at College of the Redwoods’ Del Norte campus, replacing the name of the school and exchanging the redwood design for a Wildcat paw, Local Organizing Committee member and Smith River parent Amanda O’Connell said.

The Local Organizing Committee worked with members of the student government, DNUSD facilities and maintenance, individual school board members and Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation leaders.

The Jed Smith Redwood Burl Company crafted the land acknowledgment sign from redwood, O’Connel said. It was paid for with Klamath Promise Neighborhood grant dollars. The sign cost about $1,500. Another $1,500 will go toward a land acknowledgment community ceremony and celebration.

“It’s intended to be a simple but respectful recognition of the original people of this area as well as a teaching tool that will encourage our students, staff and visitors to deepen their knowledge and understanding of our shared history and local culture,” O’Connell told trustees.

According to Lopez, while CR Del Norte is the first local institution to erect a land acknowledgment sign recognizing it’s in Tolowa territory, Smith River School is the first K12 school to take that step.

“Having our Tolowa community members showing up in unity to share their pain and experiences tonight despite the emotional burden of revisiting historical and ongoing harms is an important part of the story and why this moment matters,” Lopez told Redwood Voice Community News on Thursday. 

Tolowa ancestral territory extends from Wilson Creek in the south to Sixes River in the north and east to the Applegate River in Southern Oregon, said Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation Tribal Council member Jaytuk Steinruck. 

Reading a letter he and his colleagues sent to the DNUSD Board on Tuesday, Steinruck informed trustees that Yontocket is the spiritual center of the Tolowa nation and Howonquet is the seat of its tribal government.

“Land acknowledgments are formal statements that recognize and honor the indigenous people who originally inhabited and stewarded the land where an institution, event or building is located,” Steinruck said. “Key elements are specific identification — the name (of the) exact indigenous tribes, nations or bands with ancestral ties to the surrounding region — and active tenses. They avoid strictly past tense language, acknowledging that indigenous communities are still present and thriving today.”

Steinruck’s father, retired DNUSD teacher Don Steinruck distributed maps of his people’s homeland to the Board of Trustees, reminding them that visuals are important. He noted that all the other schools with the exception of ‘O Me-nok Learning Center, which is within the Yurok Reservation, is on Tolowa land. 

“The point is, is this acknowledgment essential?” Don Steinruck said, introducing the Board to his grandsons as living proof that the Tolowa Dee-ni’ aren’t going anywhere. “It is essential for the basis of understanding, for anybody that comes to this school, to the community, to be part of who they want to be.”

Just before they approved the land acknowledgment, Board members Frank Magarino and Michael Greer offered an explanation for why they didn’t consider the matter on May 14. Magarino, whose trustee area includes Smith River, Hiouchi and Gasquet, said he suggested tabling the matter last month so it could come before the full Board of Trustees. He said he wanted to give everyone a chance to “put their 2 cents in.”
This statement prompted a comment from Kathryn Morris, a parent, who said she had a procedural concern about how the item was postponed. She noted that the students, parents and advocates working on the issue had asked for the matter to be discussed earlier this year, but it didn’t appear on the agenda until May 14.

Then, it was informally set aside without the proper majority vote, which is a Brown Act requirement, Morris said.

“For a group that followed proper channels and waited nearly five months for their item to be heard and then watched it be bypassed without a formal process while other items were moved forward, it would be totally reasonable to feel that the request was not being taken seriously by the Board,” she said.

Greer, whose trustee area includes Klamath, took credit for the work two years ago to change Margaret Keating Elementary School to ‘O Me-nok Learning Center “to honor the tribe, to honor you.” At Thursday’s meeting he acknowledged that his interpretation of the word territory differs from the Yurok and Tolowa communities’ meaning.

“Your definition of territory is the one that is correct for this area,” Greer said. “This is why, in my feeling, I have no problem with voting for that sign.”

Phillip Williams, the Yurok Tribal Council member who represents its North District, addressed the DNUSD Board in solidarity with his Tolowa neighbors after asking their permission.

“This land acknowledgment is acknowledging the fact that these people were taking care of the land before any of us were here and we should be thankful they left it in good condition,” Williams said. “And they’re still here. They’re still fighting. That’s what we’re acknowledging.”