Land Acknowledgment

The present-day Sausalito Library is on the traditional land that is home to the Coast Miwok people, many of whom are Tribal Citizens of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. We honor with gratitude the land itself and tribal ancestors past, present, and future.

If you would like to support the Native Nations of Marin County, please consider donating to organizations like The Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin, Coast Miwok of Southern Marin, Alliance for Felix Cove, or Pomo Landback. 

California Native American Advocacy Project Research Guide

The following resource guide is designed for the Fourth Grade Advocacy Project, developed by teachers and librarians from the Sausalito Marin City School District, from what was previously known as the Fourth Grade California Missions Project.

The purpose of this guide is to provide students and teachers with resources that center the cultural perspectives of the Indigenous people, sovereign Native Nations, and original inhabitants of California when teaching about the history of California. This guide can be used by California K-12 teachers to help inform their lesson plans related to California Native Nations, cultures, and U.S. history. 

Resources For Teachers & Educators

For teachers and educators who would like to build their lesson plans around centering the perspectives of Indigenous people and Native Nations here are some recommended resources:

• Tribal Nations & The United States: An Introduction
• California Indian Education for All: Native Way of Knowing Micro-courses
• Tips for Teachers: Developing Instructional Materials About American Indians by Dr. Debbie Reese
• Tribal Nations & the United States: An Introduction by the National Congress of American Indians
• Native Knowledge 360: Teaching & Learning About Native Americans
• California Indian Education For All: Classroom Resources
• Resources: Boarding & Residential Schools by American Indians in Children's Literature
• American Indian Records in the National Archives: Tips & Tools for K-12 Teachers & Students
• Teachers' Guide: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People
• A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children edited by Doris Seale
• Lessons From Turtle Island: Native Curriculum in Early Childhood Classrooms
• What is Tribal Crit? by the National Education Policy Center

California Native American Books & Resources Lists

Native American Narratives

• The purpose of this guide is to provide teachers and students with narrative books that center the historical and contemporary cultural perspectives of Native American and Indigenous people and tribes. The reading levels included on this list range from children's picture books, elementary biographies and non-fiction, and middle grade fiction and non-fiction.

California Native Nations

• The purpose of this collection is to provide teachers and students with an alphabetical list of at least one book per California Native Nation

California Native Advocacy Organizations  

• The purpose of this list is to provide teachers and students with at least one link per California Native Nation that shows a current/contemporary advocacy topic, movement, organization, and/or affiliated group.

California Native American Online Resources

News

News From Native California

• A quarterly magazine devoted to the vibrant cultures, arts, languages, histories, social justice movements, and stories of California’s diverse Indian peoples. The magazine issues are available to check out.  

Indian Country Today

• A multimedia independent nonprofit news source honoring ancestors and future generations through stories. 

Native News Online

• A for profit news source focused on generating work that improves the lives of Indigenous people.

Statistics

Census My Tribal Area

• A database of census data for American Indian and Alaska Native tribes from the United States Census Bureau. Students can select a state and then choose from a drop down list of Tribal Areas. Includes demographic data, employment, housing, economy, and education. 

Maps

Native Land Digital

• An interactive global map of Native and Indigenous territories, languages, and treaties made possible by a Canadian not-for-profit organization. You can enter an address and this search tool will provide a list of local Native Nations' website resources, related historical maps and images, and additional sources for more information about that Native Nation.

Digital Atlas of California Native Americans

• An an excellent visual educational tool that shows a collection of interactive/dynamic map layers related to the history and cultural heritage of Native and Indigenous people of California as well as Native American genocide and colonization. Includes map layers such as Native and Indigenous Trails and Trade relations before colonization; maps of Spanish and Mexican land grants; maps of Treaty Lands and Bounty Lands; as well as maps of Reservations and Allotments in the 21st century. Review this information page or webinar video before using this educational resource

Federal Indian Boarding School Maps

• The purpose of this resource is an "effort to recognize the troubled legacy of federal Indian boarding school policies with the goal of addressing their intergenerational impact and shed light on traumas of the past." It includes maps of Federal Indian Boarding School Sites across the country, including California as well as a list of Federal Indian Boarding Schools.

Documents

Nation to Nation

• Features treaties between Indian Nations and the United States. Native Nations made treaties with one another long before colonization. Often broken, sometimes coerced, treaties still define mutual obligations between the United States and Indian Nations.

DocsTeach: American Indians

• Primary source historical documents from the 18th through the 21st century with ready-to-use teaching activities for K-12 teachers. Documents reflect Native Nations interaction with the U.S. Government. Offered through the National Archives.

Missions

California Missions Foundation

• The focus of this website is to provide accessible educational information about the 21 California Missions. From the California Missions Map, students can click on the name of any of the 21 California missions and find a brief history of the mission. Students can also copy and paste the mission's address into the Native Land Digital search bar to discover current up-to-date resources and information on the original sovereign people of that land/region. 

Follett California Missions Collection

• The purpose of this collection is to provide teachers and students with at least one book per California Mission. eBook California Missions Collection provided through Destiny Discover by the Califa library consortium. Use the following login information below to access.
  • username: missions
  • password: missions

Cultural Preservation, Museums & Parks

Kule Loklo at Point Reyes

• Kule Loklo (meaning Bear Valley) is a replica Coast Miwok village maintained by the National Park Service. The replica village is located 0.4 miles in from the Kule Loklo Trailhead at the north end of the Bear Valley parking area.

The Miwok Archeological Preserve of Marin

• The Miwok Archeological Preserve of Marin is a nonprofit education organization that offers publications about the Native Nations of Marin County as well as California Native Skills classes. 

California Indian Museum & Cultural Center

• Located in Santa Rosa, the purpose of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center is to culturally enrich and benefit the people of California and the general public. The goals of the Museum and Cultural Center are to educate the public about California Indian history and cultures, to showcase California Indian cultures, to enhance and facilitate these cultures and traditions through educational and cultural activities, to preserve and protect California Indian cultural and intellectual properties, and to develop relationships with other indigenous groups.

State Indian Museum

• Located in Sacramento, the State Indian Museum, opened in 1940 and depicts three major themes of California Indian life: Nature, Spirit, and Family.  Native peoples lived prosperously for thousands of years in what is now California.  All of the exhibits and photographs on display in the museum are presented with respect for those who went before us on this land and continue to live in California communities today.

Museum of the American Indian

• Located in Miwok Park, the Museum of the American Indian in Novato, California, is devoted to uplifting and honoring Native American cultures. Since the creation of this museum and educational center over 50 years ago, the Museum of the American Indian has served the general community with the primary goal of facilitating learning and dialogues among scholars, students, visitors, the general public and the American Indian communities on both continents.