在加利福尼亚州，部落成员正在收回“流水之地”

【中美创新时报2024 年 6 月 16 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）在加利福尼亚州，州和地方领导人承认了对美洲原住民的残酷虐待的黑暗历史，部落在州内各地重新占领了领土。今年早些时候，该州将惠特尼山鱼孵化场的所有权转让给了派尤特印第安人的独立堡印第安人社区，这是新州指令下此类所有权的首次回归。《纽约时报》记者吉尔·考恩（Jill Cowan）对此作了下述报道。

几个世纪以来，被称为欧文斯谷（Owens Valley）的广阔领土一直是美洲原住民的家园，他们生活在河流和小溪沿岸，这些河流和小溪由从内华达山脉东坡倾泻而下的融雪滋养。

后来欧洲定居者来了，随着时间的推移，部落成员几乎失去了对这片土地的所有使用权。最终，水也消失了：20 世纪初，洛杉矶的开发商修建了一条从欧文斯湖到城市的 226 英里长的渡槽。据说，正是这个项目让洛杉矶成为了如今繁荣的大都市。

在大部分水被送往南方后，欧文斯谷和居住在那里的人们发生了什么，这一点并不为人所知。欧文斯湖现在是一个由盐池和碎石堆组成的大杂烩，盐池上覆盖着粉色水晶，湿地上布满了用来捕捉灰尘的砾石丘。当地印第安人领袖泰瑞·雷德·奥尔估计，如今该地区四个公认的部落拥有不到 2,000 英亩的保留地。

但部落成员表示，情况正在发生变化。他们最近收回了山谷的角落，这得益于全国各地日益高涨的将土地归还给土著管理的势头，也称为“土地归还”运动。

近年来，印第安部落收回了数百英亩的祖传土地，通常是在数十年的倡导之后。草原乐队波塔瓦托米族的成员在伊利诺伊州重新购买了 130 英亩土地，这将成为该部落的联邦认可的保留地。弗吉尼亚州马塔波尼河沿岸约 850 英亩的土地被归还给土著管理和保护。

在加利福尼亚州，州和地方领导人承认了对美洲原住民的残酷虐待的黑暗历史，部落在州内各地重新占领了领土。

今年早些时候，该州将惠特尼山鱼孵化场的所有权转让给了派尤特印第安人的独立堡印第安人社区，这是新州指令下此类所有权的首次回归。

去年，一个名为 Three Creeks 的疗养胜地的业主将他们占地 5 英亩的土地卖给了代表三个当地部落的水资源倡导组织。

沿着 395 号公路，这条荒凉的道路沿着内华达山脉的山脚延伸，地貌多岩石，灌木丛生。但进入 Three Creeks 就像是进入另一个世界的大门，通往郁郁葱葱的绿色广阔区域和一个倒映着湛蓝天空的池塘。最近一个下午，在这片土地上，苹果树、樱桃树和杏树盛开，潺潺流水声和欢笑声在空中飘荡。

这不是部落成员的祖先会看到的景象。但购买了三溪的欧文斯谷印第安水资源委员会的执行董事雷德·奥尔表示，这同样意义重大。

“对我来说，这是神圣的，”她在被称为苍鹭小屋的凉爽空气中休息时说道，苍鹭小屋是这片土地上用于聚会和仪式的圆形建筑。

大约 25 年前，三溪的前主人建立了这个地方，供来自世界各地的游客入住、照料花园、穿过附近的山脉，并从当地部落成员那里了解该地区的历史。在此过程中，他们与美国原住民社区建立了关系。

吉吉·科伊尔和她的合伙人被告知，他们可以在公开市场上以 150 万美元的价格出售这片土地。相反，他们接受了委员会的提议，以 90 万美元的价格购买它，以向祖先首先在这里的人们表示敬意。资助委员会购买的捐款来自世界各地的人们，他们被社区的号召所感动。

74 岁的科伊尔表示，她希望土地归还能够激励其他人挑战土地仅仅是可以传给继承人的财产这一观念。

“也许要三思而后行，”她说。“认识到与地方的关系有多么重要，这些地方和这些人一样都有命运。”

该地区的印第安人社区成员占该地区总人口的很大一部分，他们背负着残酷的流离失所和联邦政府违背承诺的遗产。（根据人口普查数据，包括山谷在内的因约县约 19,000 名居民中，13.8% 的人自认为是美洲印第安人，而加利福尼亚州整体这一比例为 1.7%。）

在欧文斯谷派尤特-肖肖尼文化中心，地图显示了当地部落曾经居住在水源附近的地方。他们的家园名称 Payahuunadü 翻译为“流水之地”。

其他展览追溯了 19 世纪 50 年代白人矿工和牧场主如何发现水源，并与美国政府达成协议，不断缩小他们的领土。

如今，该地区四个公认的部落难以为部落成员提供足够的住房，因此许多人已经离开。在毕晓普派尤特部落的保留地，拖车停在破旧的牧场房屋和复式公寓的前院。高耸入云的山峰耸立在头顶——今年春天，山顶覆盖着耀眼的白雪。

虽然许多土地归还涉及具有历史或仪式意义的地点，但欧文斯谷的部落领导人表示，他们还希望收回社区成员可以用作住房和维持生计的工作的财产。

“我们负责道路、水资源和住房，而州政府却不为我们做这些，”独立堡部落主席卡尔·达尔伯格 (Carl Dahlberg) 说道。该部落的保留地位于主教派尤特部落保留地以南约 40 英里处。

独立堡部落不属于购买三溪的部落，但由于最近的规则变更，部落在州政府放弃多余财产时拥有优先购买权，因此他们获得了惠特尼山鱼孵化场的所有权。

85 岁的玛丽莲·布拉肯 (Marilyn Bracken) 是惠特尼山鱼孵化场之友的长期成员，该组织一直致力于保护该地点。她回忆起小时候在独立堡保留地长大时曾到那里进行实地考察和生日聚会。她说，她的社区现在控制了该地点，这很有意义。

“这令人鼓舞，因为这曾经是我们的土地，”她一边说，一边帮助准备孵化场场地上一名部落成员的婚礼。“我们是否觉得我们应该夺回它？不，应该是我的祖父母和曾祖父母。但现在发生了。”

环保组织正在与土著领导人合作，希望保留欧文斯谷，特别是欧文斯湖的更多水。他们说，洛杉矶对水的需求已经让该地区的生态系统几乎无法维持。他们希望，在经历了两个多雨的冬天之后，洛杉矶水务官员有更多的自由来重新考虑他们真正需要多少水，并更多地依赖南加州的保护和重新夺回措施。

“我们这里有一个时刻。湖里有水。人们欣喜若狂，”环保非营利组织因约之友的执行董事温迪·施耐德说。

洛杉矶水务官员表示，他们被要求让他们服务的数百万城市客户的水费保持在可承受的范围内。来自内华达山脉和欧文斯谷地下的水是该公用事业公司水资源组合中最便宜的水源，其中包括从透支的科罗拉多河购买水。

官员们还强调，在干旱年份，他们的首要责任是向部落供水，而这往往意味着留给公用事业的水资源会减少。

“我们正在将影响从一个地区转移到另一个地区，”洛杉矶水电局负责欧文斯湖规划的 Jaime Valenzuela 说。“这是一个巨大的平衡行为。”

拥有三溪的欧文斯谷印第安水务委员会认为该地区有更大的土地回报潜力。一对拥有毗邻小溪的房产的夫妇已经在起草一份意向书，准备将其出售给委员会。

目前，部落成员和其他社区成员正在努力将三溪打造成任何有兴趣了解欧文斯谷土著历史的人的避难所。

33 岁的 Julia Morales 是毕晓普派尤特部落的成员，她和女儿住在三溪的一间小屋里，最近一个下午，她正在照料花园里的一丛灌木。她还在毕晓普的一家餐馆工作，但她说她一直想从事户外和环保工作。

“我觉得我正是我应该在的地方，”她说。

本文最初发表于《纽约时报》。

题图：几个世纪以来，被称为欧文斯谷（Owens Valley）的广阔领土一直是美洲原住民的家园，他们生活在河流和小溪沿岸，这些河流和小溪由从内华达山脉东坡倾泻而下的融雪滋养。（网络图） 

In California, tribal members are reclaiming the ‘land of the flowing water’

By Jill Cowan New York Times,Updated June 16, 2024 

The vast territory known as the Owens Valley was home for centuries to Native Americans who lived along its rivers and creeks fed by snowmelt that cascaded down the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada.

Then came European settlers, and over time, tribe members lost access to nearly all of that land. Eventually, the water was lost, too: In the early 20th century, the developers of Los Angeles famously built a 226-mile-long aqueduct from Owens Lake to the city. It was this project, the story goes, that allowed Los Angeles to become the booming metropolis that it is today.

Less familiar is what happened to the Owens Valley, and the people who lived there, after most of the water was sent south. Owens Lake is now a patchwork of saline pools covered in pink crystals and wetlands studded with gravel mounds designed to catch dust. And today, the four recognized tribes in the area have less than 2,000 acres of reservation land, estimated Teri Red Owl, a local Native American leader.

But things are changing, tribal members say. They have recently reclaimed corners of the valley, buoyed by growing momentum across the country to return land to Indigenous stewardship, also known as the “Land Back” movement.

In recent years, Native American tribes have reclaimed hundreds of acres of ancestral land, often after decades of advocacy. Members of Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation, have repurchased 130 acres in Illinois, which will become a federally recognized reservation for the tribe. And about 850 acres of land along the Mattaponi River in Virginia were returned to Indigenous stewardship and preservation.

In California, state and local leaders have acknowledged a dark history of brutality toward Native Americans, and tribes have reclaimed territory up and down the state.

Early this year, the state transferred ownership of the Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery — a European-style stone hall built in 1917 and manicured grounds — to the Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians, in the first return of its kind under a new state directive.

And last year, the owners of a healing retreat called Three Creeks sold their 5-acre property to a water advocacy group representing three local tribes.

Along Highway 395, the desolate road running along the base of the Sierra Nevada, the landscape is rocky and covered in scrub brush. But the approach to Three Creeks is like a portal into a different world, opening onto a lush green expanse and a pond reflecting the clear, blue sky. On the property itself, apple, cherry and apricot trees bloomed on a recent afternoon while the sounds of trickling water and laughter floated through the air.

This is not what the tribe members’ ancestors would have seen. But Red Owl, executive director of the Owens Valley Indian Water Commission, the group that purchased Three Creeks, said it is no less significant.

“To me, it is sacred,” she said as she took a break in the cool air of what is known as the Heron Hut, a circular building on the property used for gatherings and ceremonies.

The former owners of Three Creeks had established the place about 25 years ago for visitors from around the world to stay, tend to the gardens, walk through the nearby mountains and learn about the area’s history from local tribe members. In the process, they built relationships with the Native American community.

Gigi Coyle and her partners were told they could have sold the property for $1.5 million on the open market. Instead, they accepted the commission’s proposal to buy it for $900,000 as a gesture to the people whose ancestors were there first. Donations to fund the commission’s purchase had come from people around the world who were moved by the community’s call.

Coyle, 74, said she hoped the land return would inspire others to challenge beliefs that land is merely property to be passed down to heirs.

“Maybe think twice about that,” she said. “Recognize how important a relationship to place is and that these places have destinies, as well as these people.”

The area’s Native American community members, who make up a relatively large share of the area’s overall population, have carried the legacy of brutal displacements and broken promises by the federal government. (According to census data, 13.8% of the roughly 19,000 residents of Inyo County, which includes the valley, identify as American Indian alone, compared with 1.7% in California overall.)

At the Owens Valley Paiute-Shoshone Cultural Center, maps show where the local tribes once lived near water sources. Their name for their home, Payahuunadü, translates to “land of the flowing water.”

Other exhibitions trace how, in the 1850s, white miners and ranchers discovered that water, and agreements were made with a U.S. government that continuously shrunk their territory.

Today, the four recognized tribes in the area struggle to provide enough housing for members, many of whom have left as a result. On the Bishop Paiute Tribe’s reservation, trailers are parked in the front yards of worn ranch houses and duplexes. Looming overhead are the craggy, towering peaks of the mountains — this spring, capped with blinding white.

Although many land returns involve sites that have historic or ceremonial significance, tribal leaders in the Owens Valley say they also want to recover property that community members can use for housing and jobs that can sustain their lives.

“We take care of our roads, we take care of our water, we take care of housing — the state doesn’t do that for us,” said Carl Dahlberg, chair of the Fort Independence tribe, whose reservation is about 40 miles south of the Bishop Paiute Tribe’s.

The Fort Independence tribe, which is not part of the group that purchased Three Creeks, took ownership of the Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery thanks to a recent rule change giving tribes the right of first refusal when the state dispenses with excess property.

Marilyn Bracken, 85, a longtime member of the Friends of Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery, which has helped preserve the site, recalled visiting there for field trips and birthday parties as a girl growing up on the Fort Independence reservation. She said it was meaningful that her community now controlled the site.

“It’s encouraging, because this was once our land here,” she said as she helped prepare a tribe member’s wedding on the hatchery grounds. “Do we feel like we were the ones that should get it back? No, it should have been my grandparents and my great-grandparents. But it’s happening now.”

Environmental groups are working with Indigenous leaders in hopes of keeping more water in the Owens Valley, and in particular, Owens Lake. Los Angeles’ demand for water, they say, has left the region’s ecosystems barely hanging on. They hope that after two rainy winters, Los Angeles water officials have more latitude to rethink how much water they really need and to rely more on conservation and recapture measures in Southern California.

“We have a moment here. There is water in the lake. People are ecstatic,” said Wendy Schneider, executive director of Friends of the Inyo, an environmental nonprofit.

Los Angeles water officials said they are mandated to keep water bills affordable for the millions of customers they serve in the city. And water from the Sierra Nevada and beneath the Owens Valley is the cheapest source in the utility’s water portfolio, which includes buying water from the overdrawn Colorado River.

Officials also emphasized that in drier years, their first responsibility is to provide water to tribes, which often leaves less for the utility.

“We’re trading impacts from one area to another,” said Jaime Valenzuela, who manages Owens Lake planning for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “It’s a big balancing act.”

The Owens Valley Indian Water Commission, the group that owns Three Creeks, sees more potential for land returns in the area. Already, a couple who owns a neighboring property, bordered by a creek, is working on a letter of intent to sell to the commission.

For now, tribal members and other community members are working to make Three Creeks a sanctuary for anyone interested in learning about the Indigenous history of the Owens Valley.

Julia Morales, 33, a member of the Bishop Paiute Tribe who is living in a cottage at Three Creeks with her daughter, tended to a cluster of bushes in the garden on a recent afternoon. She also has a job at a restaurant in Bishop, but she said she has always wanted to work outdoors and with the environment.

“I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” she said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.