Greg Sarris, Endowed Chair in Native American Studies, explores the often-ignored legacy and tragic history of the Native Americans in southern Sonoma County and Marin County on Tues., May 19 at 4 p.m. in Warren Auditorium.
His lecture is entitled "The Holocaust Beneath Our Feet: A History of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria." It is part of the 26th Annual Sonoma State University Holocaust Lecture Series.
Sarris, who teaches writing at SSU and is tribal chair of the Graton Rancheria, will discuss the history of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, once the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Indians of southern Sonoma and Marin Counties.
"The impacts of a brutal, and ultimately genocidal, colonialism that decimated thousands of local native people and significantly altered the native environment continues to be ignored," he says.
"As a result, the local non-Indian community, including politicians and scholars, know little if anything of the local Holocaust and its horrible legacy for survivors who are currently in the midst of a cultural and political revival that promises to impact profoundly Sonoma County."
