Action Alert: Don’t let the California Citizens Redistricting Commission Split up
the Yurok Reservation into Two Districts
The Yurok Tribe strongly opposes the California Citizens Redistricting Commission’s proposal to split Yurok ancestral territory and the Yurok Reservation into two congressional districts. Please tell the Commission today to keep the Tribe s home land in the 2nd Congressional District.
“Separating our homeland into two congressional districts is an attack on our sovereignty and our community Dividing the Tribe’s territory into two districts will compromise the Tribe’s ability to receive effective and fair representation in Congress Before it is too late, I encourage all tribal citizens and our supporters to tell the Commission to keep all Yurok ancestral territory in the 2nd District ,” said Frankie Myers, the Yurok Tribe’s Vice Chairman. “Based on two of the Commission’s own criteria, Yurok ancestral territory, including the should remain in the 2nd Congressional District because of the similar social and economic interests that exist in California’s North Coast region.”
The Yurok Tribe’s ancestral territory stretches from the Little River in Humboldt County to Damnation Creek in Del Norte County on the Pacific Coast and extends up the Klamath River from within the Pacific Ocean to the Trinity River confluence. A large majority of the Tribe’s 6,300 members reside within this area If the new district boundaries are approved, it will put the Tribe’s headquarters as well as many of its satellite offices in new district s, which will negatively impact government operations.
The proposed redistricting map would place approximately one third of the Tribe’s territory in the 1st District and two thirds in the 2nd. The 1st and 2nd districts are currently occupied by Congressmembers Doug LaMalfa and Jared Huffman, respectively According the Commissions redistricting guidelines, “districts must minimize the division of cities, counties, neighborhoods and communities of interest to the extent possible.” Communities of interest are described as “a population which shares common social and economic interests that should be included within a single district for purposes of its effective and fair representation.”
“In the 21st century, tribes should have been specifically written into the redistricting guidelines to prevent the division of tribal territories. However, it is clear that tribes should also be considered communities of interest under the current guidelines, especially in California, where there are more federally recognized tribal nations than any other state in the US,” said Vice Chairman Myers. “We are calling on the Commission to quickly correct this injustice.”
The California Citizens Redistricting Commission is meeting today and on Wednesday to solicit feedback on the redistricting proposal.
How to engage - Call 877-853-5247 today at 5:30pm or Wednesday, November 10 at 4pm to make a public comment:
• When prompted, enter the Meeting ID number: 845 9522 1762 (The ID number is the same for both meetings)
• When prompted to enter a Participant ID simply press #.
• Press *9 to get into the queue
• When it is your turn to speak, you will hear a message that says, “The host would like you to talk, press * 6 to speak.” If you would like to give your name, please state and spell it for the record. You are not required to provide your name to give public comment. (They identify speakers by the last 4 digits of your phone number. So, if you hear it, you're up)
• Written comments can be submitted here: https://www.wedrawthelinesca.org/contact
• The final redistricting map will be approved on December 27, 2021.