Two digitization days and a public symposium to discuss Native American culture, land, and sovereignty. The project would solicit community materials relating to the history of Native American sovereignty and activism in Northern California on the 30-year anniversary of Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association, a case that centered on land use and Native sovereignty in northern California. The applicant would seek to digitize historic images, objects, and documents related to tribal activism, sacred site protection, and indigenous land use and land rights from local tribes connected to the case, as well as non-Native community members. The project would add to historical materials available for the study of the grassroots efforts of the American Indian Movement and tribal communities with which Humboldt University Library has strong relationships. With donor permission, materials would be made publicly accessible through an Omeka-based website.

This project will explore the past, present and future of the 1988 Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Association Supreme Court case to capture the community heritage of Native American sovereignty and self-determination demonstrated in Northwest California tribal activism. The goal of this project is to create dialogue between members of tribal communities to relay the history of indigenous activism in the region while educating the public in methods of preserving their unique family treasures. This project is a year-long program which will highlight the 30th anniversary of the Lyng Supreme Court case. We will use materials made available from California Indian activists and non-native allies, archival collections of Native American scholars, and will feature oral histories from the plaintiffs. This project includes a two day digitization event, symposium, oral history project and a public exhibition of the collected materials.