In joyful anticipation of California Native American Heritage Day this Sept. 27, I had a conversation with Pomo and Miwok leader Nicole Myers-Lim.
Myers-Lim is an attorney with the National Indian Justice Center, working cases in the meshing and clashing intricacies of intersecting federal and tribal law—effectively negotiating tribal sovereignty. Our conversation here focuses on her roles as administrator and educator as the executive director of the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center.
For those new to the know, CIMCC is a local institution and engine of Native cultural preservation, visibility, and, in their own words, renaissance. In 2000, it moved to Larkfield-Wikiup from San Francisco’s Presidio.
CH: What attracted you to work at this museum and cultural center?
NML: It was very important to me, growing up in Sonoma County, to create a resource for tribal youth where they could come and learn their history and engage in their culture because I was born to generations of people who weren’t allowed to do those things.
CH: Yes, you are referring to the long and dark period of forced cultural assimilation and hiding here and in California just now ending.
NML: We’re still here. And we didn’t just survive—we are doing cultural burns on the land, we’re celebrating our heritage through fashion and art, we’re revitalizing our language, we’re bringing our traditional foods back—all the things that were taken from us. What a story of resilience—what a story of hope! And it’s critical for our children to understand that they have that strength within them.
CH: Breathtaking. Tell me, how does your work at the museum relate to your career as an attorney with the National Indian Justice Center?
NML: The pursuit of social justice for Native American people is intrinsically tied to education and knowledge about us.
CH: Whether for tribal youth or settler adults, there are some exceptional exhibits and displays. I understand an aim of this Native owned and staffed museum is to employ and train a growing cohort of Native curators and preservationists.
NML: Yes, and we are partnering with the Lawrence Hall of Science, CAL Academy and UC Berkeley to bring Californian tribes into consultation and try to decolonize some of those institutions.
CH: Wow.
Listen up. Hear Nicole Myers-Lim talk more about the colonial history of California and the North Bay, the local and national Native American cultural renaissance and how to visit CIMCC this Californian Native American Heritage Day. linktr.ee/CIMCClinks.
