On Saturday while broadcasting live for KPFZ from the Bluegrass Festival at Anderson Marsh, I talked about the “history of Anderson Marsh” in an attempt to help gather support for opposition to the State of California’s plan to possibly close Anderson Marsh to the public because of budget cuts.

I made a brief comment based upon my own personal recollection of the political events that took place during my 30 some odd years in Lake County. I went back as far as the late 70s, when the place that is now the park was a privately owned ranch.

I talked about developers’ efforts to turn that land into an apartment complex. I told the story of how archaeologist John Parker had mounted an effort to save that land from destruction and how his efforts and the support of the community ultimately saved the land from the bulldozers and preserved it as a public resource. It is an inspiring story and true one.

Unfortunately, I made no mention of the rich history of the native people on that land that preceded the Anderson Ranch. John Parker’s archaeological interest in the Pomo people’s history played an important role in both his desire and ability to get that land set aside. More importantly, my attempt to recount the “history” of Anderson Marsh without talking about thousands of years of native history was insensitive.

I didn't hear Jim Brown’s KPFZ radio show Tuesday but I heard second-hand that Jim had commented about my failure to acknowledge his people’s important role in the history of Anderson Marsh.

Although no disrespect was intended on my part, my mistake is one too often made by non-native people and I apologize for it.

Herb Gura lives in Clearlake Oaks.

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Written by: Herb Gura

Published: 17 September 2009