20 years ago today, Maidu elder Tommy Merino yatám, Farrell Cunningham yatám, Allen Lowry and Marvena Harris organized the first meeting of the Mountain Homeland Summit at the Masonic Lodge in Westwood, California, in January 2003. To discuss the preservation and protection of the Mountain Maidu sacred place Homer Lake (Cham Su Donim Pakanim). The event organizers had been working to preserve the Mountain Maidu Language. The four became outraged over the Forest Service’s neglect to protect Homer Lake, and all agreed it felt right to bring their people together to defend their sacred lands.
On January 13, 2003, a gathering of Maidu people from Susanville, Greenville, Indian Valley, Quincy, Big Meadows (Lake Almanor), and other surrounding areas gathered. Groups participating at that time included: Big Meadows Maidu Historic Preservation, Greenville Indian Rancheria, Maidu Cultural & Development Group, Plumas County Indians Inc., Roundhouse Council Indian Education Center, Stiver’s Indian Cemetery Assoc., Susanville Indian Rancheria, Tásmam Koyóm Foundation, Tsi-Akim Maidu, and United Maidu Nation. They soon decided their voice would be stronger when they all joined together, and the Maidu Summit Consortium was created.
Since 2003 the MSC has re-acquired 2,934 acres of ancestral lands for the Mountain Maidu and surrounding communities. Today, the MSC is comprised of seven groups, with Executive Director Trina Cunningham and Staff working tirelessly to conserve our homeland.
We celebrate the MSC and everyone who has come before us, present, and in the future, who will continue to work to preserve, protect, and promote the Mountain Maidu Homeland.