After the meeting and exchanging of information was concluded, a moment was taken for this photo. From left, Chairperson Silvia Burley, California Valley Miwok Tribe, Leslie L. Hartzell, Ph.D., Museum and Interpretive Section Manager, CA Dept of Parks and Recreation, Linda D. Bissonneffe, Cultural Resource Specialist, CA Dept of Parks and Recreation. Standing in front, Ruby Nishida, whom accompanied her mother, Ms. Hartzell, on this day to enjoy the festivities and wonders of the Big Trees State Park.
The California Valley Miwok Tribe (located at 10601 N. Escondido PL, Stockton, CA, as listed in the Bureau of Indian Affairs’ BIA/DOI Spring 2011 Tribal Leaders Directory), a federally recognized tribe eligible to receive and distribute services from the federal government – on Saturday, October 8th, 2011, attended a pre-scheduled meeting with state parks and recreation officials at the Jack Knight Hall, located in the California Big Trees State Park. The purpose of the meeting was the proposed new visitor center to be built in an effort to upgrade the accommodations, information services and visitor access to tourists and locals whom visit the state park.
Although the Tribe had planned to stay throughout the meeting, it was decided that as the only federally recognized tribe that still maintains federal jurisdiction and counts Calaveras County as one of the ten counties within California that the Tribe exercises federal oversight for the Miwok peoples, that the Tribe’s involvement should be of a more confidential nature; so state parks and recreation officials Leslie Hartzell, Manager of the Museum and Interpretation Section and Linda Bissonneffe, Cultural Resource Specialist, were available to hold an impromptu meeting/discussion on the front steps of the Jack Knight Hall – after which it was decided in the near future (when all parties calendar’s would be open), that the state parks officials would visit the offices of the California Valley Miwok Tribe to continue the discussion of the new visitors center, along with other issues, and tour the tribal facilities.
