Summer 2020 Newsletter  

AMLT Coastal Stewardship Summer Camp Goes Virtual!

By Nic Rajen, AMLT Director of Programs, and Alexii Sigona, AMLT Seasonal Program Assistant

This past Saturday, Amah Mutsun Land Trust kicked off its first Virtual Youth Camp! Over 60 Amah Mutsun youth, between the ages of 6 – 17, living anywhere from Sacramento, to Los Angeles, to Las Vegas, joined a virtual online event to learn about Amah Mutsun culture and environmental stewardship. Led by Tribal Elders, Native Stewardship members, and AMLT staff, youth engaged in activities ranging from necklace making, language lessons, and planting seeds of traditional foods.

Campers received hand delivered camp boxes prior to the virtual program, filled with materials that will connect them to their culture and landscape. The boxes are filled with traditional Amah Mutsun foods, coastal items, crafting supplies, and language cards, to supplement each Zoom lesson, allowing every camper to connect with community and culture from the safety of their home.

Our five weekly Saturday Zoom sessions of Virtual Camp will continue to October 10, with partners from UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz Arboretum, Resource Conservation District of Monterey County, and others, providing critical knowledge for our future generation of environmental stewards.

AMLT’s first year of Virtual Youth Camp was developed in response to the statewide orders to shelter in place, and Tribal Council’s concerns over community safety due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual camp program includes sending registered campers “culture camp” boxes filled with items to explore Amah Mutsun culture and to educate participants about Indigenous Stewardship of the California Coast. Youth participants can interact with each other and with members of the Native Stewardship Corp, Tribal Elders, researchers, and artisans to learn about Traditional Ecological Knowledge, cultural resources, and the environmental systems of the Traditional Awaswas and Mutsun Territory. In addition to interacting live in the virtual realm, youth have the opportunity to enjoy pre-recorded interviews, video demonstrations, supplemental media, and other resources provided by AMLT, at their leisure.

Transforming our coastal stewardship summer camp into a virtual program has been challenging, but we are pleased to provide programming for our largest number of participants to date, some of whom would not have been able to join in person. Furthermore, the culture camp boxes have been a hit! They were prepared, packed, and delivered with love by AMLT staff, and include Amah Mutsun Native foods (manzanita berries, elderberries, huckleberries, local wild smoked salmon, elk jerky, wild walnuts,hazelnuts), plus other Indigenous foods such as from the Red lake nation and the Ute mountain tribe, including blue corn flour and Bison Tanka bars. Also included are custom made Mutsun Language memory cards (with a coastal theme), sea shells, and items to allow campers to make their own Mutsun necklace during the session on “Amah Mutsun Culture and Crafting”. Each camper also received a journal to record their reflections during the program. The final camp session will be a talking circle led by the youth, which will be an opportunity for youth to share their feelings, what they’ve learned, and the vision they see for their Tribe.

Amah Mutsun Land Trust is grateful to our staff, research associates, and volunteers, who have all come together to think creatively about how to provide an engaging and educational program for Amah Mutsun youth during the pandemic. We are also grateful to the California State Coastal Conservancy Explore the Coast grant program, The San Francisco Foundation Youth Access to Nature Fund, and our generous individual donors who made this program possible.