Burney Falls Trail

“The language of jemez is who we are. . .”

…and our elders teach us, ‘Speak the language.’ As Jemez people, if we stop speaking and forget our language, we lose who we are. And Jemez is unique in that our language is forbidden to be written. People don’t mess around when it comes to our traditional way of life being documented via photographs, recordings, writings. It is forbidden in order to protect the things that make us who we are. That’s why we’ve been able to get to where we have without being exploited.”

~ Juanita C. Toledo, from the book Project 562 by Matika Wilbur

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This place is on the traditional territory of the Achumawi, Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla, and Pit River nations. (Crowdsourced info compiled by Native-Land.ca. Please visit the nations’ websites to learn more.) We support indigenous land rights and the Land Back movement.

 

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