20250AJR_001899INT INTRODUCED 2025-06-30 REVISED 2025-07-14 2025 AJR INT Introduced by Assembly Member Ramos (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bryan, Harabedian, Kalra, Pacheco, Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Ávila Farías, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Calderon, Caloza, Carrillo, Castillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, DeMaio, Dixon, Elhawary, Flora, Fong, Gabriel, Garcia, Gipson, Jeff Gonzalez, Mark González, Hadwick, Haney, Hart, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Krell, Lee, Lowenthal, Macedo, Muratsuchi, Nguyen, Ortega, Papan, Patel, Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ransom, Rivas, Celeste Rodriguez, Michelle Rodriguez, Rogers, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Schiavo, Sharp-Collins, Solache, Soria, Stefani, Ta, Tangipa, Valencia, Wallis, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, and Zbur) LEAD_AUTHOR ASSEMBLY Ramos COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Bryan COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Harabedian COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Kalra COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Pacheco COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Addis COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Aguiar-Curry COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Ahrens COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Alanis COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Alvarez COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Arambula COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Ávila Farías COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Bains COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Bauer-Kahan COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Bennett COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Berman COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Boerner COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Bonta COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Calderon COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Caloza COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Carrillo COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Castillo COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Chen COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Connolly COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Davies COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY DeMaio COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Dixon COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Elhawary COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Flora COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Fong COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Gabriel COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Garcia COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Gipson COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Jeff Gonzalez COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Mark González COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Hadwick COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Haney COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Hart COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Hoover COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Irwin COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Jackson COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Krell COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Lee COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Lowenthal COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Macedo COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Muratsuchi COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Nguyen COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Ortega COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Papan COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Patel COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Patterson COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Pellerin COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Petrie-Norris COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Quirk-Silva COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Ransom COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Rivas COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Celeste Rodriguez COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Michelle Rodriguez COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Rogers COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Blanca Rubio COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Sanchez COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Schiavo COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Sharp-Collins COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Solache COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Soria COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Stefani COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Ta COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Tangipa COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Valencia COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Wallis COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Ward COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Wicks COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Wilson COAUTHOR ASSEMBLY Zbur Relative to California Native Americans.

California Native Americans Recognition of the historical wrongdoing committed against California Native Americans. This measure would recognize the historical wrongdoing committed against California Native Americans and urge the federal government to work alongside tribal leaders to address historic injustices, uphold treaty obligations, and ensure equitable access to resources, healthcare, education, and environmental stewardship. NO

WHEREAS, In the incorporation of the California territory into the United States of America in 1848, the California State Legislature was complicit in the actions taken by the State of California against the Native people of this land. The California State Legislature directed, supported, and aided in the early persecutions of Native Americans, fueling the violence by public officials and residents of this state against the Native people in their ancestral home land; and

WHEREAS, In 1849, delegates of the California Constitutional Convention willfully and deliberately agreed to provisions in the new Constitution to deny the Native people of California the right to vote in its state. The delegates of the convention, in a majority, affirmed only allowing white male citizens of the United Sates and white Mexican men, who elected to be citizens of the United States under the peace treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the right to vote; and

WHEREAS, As one of the first actions taken as the newly established Legislature of the State of California in 1850, it passed “An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians,” which facilitated the removal of Indigenous groups from their lands through family separation and indentured servitude. This act also prohibited Indigenous people and other minorities from serving as credible witness against criminal acts committed by white citizens; and

WHEREAS, The California State Legislature in “An Act for the Government and Protection of Indians” criminalized the actions of Native Americans who they believed to be “vagrants.” Specifically, the Act imposed on Native Americans “who shall be found loitering and strolling about, or frequenting public places where liquors are sold, begging, or leading an immoral or profligate course of life” the threat of arrest “on the complaint of any resident citizen of the county, and brought before any Justice of the Peace of the proper county, Mayor or Recorder of any incorporated town or city, who shall examine said accused Indian, and hear the testimony in relation thereto.” If the Native American was so found to be a vagrant, the act directed the “officer having him in charge or custody, to hire out such vagrant within twenty-four hours to the best bidder, by public notice given as he shall direct, for the highest price that can be had, for any term not exceeding four months”; and

WHEREAS, The California State Legislature allowed the Governor to use

Article VII of the Constitution relating to their authority to call upon militias to execute the laws of the state, to suppress any insurrection and to repel any invasion, to peruse and punish Native Americans whom they suspected to be attackers in the state’s frontiers; and

WHEREAS, In 1850, the California State Legislature enacted two laws that authorized the formation of militias for the defense of the state against Native American attacks. “An Act Concerning Volunteer or Independent Companies” authorized citizens to organize into volunteer or independent companies that allowed them to arm themselves in the same manner as that the United States Army, prepare muster rolls twice a year, and to render assistance and full obedience when summoned or commanded under the law. “An Act Concerning the Organization of the Militia” delegated authority to the positions created by the Legislature to command and organize the state militias.

The Governor was designated as the Chief of all state forces. The Legislature would elect four Major Generals, eight Brigadier Generals, one Adjunct General, and Quarter Master General. The State Treasurer was made the ex officio Pay Master, while county sheriffs held the authority to mobilize enrolled militias at the Governor’s request; and

WHEREAS, The California State Legislature passed numerous laws and joint resolutions relative to the Indian Wars between tribal nations and the state from through 1859. These laws and resolutions aided and recognized the efforts of the state in defending against the “Indian attacks”; and

WHEREAS, The state incurred an expenditure of $843,373.48 from through for the subsistence and pay of troops ordered out by the Governor for the suppression of hostilities by Native Americans within its borders; and

WHEREAS, Between and 1859, the state ordered expeditions against Native Americans in Humboldt, Klamath, San Bernardino, Modoc, Pit River, and Tulare, which accrued an estimated cost of $449,605.74.

WHEREAS, The incurred costs by the state from the expeditions of through were submitted for reimbursement to Congress and only $229,987.67 of the total cost was actually appropriated and recouped by the state in the Congressional Act of Appropriations of March 2, 1861; and

WHEREAS, the total estimated claims submitted to the State Controller between and associated with the expeditions against Native American attacks amounted to $1,293,179.20. These war expenditures were funded by taxpayer dollars to suppress and eradicate Native American communities, which were deemed an internal threat by the state; and

WHEREAS, In 1852, the California State Legislature voted to oppose the ratification of treaties between the United States government and California Indian tribes; and

WHEREAS, In 1860, the California Legislature established a Joint Special Committee on the Mendocino Indian War, which provided recommendations by both the majority and minority in regards to crimes committed between white settlers and Native Americans.

The Majority Report determined that the state needed to pass legislation that would provide “better protection of the Indians of California,” while the Minority Report dissented and requested that the federal government “cede to the State of California the entire jurisdiction over Indians and Indian affairs within [its] borders” and that “the state should, then, adopt a general system of peonage or apprenticeships, for the proper disposition and distributions of the Indians by families among responsible citizens”; and

WHEREAS, Despite all of these wrongdoings by the California State Legislature and all other institutions in the state, the California Native American has survived. This survival serves as a testament of their resilience, their spirit of resistance and defiance against those who wish them harm; and

WHEREAS, The California State Legislature and California Native Americans have never formally examined or documented their relationship for the express purpose of acknowledging and accounting for the historical wrongs committed by its actions and inaction; and

WHEREAS, The California State Legislature has never formally apologized to California Native Americans for its own historical wrongdoing through intolerance, aid, and encouragement of violence against Native people; and

WHEREAS, The California State Legislature seeks to continue working with California Native American Tribes to pursue a closer relationships with its communities and governments in order to acknowledge the true history of this State;

now, therefore

be it Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the California State Legislature recognizes the historical wrongdoing committed against California Native Americans and that there is much work needed to be done for healing and reconciliation; and be it further Resolved, That the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California condemns any actions it has taken against California Native Americans that has led to the destruction of important cultural and spiritual sites and recognizes the irreparable harms it has caused to its tribal communities; and be it further Resolved, That the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California commends and honors the California Native Americans for their resilience and continued work to maintain their cultural and linguistic traditions for which this House proudly considers part of the state’s history and cultural identity; and be it further Resolved, That the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California call upon the government of the United States to reaffirm and strengthen its commitment to collaborating with California Native American tribes.

This partnership must prioritize the protection of tribal sovereignty, the preservation of cultural heritage, and the advancement of economic opportunities that support their long-term prosperity; and be it further Resolved, That the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California urge the federal government to work alongside tribal leaders to address historic injustices, uphold treaty obligations, and ensure equitable access to resources, healthcare, education, and environmental stewardship; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Secretary of State, to the Secretary of the Treasury, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States, and the author for appropriate distribution.

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