Chillaxin’ in California

by Denise Minor

When people learn that I teach Spanish linguistics, there is often an automatic assumption that I am a strict grammarian. They picture me drilling students on the correct verb conjugations and becoming exasperated with their lack of comprehension of the difference between subject pronouns and indirect object pronouns. Sometimes, just to make conversation and show their commiseration, they complain about the way kids these days talk and their declining knowledge about proper language use. read more

Excavations Disturb Sacred Maidu Land

Maidu_400_339

photo by Jennifer MacDonald

Wayne Nine, a member of the Konkow Valley Band of Maidu, analyzes stone tools that were used by Native peoples, possibly thousands of years ago, that were uncovered recently at an Oroville dig site. 

by Jennifer MacDonald
The hike to the archeological dig site is long, dusty and steep.

Scaling down the embankment on this winter afternoon, we see a dozen scientists hard at work hundreds of feet below, digging at what was once a thriving Native American village. The site is usually under the water of Lake Oroville, but the water level drops at this time of year, helping to uncover artifacts from a civilization lost long ago. read more

Cabral Spared Prison

by Leslie Layton

Reynaldo “Reny” Cabral was placed on probation Friday for an assault on his girlfriend that landed him in the Glenn County Jail – and ultimately, in a wheelchair.

Cabral, a 24-year-old Orland man who suffered a spinal-cord injury at the jail and is now a quadriplegic, was sentenced to four years probation and ordered to attend a class for batterers. The sentencing gave some closure to Cabral’s frightening 16-month journey in the Glenn County criminal-justice system. read more

Carter Promotes Cultural Living

Photo by T.J. Holmes Charles "CC" Carter launched the Cross Cultural Leadership Center at Chico State last year to further the kinds of relationships that he believes are sometimes difficult in America.

Photo by T.J. Holmes

Charles “CC” Carter launched the Cross Cultural Leadership Center at Chico State last year to further the kinds of relationships that he believes are sometimes difficult in America.


By T.J. Holmes

Charles “CC” Carter knows the value of focus and determination.

Carter, an alumnus of Chico State, runs the cross-cultural and leadership programs for the Student Activities Office. Carter oversaw the opening of the Cross Cultural Leadership Center (CCLC) in late 2007, a program that has taken off and become a bridge in the Chico State community, bringing together diverse groups. read more

Maidu leader seeks stronger tribe Patsy Seek fights for culture, unity

Patsy Seek and teepee

photo by Jennifer MacDonald

Konkow Maidu leader Patsy Seek shows one of the traditional huts she’s built out of tree bark along the Feather River in Oroville.

by Jennifer MacDonald

Patsy Seek combed the banks of Northern California’s Feather River, scoured the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, and made house calls in Oroville searching for Native American children skipping school.

“I’d drag ’em out of bed,” she says. “They’d hide in the mountains and I’d go find them.”

Seek could relate to the troubled students. Herself a Maidu woman, Seek dropped out of high school during her first year. read more