Native American history to be added to Sutter’s Fort. ‘More than I’ve seen in my lifetime’

Changes are coming to Sutter’s Fort. While the name and space of the midtown landmark won’t change, the substantial role that Native Americans played — and how they were treated by European settlers — will be taught for the first time where Sacramento and California first took root.

The commission that oversees California’s Department of Parks and Recreation approved a plan Tuesday that will amend the content of learning materials, tours and other guides at Sutter’s Fort State Historic Park to include Native American history and perspectives.

The changes were approved unanimously 6-0, after commissioners heard final feedback from State Parks officials, historians and members of Native American communities in Northern California, during their meeting in West Sacramento.

John Fraser, the superintendent of the State Parks’ Capital District, which administers eight museums and parks in the Sacramento region, said he was happy to see approval of the plan, which had been in the planning stages since September. He said district officials worked with tribal communities to build an amendment to the fort’s general plan, which lays out the park’s goals for educating the public on its history.

The original 1990 general plan made little mention of the Indigenous communities — Miwok and Nisenan communities, among other tribes — that called the land home prior to John Sutter’s arrival to California in 1839. Under a new interpretation master plan, laid out in an 80-page document, much of the park’s educational and interpretative approach will reflect a more “inclusive, complex and accurate history of Sutter’s Fort’s role in the colonization of California.”

Fraser said there has been a statewide push in recent years to re-evaluate the perspectives that are shown in California’s historical and educational institutions.

“There’s too many stories that haven’t been told that need to be told,” he said.

State Parks sought input from tribes on a plan

The effort to revive historical accuracy and context began in response to 2020’s global movement for racial equity in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd. That movement grew to include the removal of statues throughout the country that featured racist and problematic historical figures, such as the removal of John Sutter’s statue across from the fort on Sutter Health property.

Sutter’s monument was one of several statues in the city’s core to be removed of white settlers and colonizers — along with Spanish missionary Junipero Serra’s likeness in Capitol Park and the Capitol Rotunda statue of Queen Isabella and Christopher Columbus.

The State Parks’ Capital District worked with tribal leaders to understand what lessons were important to tribes today and what the public could learn about a complex history, according to Fraser.

That includes “the realities of colonization” that a state analysis called “dark, uncomfortable, and unpleasant.”

“Human beings exploited other human beings using power, force, and violence. ... The effects of this racialized dynamic created significant distortions in how the history of California has been examined and presented at places like Sutter’s Fort,” the analysis concluded. “The fort’s previous interpretive principles too often failed to provide an accurate portrayal of 1840s California life and culture.”

Officials said that the fort would become a “laboratory of learning” that addresses the subject of Native labor inside and around the fort and the oppression of Natives that carried on well past Mexican rule into California statehood in 1850.

Officials said the plan would explain how settlers and the fort “catalyzed a pattern of change in California leading to the introduction of diverse immigrant communities, disruption of Native life, and ultimately a forced convergence of cultures that affects present-day California relationships.”

“This happened because Native people in the region made it happen,” Fraser said. “It was their call to change that spurred us into taking this action.”

‘Appropriate place to provide an accurate education’

What won’t be lost is the fort’s name or Sutter’s contributions to the state’s founding, even if considered controversial. Fraser said the State Parks’ Capital District will continue to evaluate and tweak the plan as it rolls out.

Goals for the park include fostering an environment that encourages learning history from various perspectives, connecting with audiences through expanded outreach efforts, and educating the public on Sutter’s Fort’s legacy and consequences.

Representatives from the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Parks California, the California League of Parks Associations and the office of state Sen. Angelique Ashby, D-Sacramento, publicly voiced their support for the changes.

“Parks are truly a keeper of history,” said Geoff Kish, the vice president of programs at Parks California, a nonprofit partner of California State Parks. “To make California parks more welcoming and inclusive, we must first recognize the historical contributions of people who are often omitted from narratives, including tribes, women and communities of color.”

Racism, harassment still experienced today

At the meeting, Native American community members shared how past experiences were shaped by that lack of understanding.

“This movement is more than I’ve seen in my lifetime,” said Calvin Hedrick, director of the 5th Direction, a Sacramento-based program that works with Native youth. Hedrick, who is of Mountain Maidu heritage, was part of the effort to rename Miwok Middle School and Suy:u Elementary School last year. He gave presentations to staff, parents, community members and alumni to emphasize how important changing the school names are to Native American communities.

“I just simply read from the books of people who were here at the time,” Hedrick said. “That’s all I needed to do. ... Not one single person who had pushback stepped up to say anything.”

Anthony Burris, an assistant professor of ethnic studies with a focus on Native American studies at Sacramento State, shared instances of harassment he faced throughout his life because of his heritage. Burris, who is Miwok, recounted being called racial slurs by neighborhood kids at 9 years old and mocked for his cultural practices.

“Four months ago — in 2024 — a cousin approached me at one of our tribal meetings,” he said. “Her daughter was being violently harassed by other students because of her Miwok identity and little was being done by those in charge.”

Sutter’s Fort’s plan will begin with the creation of an advisory committee, made up of Indigenous representatives who will review new interpretive services. That may include partnerships with local universities as they craft new self-guided and group tours aimed at creating a “platform for historically significant cultural groups to share their histories with the community. The plan specifically named “Native Californian and Native American tribes, as well as those with Hawaiian, Mexican, Spanish, and Russian backgrounds among others.”

Burris said the State Parks’ efforts to showcase Native American history across California is “crucial” to addressing systemic racism against Native Americans and other marginalized communities in the state.

Burris emphasized the importance of teaching Indigenous history and said courses he teaches at Sac State are often the first time many of his students have learned anything about Native American history in California.

“Sutter’s Fort is an obvious and most appropriate place to provide an accurate education on local Nisenan and Miwok people and to highlight their historical experiences with this landmark and the man whose name it bears.”