This episode is an exploration of how colonialism shaped the history of the site on which the Santa Cruz Tannery (now the Tannery Arts Center) is situated. The Awaswas-speaking Uypi tribe and their ancestors lived on these lands for thousands of years and were the first tanners along the San Lorenzo River. While tanning was a prominent feature of local Indigenous life, Indigenous people did not domesticate the animals – it was the Spanish colonizers who introduced cattle to California and made tanning on the industrial scale possible. Yulia Gilich and Kathleen Aston talk about the parallel processes of colonization that European settlers unleashed on the Indigenous people and the environment. The episode highlights the ongoing nature of colonial violence against Indigenous people and introduces histories of Indigenous resistance to and rebellion again that violence.

Learn more about and donate to the Amah Mutsun Land Trust https://amahmutsun.org/land-trust

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The episode features quotes from a variety of individuals, scholarly works, and archival materials. Interviews featured include:

Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
Martin Rizzo-Martinez, historian
Ann Hazels, Director of Radius Gallery
Heejin Lee, Tannery Live/Work Artist
Linda Cover, Tannery Live/Work Artist
Tom Hogye, former Salz Tannery employee
Matt Lezin, former Salz Tannery Vice President
Jesse Autumn, former Tannery Live/Work Artist
Martin Devecka, Professor of Classical Studies
Mike Reedy, former Salz Tannery employee

You hear excerpts from Dr. Martin Rizzo-Martinez’s book “We Are Not Animals: Indigenous Politics of Survival, Rebellion, and Reconstitution in Nineteenth-Century California.”

Learn more on our website http://extanttannery.com

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exTANt: sound history of the Santa Cruz tannery