Tensions Ratchet Up Between Trinidad Rancheria and Those Who Want to Ensure Public Access to the Harbor
Kayak Trinidad preparing to embark on a tour of the Harbor. [Photo by Jason Self]
“They put a no parking sign in front of my car while I was sitting in it,” Jason Self, owner of Kayak Trinidad, a company offering kayaking tours alleged. “And then called the sheriffs on me.”
For their part the Rancheria issued a press release saying in part,
Since purchasing the Harbor Properties, the Trinidad Rancheria has ensured public access and will continue to ensure public access to the Harbor and surrounding properties. The Trinidad Rancheria welcomes all visitors and aims to maintain safe passage and access for Restaurant Patrons, Fishermen, Boats w/ Trailers, Kayakers, Pedestrians, and all other guests. We are asking for everyone to be good neighbors, visitors, patrons and users of this beautiful area and to be respectful of each other and their surroundings. The Trinidad Rancheria requests that all users adhere to the posted parking signs as parking in “no parking” areas creates a bottlenose, blocks traffic and poses a safety hazard to other visitors.
Self says that since he filed suit over worries that the Rancheria would block public access, their employees have escalated attempts to impede the access of his small touring company to Trinidad Harbor. Self, who said he uses the beach almost daily to take out clients on whale watching and other nature tours, has argued in the past that if the Rancheria controls the beach they could charge for access to the Harbor.
However, now he alleges,
I’m not worried so much about charging a reasonable fee as I am denial and restriction of access all together. I’ve never seen [the Trinidad Rancheria] charge a reasonable fee for anything so an access or day use fee is a slippery slope…I think they did this specifically to make things hard for me for retribution for my suit to guarantee access and this is exactly why I filed that suit. If/when we lose our California constitution and coastal act protected right to access when this property is transferred to federal trust, we will have nothing. No recourse when [the Trinidad Rancheria] decides they don’t like you and tries to ban or block you from accessing launcher beach.
They can not decide who gets to access the beach and when…
Self has also been vigorously opposing a multi story hotel that the Rancheria wants to erect on Scenic Drive. He said he has “rallied a thousand people against the hotel project. They are just really pissed at me. That’s how I know it’s working.”
The Rancheria spokesperson for the project had left work when we attempted to talk to them to gather more information.
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Im not sure why this guy is creating a problem. Im positive the Trinidad Rancheria will improve the area and leave it in better condition then it was before. With added jobs for the community.
They put a “no parking” sign in front of his vehicle while he was sitting in it, and then called the Sheriff. There is no doubt that he is being intentionally harassed in retaliation for his opposition to the Rancheria’s plans. If your saying that lawfully organizing a protest is creating a problem, then I would say to you that we need more problem creators in our country. I have no stake in that harbor decision either way, but I support anyone who is willing to stand up peacefully for something they feel strongly about.
Lawfully organizing a protest is one thing, but is it really okay for a white guy to be telling a whole tribe what they should be doing with their own land? Don’t you see how it smacks of imperialism?
That is the whole point- do all people own the coast and beaches of California or does the Rancheria? Owning the beaches is against the California Constitution. Does the Federal government have the right to supercede authority and give the beach to the Rancheria? Are you saying that a white person has no stake in this just because of race?
I’m saying that a white guy moving in and telling a whole tribe of people, who were already here, what they should be doing with their land is pretty ridiculous. And it smacks of imperialism.
The white guy may have a stake, but the tribe’s stake is higher, unequivocally. Just the facts, ma’am.
But that misses the point. At this point no one owns it. Neither the “white guy” nor the Rancheria. We all have a stake in whether the federal government can overturn the long established policy that all Californians have the right to access all California beaches. Now the Rancheria (5 Tribes, not one) is using the Federal government to change that policy. If they do succeed, then the policy of community owners of the beach as a resource will be much harder to defend and it has been under constant assault anyway.
So Tribes should have no accountability to the rest of the community? Concern about exploitive behavior affecting your community can hardly be construed as imperialism; it’s quite the opposite.
Legal property rights are a part of the western paradigm. Funny how Tribes pick and choose the situations they decide to respect them in based on nothing more than their own perceived advantages.
Do you love jumping to conclusions?
Your blanket statement painting tribes as underhanded is racist.
Your insistance that they couldn’t possibly have an agenda is also racist.
Agenda…. You mean, like, evil plot?
That could easily be his one sided story tho. Who would just randomly do that to some one for no reason? Come on, be real dude😎
So he says! I think he is creatively causing “news”. Its called publicity!
He’s not creating a problem. He’s being harassed!
Umm, it’s called parking enforcement.
Pfffft! If the Rancheria gets their way with the hotel/casino project they’ll be doing more environmental degradation in the Trinidad coastal zone than everybody else combined. The Rancheria provides a tremendously profitable niche for a few families who exploit its sovereign status.
Well stated, not a Tribe but a Rancheria. And a few families with varying degrees of Native ancestry.
A flat out money/power grab…in the era if Trump this is the goal, accumulate wealth no matter the consequences, no matter the racial/ethnic identity just do it
Kayakers are just skittles for sharks. Who would go out in an ocean and paddle around until a nice shark came along and ate them? Not an intelligent thing to do. It’s like the idiots who climb Everest. No thanks. I think we should land a D-9 cat up there, take the top down to about 3 football fields in area, and then head down the mountain making a 10 foot wide road in the process. That way they could put in a Starbucks and Mcdonalds. Then people could ride up and down in electric 4 wheelers. There is nothing sacred about that stupid rock to me. Rocks are to be used for roads and cement, not to be worshiped. As far as who owns what land? The owners are named in the records dept, your name is on the deed, you own it, not someones ancestors. Deal with it.
Big question. Exactly why does the Rancheria want the land to be a ‘Federal Trust’?
Bypass the Coastal Act ? If that happens… what will they do with the land ?
Vegas power brokers will do anything they want under the guise of “native lands” and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. Don’t be naive, natives don’t run those casinos.
Well consider the coastal trail damaging a lot of pristine eco systems and people’s land getting taken for eminent domain. I think that’s what it’s called lol.. just don’t think so one sided. Try being the devil’s advocate sometimes .
they claim they’ll be eligible for grants. They fixed up the pier, so now we’re supposed to believe they’ll fix up everything else?
Grant$, Grant$, Grant$, everybody loves Grant$ – the root of all evil don’t cha know?
~more like rape thru the backdoor.
Truth
That
Jason Self is known for not getting along well with others. If by your bad behavior you ruin it for the rest of us kayakers, I hope you are held accountable
Kayak politics raises its head. Does it get as ugly as surfer politics?
My guess is with weed money not flowing into casinos, this investment was a hedge against the official currency of golden pitbulls being downgraded to copper pitbulls, with absolutely no silver pitbulls as a stop gap measure.
Many are practicing the trick of pulling the tablecloth off and leaving the place settings as they were.
Fact is wooden pitbulls are the future of currency and I’d worry about car break ins and vandalism.
Find somewhere else to spend money, there’s no paint or shingles being bought there any longer, lucky if even Light can escape the forming black hole.
There casinos been dying for years. It’s been missed managed.
Man are you kidding me? Your seriously giving the tribe crap for buying back there own land that was stolen from them? There’s plenty of coastline you can use, don’t be a hater cuz they stepped their game up. Sounds like you were being a little ridiculous if you ask me man. Just imagine if you were the shot caller on their project or even a member of the tribe, and how u would feel about someone like you. Kym can u please not delete this message😎
Who did their ancestors steal the land from?
Their ancestors were tied to rocks on that beach while settlers watched the ocean come in and pound them to death. Beyond the rapes and baby killing of swinging infants heads into rocks and such like on the iskand off eureka. We really shouldn’t be allowed there at all.
Bottom line is ITS THEIRS NOT YOURS. Its not a state park is it? Thats up the road. Maybe im wrong but thats my understanding.
Dems the rules us whites made. Gotta live with them. They have property rights too.
Sorry to say its pretty classic to see a white guy bitching about natives claiming the little land they were left with after we fucked them over.
I dont see the part where you say the ways youve tried to work with them so i assume you havent.
Plus arent you pushing the rules on how close folks get to whales? Ive heard many concerns about your company in that regard. Please write in again if you have answers to this.
From what i remember, without the tribes money years ago the pier would be unusable by now and the restaurant closed by the pier.
They saved both.
There would be no fishing or crabbing industry left in Trinidad without that pier money. The county sure didnt offer to fix it up.
They still do a blessing of the fleet every year.
Sorry but if you have to enter the harbor elswhere youre gonna havta suck it up.
The hotel isnt my favorite idea at all&anyone concerned ought to question why the governor got rid of our 2 local folks who were on coastal commission. I hope it doesnt get built. There are many voicing opposition, are they all being “targeted”?
And fyi some tribes do funnel that casino money to their tribal members. Look at the indian health center in arcata for example.
Obviously im put off by your tone&writing, im not backing you.
Pay up!!
The thing js “we” didnt do any of that cuz no one living when all the bad stuff went down. Its a different time and a different world.
The personal unattractiveness of the complainer does not mean the complaint is invalid. Banning ownership of beach access has prevented many a rich man in California from excluding what he sees as rif raff- by which he means everyone not rich enough to buy it. This is a big principle that is a concrete example of democracy in California and one of the very few things not for sale. Even if a sympathetic buyer such as the Rancheria succeeds in this ownership, it can cause this hard fought right to be eroded. Think- if the Rancheria owns the address to the beach, then the principle that no one can do that disappears. This is that big a deal.
Sure, tolerate the rotten, corrupt behavior of the Rancheria because of white guilt and a sense of historical indebtedness. The ultimate underwriters of the Trinidad pier were federal taxpayers, not the Rancheria. Sometimes good things happen from Tribal access to federal monies, like the restoration of the Hotel Arcata and the Carson Block building in Eureka, but the prevailing attitude surrounding Rancheria development is one of don’t-give-a-shit about the communities they interface with.
The tribe absolutely bought that property as an investment. They are in the business of making money. And yes you will eventually have to pay to go to the beach. Everything else is a smokescreen. Looks like to me Jason Self is standing up for himself and a lot others. Nothing wrong with that. If you want to keep anything in this country thats what you have to do! It’s not bad behavior at all. If you want to kayak in the harbour maybe you should help Jason instead of threatening him.
>”From what i remember, without the tribes money years ago the pier would be unusable by now and the restaurant closed by the pier. They saved both.
As I recall… ‘public’ money fixed the pier. There is a sign on the pier regarding funding.
>”Beyond the rapes and baby killing of swinging infants heads into rocks and such like on the iskand off eureka.”
Unfortunately, there are no rocks on that island. All mud.
>”Their ancestors were tied to rocks on that beach while settlers watched the ocean come in and pound them to death. ”
Please provide a source for that… I can find no official sources to say people were bound to rocks.
Tide averages about 6′ per day. It might be a real challenge to go out there and tie somebody to rocks.
>”Bottom line is ITS THEIRS NOT YOURS. Its not a state park is it? Thats up the road. Maybe im wrong but thats my understanding.”
Fortunately (or unfortunately) for property owners, there is the Coastal Act.
All property owners in California have to abide by it. The rancheria is trying to circumvent the act by transferring the land to a federal trust.
I have a distinct feeling that the rancheria has some ‘other plans’ for the site.
” The rancheria is trying to circumvent the act by transferring the land to a federal trust.”
~why not? 60% of CA. INC. is so-called federal land.
https://www.redding.com/story/news/2018/11/11/trump-blames-state-fires-but-many-worst-federal-land/1971196002/
It may be interesting to note that Humboldt’s western border is three miles out from the mouth of the Mad River –upstair’s records in the Humboldt Room, Eureka Library.
According to Ballotpedia, the federal government owns more than 28 percent of the land in 12 different western states…
Washington: 28.5 percent
Montana: 29.0 percent
New Mexico: 34.7 percent
Colorado: 35.9 percent
Arizona: 38.6 percent
California: 45.8 percent
Wyoming: 48.1 percent
Oregon: 52.9 percent
Alaska: 61.2 percent
Idaho: 61.6 percent
Utah: 64.9 percent
Nevada: 84.9 percent
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-27/federal-government-owns-61-idaho-64-utah-and-84-nevada
How and why it’s a problem series.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-01-09/how-feds-got-all-western-land-and-why-its-problem
idk. Maybe since June of 2017 and November of 2018 the feds were handed more in CA INC?
The second link i have saved before. It’s a great one.
~pretty much we don’t know sh!t from Shinola . . . kept in the dark like mushrooms.
They hold it in “trust” for the People. 10 square miles(D.C.), post offices and military bases/ports is all the USA can ” own”.
True. True.
Exacatactally.
Wat wud you dew
If you were asked to give up your dreams for freedom
What would you do
If asked to make the ultimate sacrifice
Would you think about all them people
Who gave up everything they had.
Would you think about all them War Vets
And would you start to feel bad
Freedom isn’t free
It costs folks like you and me
And if we don’t all chip in
We’ll never pay that bill
Freedom isn’t free
No, there’s a hefty fuckin’ fee.
And if you don’t throw in your buck o’ five
Who will?
What would you do
If someone told you to fight for freedom.
Would you answer the call
Or run away like a little pussy
‘Cause the only reason that you’re here.
Is ’cause folks died for you in the past
So maybe now it’s your turn
To die kicking some ass
Freedom isn’t free
It costs folks like you and me
And if we don’t all chip in
We’ll never pay that bill
Freedom isn’t free
Now there’s a hefty fuckin’ fee
And if you don’t throw in your buck o’ five
Who will?
You don’t throw in your buck ‘o five. Who will?
Oooh buck o’ five
Freedom costs a buck ‘o five
“They Shall Not Grow Old” is a Superb Antiwar Film
https://bit.ly/30VdG3Q
Haven’t seen it, but it’s on my list.
It is true the Rancheria wants the land in trust to avoid paying taxes and to make it eligible for federal grant money. That’s our taxes being used as grants. So we paid for the pier improvements, not casino profits. Very sad when someone who promotes the town tourism through his kayaking tours is suddenly blacklisted.
“That’s our taxes being used as grants”
~that’s our life-long labor value being used and abused as Grant$ – as phony as I.O.U. Federal Reserve Notes. Amazing how the U.S. Inc. is bankrupt, yet hands out Grant$ like candy. Same story of Fiction in our backyard as the GubberNut employee list grows longer and longer – w/out any foundational basis – such as: you know, and everybody must be tired of reading my – WHERE’S THE COUNTY’S 2017-2018 ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT?
No one is accountable or responsible, so no one is minding the till.
If given the chance, the Rancheria would like to take over the whole town of Trinidad. Where ever they go, they claim the land is theirs. I really hope the general public will slam the door in their face! Never seemed to be a problem until these arrow slinging people showed up.
Martin? 8000 years of known history…problems came when the gunslinging people showed up.
A veritable garden of Eden prior to the lost Italian. (Columbus)
He had Chinese maps.
I thought his maps were part of these:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map
Not 8,000 years of known history in Humboldt County. You saying there was gun packin folks 8,000 years ago?
Take another drink of your tin cup whiskey there Davey Crockett!
California coastal access is intended to relate to pedestrians, not cars.
Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong. For what its worth. And I cannot afford to GAF about any of this.
Mr. Self can park right on the beach and set up shop there. He’s just throwing a tantrum because he can’t have it exactly his way. Nobody is trying to deny him or anybody else access to the launch site. He is creating a fair amount of drama over absolutely nothing. You can go down to the harbor and see vehicles on the beach at almost anytime of day. We park there all the time. So it would probably be best if Mr. Self checked his privilege and just focused on paddling.
I tend to agree with Mark.
In my over 30 years of living in Trinidad I feel the Trinidad Rancheria has been a good neighbor and a good steward of the properties they own. They were wise enough to leave Seascape unchanged because it is perfect as is. While, the idea of a 5 story hotel is ridiculous and a very bad idea that I oppose, the fear they will cut off access to the harbor is misplaced: it would hurt them as much as it would hurt the community. Tsurai culture is at the heart of this community and white people have a shameful history in regard to native americans. This distrust of the Trinidad Rancheria smacks of racism to me. On the other hand, I think this whole community, myself included, as well as the California Coastal Commission, would act to
prevent any attempt to block the current unfettered access to Trinidad Bay. I think the Trinidad Rancheria needs to make a statement that it is not their intention to regulate access to Trinidad Bay.