Land Acknowledgment

The land where Sorrel Leaf Healing Center is located is the occupied territory of the Wiyot peoples, close to Da’ Dedi’lh, between Jaroujiji (Eureka) and Goudi’ni (Arcata) on Wigi (Humboldt Bay), the meeting place of many nations. Descendants of the Wiyot who lived in the area are now members of the Blue Lake Rancheria, the Wiyot Tribe, the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria and other communities. “Wiyot peoples, lands, and
waters, were violently restructured by genocide. Yet, Wiyot peoples survived, endured, and developed strategies so that they, too, remade and reshaped California.” (Whitely)

The Sorrel Leaf Healing Center honors the resiliency and healing legacy of those who continue to caretake this Land and have done so since time immemorial. At Sorrel Leaf, we envision a future in which young people experiencing mental health crises find solace, healing, and connection through their relationship with the land and their community.

We are dedicated to creating a land-based healing center that integrates land-based practices of care into treatment programming and are committed to the process of deep healing that occurs with being in right relationship to self, each other and the more than human community and land. Those living, working and organizing together at the Center have the opportunity to learn from each other as humans who come from the earth.

Action Plan to Support Indigenous Communities

We have included an Honor Tax as a line item in our annual budget. Please click here if you are interested in learning more or participating in an Honor Tax.
We are committed to utilizing Wiyot language for places, animals, and plants in our planning documents.
We will make a land acknowledgement during all internal and external meetings and encourage our partners and associates to consider an Honor Tax and to use Native Placenames.
We have begun and will continue to identify and allocate funding to hire cultural bearers to support land development and program design.
A section of land at Sorrel Leaf Healing Center will be utilized and maintained as a place to grow basket materials and Sagittaria (Indian Potatoes) for use by our Indigenous partners.
Native hedgerows and plants will be used in our landscape design to provide habitat and food for wildlife.
Traditional knowledge and cultural practices will be shared and practiced on the land
We are committed to providing culturally specific programming and prioritization for Native youth services.
We are committed to sharing updates and links centering indigenous organizations and the work of local tribal communities.
We will offer a voting seat on the Board of Directors for Wiyot representation.
An annual review of these commitments will occur each January to assess our follow through and we will publish these results.

Our land acknowledgement and action plan were developed with support from the following resources: