---

About: 
In March 2025, the Lab co-hosted three days of community service in collaboration with Trinidad Rancheria, California State Parks, and the Native Women’s Collective. 

Sue-meg is an active and traditional village site used for annual Brush Dances and ceremony. Sue-meg State Park is located on the land of the Ner'-er-nerh/Coastal Yurok People. Many descendants of the Yurok people are now enrolled members of the Yurok Tribe, the Resighini Rancheria, the Big Lagoon Rancheria and the Trinidad Rancheria.

To Learn More: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30933 The team met up with Rachel Sundberg, who taught us how to come in a good way to a place she and her relatives have tended to for generations.

Despite rain and cold weather, 25-30 youth volunteers gathered each day to share meals, learn from one another, and contribute to land-based restoration work at the site. Participants supported a range of stewardship activities, including trail maintenance, weeding, garden care, and a final-day planting effort that will continue restoring the Sue-meg Village site. They also took part in a collaborative data-mapping project with Sue-meg State Park, documenting plant relatives, traditional medicines, and ecological features. Daily hikes and time on the land created space for deeper place-based learning and connection across Tribal Nations, community members, and partners.

At the end of each work day, participants gathered for a “rose-bud-thorn” reflection, where people expressed feelings of joy, appreciation, connection to land, and gratitude for the experience despite the cold weather!
​
DONATE to support the project.

---