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Governor Newsom signs legislation supporting California Native AmericansGovernor Newsom signs legislation supporting California Native Americans

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Sep 25, 2026

Governor Newsom signs legislation supporting California Native AmericansGovernor Newsom signs legislation supporting California Native Americans

What you need to know:
On Native American Day, Governor Newsom announced his signature on bills advancing tribal priorities, including making Native American Day a paid state holiday, formalizing an official apology on behalf of the state, and making the Governor's Office of Tribal Affairs permanent.

SACRAMENTO – On Native American Day, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he has signed bills advancing tribal priorities, including making Native American Day a paid state holiday, formalizing an official apology on behalf of the state, and making permanent the Governor's Office of Tribal Affairs.

Today's legislation reflects the many facets of the relationship between California and Native American tribes: great remorse over the violent beginnings of this state, a strong commitment to forging a better path forward together, and great pride and respect for all that the Native community has done and will do.

Governor Gavin Newsom

"Over the last eight years, we have worked with tribal nations to improve tribal-state relationships — listening, learning, and iterating to create a new paradigm built on a foundation of mutual understanding and respect," said Tribal Affairs Secretary Christina Snider-Ashtari. "Today's legislation memorializes much of that work and ensures that our successors will continue to advance commonsense tribal-state initiatives from a place of truth, healing, and accountability."

Native American Day

The Governor signed AB 1841 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) to establish Native American Day as an official state holiday, recognizing the profound role Native communities have played in shaping the state's culture and identity.

"This package of bills signed today by the Governor highlights several tribal priorities. I thank Governor Newsom and the First Partner for their support in uplifting tribal voices and continuing to advance these important issues," said Assemblymember Ramos. "AB 1841 recognizes the profound role Native communities have played in shaping the state's culture and identity by setting the foundation for a paid state holiday. With the signing of AB 2115, the Rowena Mae Ramos Act, the state further recognizes and accepts responsibility for all the harms and atrocities committed by the State Legislature and Judiciary. This builds on the Governor's historic first formal apology in 2019, and I thank him for continuing to lead in this space. The additional bills signed today advance important policies in higher education, protecting Indian children, and continuing to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People crisis. This California Native American Day, we celebrate the progress toward supporting and protecting Native Americans. I am proud of the past eight years working with the Governor as we have continued to set the pace for the future."

Formal apology

In 2019, Governor Newsom issued a formal apology for the state's role in the historic atrocities committed against Native Americans. With AB 2115 (Ramos), the California Legislature and the courts issue an apology to California Native Americans as well and, as the State of California, recognize and accept responsibility for all of the harms and atrocities committed by its public officials, those who promoted, permitted, facilitated, and enforced policies of violence against Native people.

Office of Tribal Affairs

California has come a long way since its earliest days of statehood. In the last seven years, the Newsom administration has worked with tribes to establish a framework that supports and develops respectful, collaborative relationships that benefit everyone who calls California home. Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen (D–Elk Grove)'s AB 2507 puts critical components of that framework into statute, making the Governor's Office of Tribal Affairs established by Governor Newsom in 2022 permanent, establishing a Tribal Advisory Committee, clarifying the role of tribal liaisons across state agencies, and creating clearer standards for tribal consultation statewide.

"On California Native American Day, I'm grateful to Governor Newsom for recognizing the importance of strengthening California's relationship with Tribal governments," said Assemblymember Nguyen. "AB 2507 is about making sure Tribal governments are brought into the conversation early and that engagement is more consistent across state government. I'm proud to have worked with Wilton Rancheria and Tribal leaders across California to move this forward."

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Other bills signed advance tribal priorities, including strengthening protections for children in conservatorship or guardianship proceedings, addressing public safety gaps on tribal lands, and supporting Native higher education institutions.

Tribal partnerships across the administration

Legislation signed today builds on and reinforces the administration's efforts over the last seven years to restore and strengthen tribal partnerships across every facet of government. Together, the state and tribal governments have worked to expand access to traditional healing practices; support the return of over 100,000 acres of land to California Native American tribes; release the Native American Studies Model Curriculum, developed in collaboration with California tribes, Native scholars, educators, and community leaders; and many other efforts to place tribal leadership at the heart of land conservation, climate resilience, and cultural preservation. In the last month alone, several landmark projects and agreements have been announced.

Improving data collection and river ecology

Earlier this month, the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced a historic project to improve the health of salmon populations, support tribal practices, and advance the science that drives fishery management.

Beginning this season, the CDFW Willow Creek Weir, which monitors fish populations for scientific examination, will be consolidated into the Tribe's on-reservation Selective Fish Harvest Weir, which supports selective tribal harvest. Replacing two separate weir operations — small dams that temporarily contain fish with minimal disruption to water flow — with a single facility is more efficient and better supports fish populations and the river's overall health.

The Tribe's weir is based on traditional fish harvest methods the Hupa people have practiced since time immemorial, with its modern design reflecting centuries-old conservation principles that protect important genetic attributes of "natural reproducing fish populations" through selective harvest techniques. Prior to the consolidation, the Tribe's weir already supported CDFW's scientific monitoring, in addition to its own cultural, ceremonial, and subsistence needs.  Now, the Tribe and CDFW will build a model for cooperative fisheries management that balances conservation, scientific monitoring, and tribal resource stewardship.

Landmark cultural burn agreements

The Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians and the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) signed California's second cultural burn agreement under SB 310 (Dodd, 2024), expanding a new pathway for tribes to exercise their authority to use cultural fire within ancestral territories. The agreement removes specific state barriers to Paskenta cultural burning and marks growing momentum for tribal-led fire stewardship and wildfire resilience across California.

California Native American tribes have long used fire to sustain culturally important plants and resources, support biodiversity, care for landscapes, and reduce hazardous fuels. For over a century, laws and policies criminalized and disrupted these practices. SB 310 created a government-to-government framework to support the return of cultural fire within ancestral territories. To learn more about implementing cultural burn agreements under SB 310, visit CNRA's Tribal Stewardship Policy and Toolkit.

Stewardship and land back

Tribal, state, and local governments entered a landmark partnership to restore the Clear Lake watershed through shared stewardship of its lands, waters, and native species. Together, the partners will improve water quality, restore habitat, strengthen native fish populations, and support healthier ecosystems for future generations. One of the biggest agreements of its kind, this is California's first watershed co-management agreement since the passage of AB 1284 (Ramos, 2024), and the state launched its Tribal Stewardship Policy in March, which established a statewide goal to expand tribal stewardship over at least 7.5 million acres of lands and coastal waters in California.

This MOU builds on the Governor's directive to state agencies to support California tribes' co‑management of and access to natural lands within a California tribe's ancestral land and under the ownership or control of the State of California. That directive, paired with record investments to tribes and the California State Parks Tribal Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) Program, has enabled California tribes to access and steward forests, rangelands, rivers, and coastline.

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The bigger picture

In 2019, as Governor Newsom issued the first formal apology at the future site of the California Indian Heritage Center, he also announced the creation of the California Truth and Healing Council, charged with examining the historical relationship between the state and tribal communities and recommending steps toward truth, healing, and repair. Since then, the Council, led by Secretary Snider-Ashtari, has worked with tribal communities to record and better understand the historical relationship between the state and California Native Americans. This fall, the Council will release a report, with recommendations based on its findings.

The full list of bills the Governor signed is below:
  • AB 31 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) — Peace officers: tribal police.
  • AB 1592 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) — California Indian Heritage Center.
  • AB 1641 by Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley) — Postsecondary education: segments: tribal colleges and universities.
  • AB 1769 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) — Student transfer: tribal colleges.
  • AB 1824 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) — Indian children: guardianship or conservatorship proceedings.
  • AB 1841 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) — Native American Day.
  • AB 2115 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) — California Native Americans: Formal Apology
  • AB 2187 by Assemblymember James C. Ramos (D-San Bernardino) — Federal Tribe Contracting Authority.
  • AB 2507 by Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen (D–Elk Grove) — Office of Tribal Affairs.
  • SB 594 by Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) — Short-Term Rental Facilitator Act of 2026.

For the full text of the bills, visit http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.

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