Woodland school now home to Sacramento region's first Native American library

WOODLAND — A first-of-its-kind library in the Sacramento region opened to students and their families Wednesday night at Douglass Middle School in Woodland.

The Native Resource Library is now home to hundreds of books putting Native American stories, history and culture in the spotlight.

"This is the first time students are going to be able to understand and get some insight into Native culture, Native tribes, into our different traditions and ceremonies," said Joshina Cluff, director of the school district's American Indian Parent Committee.

Book by book, Cluff built a library full of Native American heritage — books written by Native authors with options for all K-12 reading levels.

"We want people to learn about the impact of the gold rush, the impact of the missions, the impacts of John Sutter that are on these lands around here," Cluff said. "History books can be very detached. We want to humanize our culture, humanize our experience and also share our very rich traditions with everyone."

The library is housed in the district's Native Student Resource Center at Douglass Middle, which first opened in 2023.

Children in attendance for Wednesday night's grand opening of the library told CBS13 that they were happy to help make history.

"This is brand new and it's from Native Americans. So this is a big accomplishment. It feels good to be the first kid to check out a book from here," said Baine, a Freeman Elementary student.

Elodia Ortega-Lampkin, superintendent of Woodland Joint Unified School District, said these investments for the district's Native American students are a long time coming.

"For so long, they have felt they have been left out of history. That their culture, language, history, ancestors have been forgotten — for us, this is important to acknowledge that no, you are not forgotten. We see you. We hear you. You are important to us," Ortega-Lampkin said.

Organizers say never forgetting the tribal truths of Yolo County's land means passing those stories on to the next generation.

In Yolo County, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Patwin people. The Patwin are a band of Wintun people, along with the Wintu and Nomlaki, who have lived in Northern California for thousands of years.

"This library, it gets people to read the truth. They don't have to stereotype, make things up, see things on TV. They can come here and read the truth through books. It's a way for educators to build curriculum," said Mike Duncan, director of the local nonprofit Native Dads Network.

Duncan said this library is the first of its kind in the region.

"We are modeling something that has never been done before in an elementary or middle school in Northern California," Duncan said. "Just to be a part of this and know this will continue on for generations and generations, I'm a very proud man."

It is the first page of a new chapter in Woodland schools that organizers hope will be read and replicated at schools regionwide.

"We can break down barriers of racism, systematic policies that continue to hold us down and build a better community for our tribal people," Duncan said.

Organizers hope to name the library to honor the native Patwin people in the near future. The library is open for all students within the district to check out a book.