The City of Monterey moves forward with a formal apology to local Native Americans
Ata Shaheen
MONTEREY, Calif. (KION-TV) — The Monterey City Council unanimously passed a proclamation Tuesday with a formal apology to a group of local Native Americans.
The city council came out and apologized for taking a once-vibrant neighborhood of Esselen and Ohlone families, and turning it into a lot for the police and fire departments.
Former Tribal Chairman for the Esselen Nation Rudy Rosales, grew up on Dutra Street.
“I swear to you, [Dutra Street] was like a playground,” said Rosales. “You know, it really was because we had a gully. They filled it all indoor, but there was a gully that went through there and we just had a ball — all the families got together to play with the cousins.”
Rosales was around eight or nine years old in the mid-1950s when the City of Monterey seized the land through eminent domain.
The city compensating the indigenous population with pennies on the dollar compared to their white counterparts, according to the City of Monterey.
“They just demolished houses, tore it all down and I remember my mom was there watching,” said Rosales. “She was crying because they were in her family for hundreds of years.”
Now, 70 years later, Monterey is taking responsibility and saying sorry to the people affected and their descendants.
“I think that this is a first step; this is a symbolic step,” said Monterey Mayor Tyller Williams. “Putting our actions where our words are, and we have to do a lot of work to make sure that we’re continuing.”
Rosales and others are working with the city on potential next steps, like getting a plaque, telling native stories through murals, and maybe even reparations.
“There’s economic support in ways that look like [and] there’s data that we need to review,” said Mayor Williams.
Until then, people in Monterey are celebrating the apology as a big win and a far cry from how the city and the indigenous folks have often clashed in the past.
“I walked down there just to see that, to see my place, and I got arrested, you know, you’re trespassing,” Rosales said, remembering a trip he took to his old neighborhood prior to this new milestone. “How can I be trespassing on my own land?”