Tribal Preservation
Josef Fore is the Senior Tri>bal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO), and tribal member of the United Auburn Indian Community (UAIC).
THPO Fore has over 10 years of Tribal Monitoring and construction experience, extensive cultural knowledge, and is the former Chairman of the Tribal Historic Preservation Committee (THPC).
THPO Fore oversees the Tribal Historic Preservation Department, which is made up of the Cultural Regulatory, Tribal GIS, Repatriation, and Tribal Monitoring specialties.
The Tribal Historic Preservation Committee consists of seven appointed tribal members and serves as an advisory body to the Senior Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) and the Tribal Council.
The Committee’s purpose is to ensure the preservation, protection, and respectful treatment of tribal cultural resources.
Cultural Regulatory
Cultural Regulatory includes Tribal Consultation and outreach, Tribal surveys, and GIS mapping and review. The Cultural Regulatory staff engages with lead agencies through consultation under
Section 106 of the NHPA, AB 52 (CEQA), SB 18, Section 110 and other laws. We work to identify,
protect, and preserve tribal cultural resources, ensuring our values, traditions, and history endures
for future generations.
Consultation through federal and state laws to protect cultural sites is a contemporary mechanism of the traditional practice of tribal stewardship. The process of consultation to protect a cultural site is significant under Criterion A/1 (events) because it is the continued practice of Tribal Stewardship. This consultation enhances the significance of that cultural site under criterion A/1.
Submit Electronic Project Notifications & Consultation Requests
UAIC accepts consultation requests, project notifications, and outreach letters using our secure
online form.
Section 106 Best Practices and AB52 Best Practices
These Best Practices guidance documents are intended to inform those conducting consultation
with UAIC of the importance of including Tribes in the decision-making process. UAIC collaborates with agencies to improve the identification, evaluation, treatment and protection of Nisenan and Miwok cultural sites.
Tribal GIS
Tribal Historical Information System (THRIS)
The THRIS is a secure, GIS-based platform that centralizes tribal monitoring, cultural, ecological,
historical, archaeological, and regulatory data to protect tribal cultural resources within our ancestral
territory. By combining modern geospatial technology with Tribal knowledge and values, THRIS
strengthens our ability to preserve tribal cultural resources, safeguard sacred landscapes, and support informed. stewardship.
Tribal Monitoring & Cultural Preservation Agency (CPA)
The Tribe has a long and proud history of tribal monitoring that extends from the 1930s to
the present day. Like consultation, tribal monitoring is also a contemporary mechanism of the
traditional practice of stewardship in order to protect cultural sites. In 2011, the Preservation
Department and Committee established a Tribal Monitor Training and Certification Program.
The THPO and THPC certify and train tribal monitors to identify, evaluate, and protect tribal
cultural resources. In 2020, UAIC Tribal Council established the CPA to contract directly for
tribal monitoring work and other professional services related to Tribal Preservation. In 2024,
the Preservation Department started conducting professional tribal cultural resource surveys.
Contact THPO@auburnrancheria.com to inquire about setting up a contract for tribal monitoring
services, obtaining a rate sheet, or a scope.
Contact preservationmonitoring@auburnrancheria.com to coordinate the assignment of a UAIC
certified tribal monitor to your project.
Repatriation
UAIC has been a leader in advocating for timely and respectful repatriation. The Tribe sponsored AB 275, which amended the California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (CalNAGPRA) to assert that Tribes have the authority to identify their own cultural items, establish a requirement for respectful treatment of cultural items, and clarify that everything from a burial site may be a funerary object.
To initiate or resume Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) or CalNAGPRA consultation, contact THPO@auburnrancheria.com or submit your request through the Tribe’s online portal. The Tribe also accepts repatriations from members of the public. To coordinate the repatriation of a cultural item e-mail THPO@auburnrancheria.com. Preservation Department staff organize the quarterly California Repatriation Community of Practice Meetings, which are virtual meetings of Tribal, Museum and other Repatriation Practitioners to discuss repatriation challenges and solutions.
These meetings also include workshops and updates to federal and local repatriation laws and processes.To join the Community of Practice, register here.
The Contamination and Repatriation Informal Working Group addresses systemic issues surrounding potential contamination of cultural items with hazardous substances. The working group currently has subcommittees for XRF, Institutional Pesticide Histories, Training, and Tribes. Members of the working group recently created a C2C Care Course Investigating Contamination and Pesticides in Cultural Heritage Collections.
Other members of the working group have organized a series of case studies that describe how to build safety programs for Museums. To join the working group, register here.
Review of Cultural Text, Exhibits or Signs
The THPC reviews cultural text, exhibits, signs, or research requests. When preparing text specific to Nisenan or Miwok culture, we have a few general recommendations to make text meaningful and appropriate:
- Be specific to your location or organization. For example, if you are a park installing interpretive panels next to a grinding rock, then including information such as the local history of that specific grinding rock is more appropriate than a generic paragraph about grinding rocks.
- Stay away from overly broad or absolute statements. These can include statements such as, “the Nisenan language is no longer spoken”. These statements often perpetuate incorrect information and reinforce negative stereotypes.
- Include contemporary information. For example, if you are putting together a museum exhibit that includes traditional items such as soaproot brushes or handgame staves then include the name of the person who made them and the contemporary details of how they are used today in addition to historic use.
- Take the opportunity to educate. If you are preparing interpretive panels for a cultural site, then include details about respectful treatment of the site. If you are proposing research, then the research should be meaningful to Tribes as well as other parties.
Please be aware that while the THPC reviews cultural text, they do not approve or endorse it. It is ultimately the responsibility of the entity that is authoring the text to take responsibility for any content that they produce. To submit a review or research request e-mail THPO@auburnrancheria.com.
