Serpentbird speaks on behalf of Medicine Lake, "Sattitla". She stood in support of the designation of the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, near Mount Shasta, California

Written Comment by Serpentbir

On December 7th, 2024, there was a public event at The College of the Siskiyous, I attended a Public Listening Session regarding the permanent protection of Sattitla National Monument. Sattitla/Medicine Lake HIglands is a Native American Cultural District. This area is a sanctuary for healing to the Pit River Tribe, Modoc, and Shasta. This area is a geologically unique, and ecologically significant landscape that provides clean water to millions of households.

When I arrived at 8:30 am I registered to speak on the microphone before three representatives of the Biden Administration. The Ford Theater was only about five percent full when I sat down around 9:30 am. An introduction and ceremony were performed by Tribal Ambassadors of the Pit River Tribe, and then the room started buzzing. By 10 am the theater was about 90 percent full, with families from many Tribal Nations, Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center members, and many other educational and conservation groups.

Several youth expressed their angst and broken trust as a result of greedy of oil and gas tycoons.

Before things got rolling, I had a blue bic pen and my Elk whistle, which provided me strength, when I was doing my activism and public speaking. I prepared to write the Public Statement on the form, by listening to what the activists at the Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Center were suggesting to make a compelling case "for" the monument.

I struggled to find all the "perfect" words to go on this "little" 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. Soon I felt myself leaning into my new friends who were all around me in the blue T-shirts we were given. It was fairly instinctive to feel called to include people around me in making this statement.

January 7th, one month after Serpentbird spoke at the forum, President Biden announced the designation of the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument, a more than 200,000-acre area that encompasses the upper part of the broad Medicine Lake Volcano and its 7x12-km (4.3x7.5 mi) central caldera, which hosts the namesake Medicine Lake.