Committee Charge and Members

A Commitment — and a Committee — Rekindled

In October 2022, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Mary Croughan recommitted the campus to the important work of the UC Davis Project to Honor Native Americans. The provost charged a committee of faculty, staff, students, and community members, many continuing from the original committee, to build on the long history of the committee’s good work and move forward with fulfilling the priorities of the Committee to Honor Patwin and Native Americans at UC Davis. 

"I am deeply committed, both professionally and personally, to UC Davis’ continued role in honoring our relationship with Patwin descendant communities on whose land we teach, learn, work, and live, as well as our relationship and commitment to members of our campus Native American community. The Project to Honor Native Americans includes a series of 10 exterior installations and one reflection garden. It is my hope that, with the guidance of this Committee, the campus will continue to implement the installations as funding becomes available. I believe the installation of monuments across the campus will serve as important visible reminders, educating our campus community and honoring Patwin and Native Americans."

As charged, the reconvened committee is focusing on providing recommendations related to the May 2006 Plan for the UC Davis Project to Honor Native Americans and assisting with implementation of honoring sites as funding allows.

Native American Honoring Project Committee

Co-Chairs 

Inés Hernández-Ávila, Professor Emerita, Department of Native American Studies 
Carmia Feldman, Director, Arboretum and Public Garden 

Members 

  • Charlie Wright, Chairman, Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation
  • Preston Clarke, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
  • Brentne Rueda, Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation
  • Helen McCarthy, Principal Owner, Cultural Resource Research & Consulting
  • Tammara Norton, Art Director, Far Western Anthropological Research Group
  • Sheri Tatsch, Indigenous Consulting Services 
  • Victor Chimaway Lopez, Ph.D. candidate, Native American Studies (Chumash)
  • Alysia Godsey, Undergraduate student, Native American Studies
  • Lucas Griffith, Executive Director of Campus Planning, Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship
  • Emily Griswold, Director of GATEways Horticulture and Teaching Gardens, Arboretum and Public Garden
  • Erica Kohl-Arenas, Faculty Director, Imagining America
  • Megon Noble, Senior Strategic Advisor and Repatriation Manager for NAGPRA, Program Manager for Grand Challenges Reimagining the Land Grant University
  • Michelle Villegas-Frazier, Senior Strategic Advisor for Native American/Alaska Native and First Nation Affairs, Director of the Native American Academic Student Success Center (Pinoleville Pomo)

Read the committee's charge letter from 2022. Several members have retired and new members have been added, as reflected in the current committee roster above. 

Committee History - Past Members

The first Native American Honoring Project Committee was formed in 2000 by UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef at the request of faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students in the UC Davis Department of Native American Studies. UC Davis undergraduate student Laura Mayo and Juan Ávila Hernández who was, at the time, a graduate student in history, agreed to manage and organize the group’s efforts. Professors in the Department of Native American Studies included Dave Risling, Jr., George Longfish, Ines Hernández-Ávila, Stefano Varese, Martha Macri, and Victor Montejo. Other members included Staff of American Indian Descent (SAID) member Micki Eagle and graduate student, now Ph.D., Sheri Tatsch from the Department of Native American Studies.

Several past and present committee members are pictured below, including individuals who have retired from UC Davis. Their service to the campus and the committee is deeply appreciated and the effects of their contributions are enduring and meaningful. 

Seven people stand and three people sit in a brightly lit outdoor area in front of a brick building.
Several committee members past and present, from left: Front row — Juan Ávila Hernández, Inés Hernández-Ávila, and Tammara Norton. Back row — Sid England, Carol Wall, Helen McCarthy, Sheri Tatsch, Skip Mezger, Bob Segar, and Kathleen Socolofsky.

Immediate Past Co-Chairs

Inés Hernández-Ávila, Professor Emerita, Department of Native American Studies (Nez Perce/Tejana)
Kathleen Socolofsky, Assistant Vice Chancellor and Director, Arboretum and Public Gardens (retired)

Past Members

Edward "Bill" Wright, Elder, Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation (Patwin)
Juan A. Ávila Hernández, Lecturer, Department of Native American Studies (Yaqui)
Micki Jo Eagle-Faulkin, Management Services Officer, Department of Political Science, Staff of American Indian Descent Member (retired)
Sid England, Assistant Vice Chancellor, Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability (retired)
George C. Longfish, Professor Emeritus, Department of Native American Studies (Seneca/Tuscarora)
Martha J. Macri, Professor Emerita, Department of Native American Studies (Cherokee)
Helen McCarthy, Principal Owner, Cultural Resource Research & Consulting
Skip Mezger, Landscape Architect (retired)
Victor D. Montejo, Professor Emeritus, Department of Native American Studies (Jakaltek Maya)
Tammara Norton, Art Director, Far Western Anthropological Research Group
David Risling, Jr., Founder, Native American Studies Department (Hoopa, Karok, and Yurok)
Bob Segar, Associate Vice Chancellor, Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship (retired)
Sheri Tatsch, Indigenous Consulting Service, joined as a graduate student in the Department of Native American Studies
Stefano Varese, Professor Emeritus, Department of Native American Studies
Carol Wall, Vice Chancellor, Student Affairs (retired)

Please contact [email protected] if any information needs to be modified or added.