Cultural Stewardship Program 2000-2005

The Safe Neighborhood Parks, Clean Water, Clean Air, and Coastal Protection Bond Act of 2000 [incorporated as Chapter 5096.300 of the Public Resources Code (PRC)], initially allocated $8,037,000 million dollars to undertake cultural resources stewardship projects that “…preserve the vanishing remnants of California’s landscape, and  protect and promote a greater understanding of California’s past, and the planning necessary to implement those efforts (PRC 5096.310).”

The California State Park System is the steward of many of California’s most invaluable and irreplaceable cultural resources. The Archaeology, History and Museums division of State Parks is responsible for the administration of the Cultural Stewardship Program.

This program provides funding to carry out the State Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) mission of protecting and preserving resources throughout the California.  The variety of cultural resources protected by the State Parks encompasses all aspects of human invention, need, and activity.  The state of preservation for each of these buildings, structures, artifacts, sites and landscapes also varies according to the resource’s own individual history.  Although broadly defined, the Cultural Stewardship Program is intended to address threats and preservation needs across the whole spectrum of prehistoric and historic cultural resources within the State Park System.

The Stewardship Program Guidelines assist Cultural Resource Specialists and managers in developing projects to address threats and damage to cultural resources that comply with the PRC definitions as stated in the 2000 Bond Act.

Fiscal Year 2005-2006 marked the fifth and final year of funding for the Cultural Stewardship Program.  A total of $1,431,000 in project funding was available for distribution during this fiscal year.

California Indian Tolowa Village of ''Tcuncultun''

One of the outstanding Cultural Stewardship Program projects involves the California Indian Tolowa village of "Tcuncultun."  The importance of this village in the contact period in Northwestern California is the reason for Cultural Stewardship monies being allocated to place "Tcuncultun" on the National Registry of Historic Places.

In 2004 excavation was completed of a heavily burned, contact period semi-subterranean sweathouse with remarkably well-preserved redwood plank floors, an internal paved area and a centrally located slab lined hearth. The house is associated with the Tolowa village of "Tcuncultun" and represents the terminal occupation of a site inhabited for millennia on the Smith River in Del Norte County. The architectural details and associated assemblage of the house are juxtaposed with prehistoric site components, giving insight into cultural survival and continuity in Gold Rush northwestern California, a time of rapid and cataclysmic change for local Indian populations.     

-Tcuncultun Project Contact: Shannon Tushingham, University of California, Davis