Our March Recipient - Tataviam Land conservancy

Hello Everyone!
​This month I was able to interact on a different level than I normally am able to with nonprofits outside of Colorado. A Waldorf teacher named Mona Lewis from California asked if I would like to collaborate and use the earth pigments that she creates to illustrate one of my Twelve Little Tales stories. The pigments are so beautiful and I had a wonderful time working with them. I asked Mona of sunspritehandwork.com if she knew of a nonprofit that had connection to the same land the pigments were made from and she told me of a movement that is very special to her called the Tataviam Land Conservancy 

"The Tataviam Land Conservancy (TLC) is a non-profit organization focused on protecting the traditional territory of the Fernandeno Tataviam people through protective land management, cooperative agreements, and innovative cultural and educational programming.
The citizens of the Tataviam tribe were the first inhabitants of the northeast San Fernando Valley and, like other native people in the Los Angeles basin, were the first people of Los Angeles, the builders of the missions, and the builders of Pueblo Los Angeles. The rich culture and history of Los Angeles County begins with Tataviam tribal ancestors." - learn more about the conservancy and their mission at their site.

A little more of the story from Mona Lewis:
"The  is a small tribe in Los Angeles who remains federally unrecognized, partly because all their land was stolen. Alan Salazar, tribal elder and author of three books about his tribe and culture, collects earth and ochers from his tribal lands which I then make into paints to illustrate his stories. Part of the proceeds from his books go to the Tataviam Land Conservancy to help them in their efforts to buy back their land, save it as open space and replant it with native plants." You can see more about the books HERE

As always let us know if you know of a nonprofit working toward climate balance that is special to you! Email us with nonprofit info or questions here

Thank you!
​-Marna