Uploaded April 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Join us for a panel discussion about Pomo communities and land rights, cultural patrimony, and environmental issues affecting them now. Hear from Robert Geary, Elem Pomo cultural leader and regalia maker, Sherrie Smith-Ferri, Dry Creek Pomo/Bodega Miwok scholar, Meyo Marrufo, Eastern Pomo artist and curator, and Christina E. Snider, tribal advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom.
About the Speakers
Robert Geary is an enrolled tribal citizen of the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians in Lake County, California. He is currently a Xaitsnoo language teacher, traditional ceremonial roundhouse leader, and founder and president of the Clear Lake Pomo Cultural Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization for protection and preservation of tribal cultural resources. Geary has been a guest speaker at several academic institutions, including Purdue University, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis, on language revitalization and cultural awareness. Currently, Geary is employed with the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, Cultural Resources Department as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer.
Sherrie Smith-Ferri, PhD, is a member of Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians and also descended from Bodega Bay Miwok people. She recently retired from a 30-year career as executive director and curator of Ukiah’s Grace Hudson Museum. Smith-Ferri has extensively studied and written about Pomo basketry and Pomo peoples’ history as well as participated in several exhibitions on the same subjects. She is currently working for Dry Creek Rancheria to create a tribal museum and archives and is the author of the forthcoming book "From Diggers Bend to River Rock: Dry Creek Rancheria People and History."
Meyo Marrufo is Eastern Pomo from the Clear Lake basin. While her tribe is from Robinson Rancheria, she has lived and learned from other California tribes, including Yurok, Hupa, Maidu, and Miwok territories. Marrufo has learned from many gifted artists over the years, focusing on cultural arts, regalia making, and traditional foods and cooking techniques. She teaches classes in Northern California in these methods, focused on continuing this knowledge and renewing it for future generations. Her digital artwork shows examples of basket patterns, traditional dancing, and Pomo life, and is shown throughout California. In addition, as a tribal environmental director, Meyo works hands-on with the protection of the Pomo cultural landscape. She is working directly to impact the restoration and protection of our tribal lifeways.
Christina Snider serves as tribal advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom. Christina’s work focuses primarily on tribal law and policy, with experience in tribal tax, economic development, gaming, child welfare, juvenile justice, cultural resource protection, voting rights and government relations at the state and federal levels. She is an enrolled member of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. Christina received her law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2013, and is licensed to practice law in California and the District of Columbia. She has served as a law clerk at the Office of Tribal Justice at the United States Department of Justice and the Hualapai Court of Appeals, and worked with the Wishtoyo Foundation/Ventura Coastkeeper as a legal fellow, the National Congress of American Indians as a staff attorney, Ceiba Legal, LLP as of counsel, the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians as an Indian Child Welfare Act representative and the California Native American Heritage Commission as executive secretary. Christina received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Learn more about the exhibition: deyoung.famsf.org/exhibitions/jules-tavernier
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Join us for a panel discussion about Pomo communities and land rights, cultural patrimony, and environmental issues affecting them now. Hear from Robert Geary, Elem Pomo cultural leader and regalia maker, Sherrie Smith-Ferri, Dry Creek Pomo/Bodega Miwok scholar, Meyo Marrufo, Eastern Pomo artist and curator, and Christina E. Snider, tribal advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom.
About the Speakers
Robert Geary is an enrolled tribal citizen of the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians in Lake County, California. He is currently a Xaitsnoo language teacher, traditional ceremonial roundhouse leader, and founder and president of the Clear Lake Pomo Cultural Preservation Foundation, a nonprofit organization for protection and preservation of tribal cultural resources. Geary has been a guest speaker at several academic institutions, including Purdue University, Stanford, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis, on language revitalization and cultural awareness. Currently, Geary is employed with the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, Cultural Resources Department as the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer.
Sherrie Smith-Ferri, PhD, is a member of Sonoma County’s Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians and also descended from Bodega Bay Miwok people. She recently retired from a 30-year career as executive director and curator of Ukiah’s Grace Hudson Museum. Smith-Ferri has extensively studied and written about Pomo basketry and Pomo peoples’ history as well as participated in several exhibitions on the same subjects. She is currently working for Dry Creek Rancheria to create a tribal museum and archives and is the author of the forthcoming book "From Diggers Bend to River Rock: Dry Creek Rancheria People and History."
Meyo Marrufo is Eastern Pomo from the Clear Lake basin. While her tribe is from Robinson Rancheria, she has lived and learned from other California tribes, including Yurok, Hupa, Maidu, and Miwok territories. Marrufo has learned from many gifted artists over the years, focusing on cultural arts, regalia making, and traditional foods and cooking techniques. She teaches classes in Northern California in these methods, focused on continuing this knowledge and renewing it for future generations. Her digital artwork shows examples of basket patterns, traditional dancing, and Pomo life, and is shown throughout California. In addition, as a tribal environmental director, Meyo works hands-on with the protection of the Pomo cultural landscape. She is working directly to impact the restoration and protection of our tribal lifeways.
Christina Snider serves as tribal advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom. Christina’s work focuses primarily on tribal law and policy, with experience in tribal tax, economic development, gaming, child welfare, juvenile justice, cultural resource protection, voting rights and government relations at the state and federal levels. She is an enrolled member of the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. Christina received her law degree from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2013, and is licensed to practice law in California and the District of Columbia. She has served as a law clerk at the Office of Tribal Justice at the United States Department of Justice and the Hualapai Court of Appeals, and worked with the Wishtoyo Foundation/Ventura Coastkeeper as a legal fellow, the National Congress of American Indians as a staff attorney, Ceiba Legal, LLP as of counsel, the Dry Creek Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians as an Indian Child Welfare Act representative and the California Native American Heritage Commission as executive secretary. Christina received her bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Learn more about the exhibition: deyoung.famsf.org/exhibitions/jules-tavernier
Subscribe to our channel: https://dey.ng/our-channel
Don’t miss our upcoming programs! Sign up for our newsletter: https://dey.ng/newsletter
