The Yurok Tribal Council, community members and school board representatives hold a sign with the school’s new name. | Photo courtesy of the Yurok Tribe

Previously:

• Efforts To Rename Margaret Keating Reach DNUSD Board; District To Form Advisory Committee

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From the Yurok Tribe:

At Wednesday’s Yurok Tribal Council Meeting, the Del Norte County Unified School District announced the approval of the Yurok Tribe’s and the community’s request to change the name of Margaret Keating Elementary School to ‘O Me-nok Learning Center.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Yurok Education Department Director Jim McQuillen. “Returning this place name is restorative justice at its best. Restorative practices can happen at so many levels, and it does make a difference toward healing in the minds and souls of the Yurok people. While we cannot change the past, we can build a brighter and more just future for our students.”

“The Del Norte School District’s approval of the name change to ‘O Me-nok signifies their support and recognizes the Indigenous Yurok community and ancestral territory of our tribe,” added Yurok Tribe Language Program Manager Victoria Carlson, a Klamath parent who teaches language at the ‘O Me-nok Learning Center.

The TK-6 school occupies the ‘O Me-nok village site. The Yurok Head Start Early Childhood Center is located on the campus. The Yurok Education Department, ‘O Me-nok principal and the Del Norte School District conducted several community surveys to obtain community and parent input on the name change.

“I support the name change and like the name they came up with,” said Dr. Walt Lara Sr, a tribal elder. “I’m glad we are returning the name of the village. It is the right thing to do.”

‘O Me-nok Learning Center is the largest school on the Yurok Reservation and more than 60 percent of its student body is comprised of tribal citizens. Yurok people have always made up most of the student population.

During Margaret Keating’s time as a teacher and an administrator in the 1930s and 1940s, hundreds of Yurok children experienced transparent racism and physical abuse instead of receiving the high-quality education they deserved. The hostile school environment set many tribal students up for scholastic failure.

The ‘O Me-nok Learning Center name change is part of an ongoing local effort to ensure that tribal students graduate with a strong cultural and educational footing for future success.

“I dream of an educational setting where the district provides an Indigenous curriculum, hands-on learning, land-based learning, healthier and traditional food options, additional teacher-aides, sports and clubs. All that will take time, but I believe if we all work together, we can make this happen,” said Victoria Carlson.

The renaming of the school is also an extension of a national campaign to remove place names that immortalize individuals with dark histories.

In 2021, the Yurok Tribe worked with California State Parks to reclaim the name of Sue-Meg State Park. In 2022, the Tribe supported state legislation to remove the "S____" word from geographic names and public places in California. At the federal level, the Tribe advocated for a secretarial order that accomplished the same objective, but across the US.

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