This week, the Santa Ysabel Tribe became the first Indigenous Nation in California and the fifth Nation in the United States to affirm marriage equality for its citizens.
“Although the tribe has certainly come far, they won’t ever forget the sting of prejudice, or stand passively by when others suffer discrimination or denial of basic human rights,” Chairman Virgil Perez said in a press release. “Native Americans have fought hard to establish and protect their own rights, and Santa Ysabel is determined to support our own, and other same sex couples in their struggle to be recognized and treated fairly as citizens of this great nation.”
Santa Ysabel Tribe of Kumeyaay Indians joins the Coquille Tribe of Oregon (2008), Suquamish Tribe of Washington (2011), Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians in Michigan (2013), and Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians in Michigan (2013) in supporting marriage equality.