Stewarding our Water Resources: Solano Artists Create, Collaborate & Educate
Solano Water Stories

The California Arts Council’s vision is “a California where all people flourish with universal access to and participation in the arts.” To support the achievement of this vision, the CAC has produced a series of racial equity learning resources available on their website.

The CAC has also recently published a statement on Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and resources for education and support.

Arts Benicia, now located in the Commanding Officer’s Quarters along the Carquinez Strait in Benicia, is on land once occupied by the Patwin (native American people). The Patwin, also known as the Suisun, traversed the area along the waterways. They hunted in the Suisun Marsh and gathered acorns from wooded areas to the north. They lived in bands of about 100 and spoke the Wintun dialect. They traded for obsidian to make projectile points, which have been found throughout the area. Large bedrocks with hollows for grinding acorns also remain as reminders of their time on the land. Patwin culture was gradually diminished or lost as these lands were taken over by missions of the Catholic Church and later the Mexican government, followed by the state of California, upon its establishment in 1850. By the time construction of the Commanding Officer’s Quarters was begun in 1859, only about 100 Patwin remained in the region, many living in a settlement near the present location of Solano Community College in Fairfield. Please join Arts Benicia in reflecting and honoring the invaluable contributions made by the Indigenous culture bearers who came before us and are here now. Read more … the official site for the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation.