Future of Santa Rosa school’s historic Indian Museum uncertain due to mold, death of caretaker

Sophia Salinas, 23, can’t remember much about what exactly lies inside the portable classroom with the red-door labeled “Indian Museum” at Roseland Elementary School.

Inside the portable’s rotting plywood walls is a small collection of displays once dedicated to teaching students about Native American history and culture.

It has been there 48 years and is the only school in Santa Rosa where Native students can see their heritage and history preserved and celebrated.

Except they no longer can.

Those doors have been locked for three years now, and the windows shuttered.

The museum was locked down in 2021 because of the pandemic. Then its longtime caretaker died. Now the building is sealed off because of a dangerous level of mold spores found in the air.

Some remember a taxidermied hawk and cougar, Pomo baskets, Native rugs, abalone shell jewelry and lots of books.

The only thing Salinas can remember is the impact that the mere existence of the museum had on her life, being half-Indigenous and half-Mexican.

“I just remember going to the museum and just feeling represented, really,” she said. “And even from elementary school all the way up to high school, it's been the only time that I've seen any Native artifacts or had time set out in the day to be educated on Native culture aside from my dad’s teachings.”

Mold in the air

In February, almost three years after the museum first closed, a microbial inspection done by Redwood Empire Schools’ Insurance Group showed a total of 2,100 common mold spores per square meter, mostly the Penicillium and Aspergillus types. The level at which spaces are considered hazardous is 1,500 spores per square meter.

In its report, the insurance group recommended replacing damaged wood, finding the source of water damage, using specialized cleaning methods and enclosing taxidermied specimens in plexiglass display cases due to their delicate nature.

So far, none of the museum’s artifacts have been cleaned or moved, and most taxidermied animals are not currently in display cases, said Amy Nichols, Roseland Public Schools District’s chief business official.

Nichols said “work is underway,” and their construction management team has partnered with Sonoma State University's Native American Studies department “to ensure that we are respectfully and appropriately handling the tribal artifacts during this process.”

They had no estimated time for reopening.

Raul Guerrero, Roseland’s new superintendent, said the district would like to work toward giving students access to other cultural activities and centers in the meantime, but he did not have specifics.

Federal, state protections

According to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, Indigenous remains and cultural items removed from tribal lands belong to their descendants, and any institutions that receive federal funds must return them to their lineal descendants and culturally affiliated tribes.

The California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act establishes those standards for state-funded institutions as well.

It is unclear if the district has started the repatriation process. Press Democrat emails to the Native American Heritage Commission went unanswered.

Doshia Dodd, a California Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act tribal liaison and staff archaeologist at Sonoma State University, said the department has advised the district to contact local tribal communities, but said no work has been completed by the university.

“At the moment, we've only provided some advice to the museum as to how to get started with their task,” Dodd said. “It's possible that Sonoma State will become involved with work on the project in the future, but at this time we wouldn't have much to add.”

The district has contacted Graton Rancheria and the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians at the Stewarts Point Rancheria to seek assistance with moving the artifacts, Nichols said.

Multiple requests from The Press Democrat for access to the museum have been denied by district officials, who cited safety reasons even after the newspaper offered to equip its journalists with professional-grade hazmat suits and respirators.

Guerrero said in addition to safety concerns, “the district wishes to ensure the tribal artifacts in the museum are handled with care, in the most appropriate and respectful manner.”

"We believe it is appropriate to first dialogue with tribal representatives, and to properly examine, catalog and consider the potential repatriation of Native American artifacts, before reopening the museum or allowing access to the public or news media,” he said.

A maintenance worker at Roseland who did not wish to be named for fear of getting in trouble with his bosses, said he believed the portable was salvageable and the mold issue was not that bad.

“We went in there all the time,” he said, adding that they were working on replacing the rotting roof tiles. He was shocked the district had denied The Press Democrat access.

He pointed to a small storage container across from the portable and said they were planning on moving the artifacts there while repairs are underway, something the district had not disclosed in multiple conversations over plans for the museum.

“The plan has been to temporarily move the artifacts into the storage container outside of the classroom for the purposes of separating them and protecting them from the rest of the classroom’s contents,” Nichols said in a follow-up email. “The intention is to fully empty the classroom in order to ascertain the source of the mold and determine what repair steps may be needed to address that issue.”

Museum’s history

The Roseland district has not cataloged what’s inside the museum or where the artifacts came from, Nichols said. They also do not know who first opened it and when.

But a Press Democrat archived article says the museum first opened in April 1975.

According to the article, the original pieces were from anonymous donors and from the collections of Rose Gaffney, an environmental activist who rallied in the 1950s and ’60s to stop the PG&E development of a nuclear power plant on Bodega Head.

The museum was funded with assistance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which gave $6,300, which would be $35,728 in today’s dollars.

There also were plans to start a multimedia Indian Cultural Center with reading and lecture centers, which never took off.

Five years later, Press Democrat columnist Gaye LaBaron wrote that the museum, which was “a favorite field trip for elementary teachers from all over Sonoma County,“ was closing for lack of funds.

It’s unclear who or what saved the museum, but a 1995 history project by teacher Karen Roses’ fifth grade class has a section on the then-20-year-old museum. Students interviewed the museum docent, Alberta Zmarzly, for the project, which contains photos of the museum in a small brick building, along with taxidermied ducks and a mountain lion.

A Press Democrat reporter found the project, titled “From Pioneers to Present: A History of Roseland” at the Sonoma County History & Genealogy Library.

At the time, there were 90 tribal members enrolled in the district, the report says. During the 2022-23 school year, there were seven American Indian or Alaska Native students enrolled, according to the California Department of Education.

Among the artifacts the fifth grade students listed were a Pomo baby basket, a watertight basket made by famous Pomo basket weaver Elsie Allen, a stuffed meadowlark, a Miwok acorn whip and a tule grass skirt.

“Roseland has a very good Native-American Museum,” the children authors wrote.

Zmarzly, who was of Swedish and Italian heritage, was remembered as a friendly, open-minded person. She became the part-time museum director and is said to have treasured the museum, which had been moved into the portable classroom at an unknown date.

The Roseland maintenance worker said he remembers Zmarzly, as “a really nice woman,” and inside the museum she had the head of a deer on display, tribal rugs and stacks of National Geographic magazines.

She died at the age of 78 in April 2021 according to her son, Craig Zmarzly, 52, who grew up in Santa Rosa and lives in Texas.

“She always was very into the Native American culture ever since I was a kid,” Craig Zmarzly said.

He has little recollection of the museum and how she got involved, but he remembers her facilitating a workshop on acorn mush and her decades-long dedication to curating the space.

“She really loved giving back to the community because they were very underrepresented,” he said. “And so she just really enjoyed kind of sharing the culture with those kids that didn't have a lot of access.”

Zmarzly said his mother was devastated when the museum closed due to the pandemic.

“I think she'd be very, very disappointed to hear that (the museum has been closed for three years with no estimated time of opening)” he said. “You know, there's not many opportunities around to really celebrate cultures that are not the dominant ones within our society anymore. So, to see something like that go away is pretty heartbreaking.”

The school district posted the position for a part-time Native American program director in May 2022, but the posting has since expired.

Native activists discover closure

In fall 2022, Roseland Public Schools trustee Ana Diaz was concerned district leaders were not prioritizing the museum’s reopening.

"I just personally believe that it's honestly a disgrace that they're not prioritizing this,“ Diaz said. ”How is it so hard to contact ... Native American advocates and tribes to just come here and reclaim their sacred items? Because it can’t just be anyone that grabs it.“

Diaz alerted Santa Rosa-based Native activist Madonna Feather-Cruz, who reached out to the district to see if she could reopen the space for mentorships and cultural workshops.

Feather-Cruz met with Jennifer Del Rosario, the district’s community relations coordinator, and asked to tour the space. She was declined due to the mold issue.

“I'm waiting, I'm still waiting, you know, and it's summertime now,” she said. "It's a place for kids to go to be safe, to have a mentor, to talk about things, to see a role model. It's it's just really sad that it's not opened yet.“

Feather-Cruz has been attending almost every board meeting, emailing district officials and making public comments urging the museum’s reopening.

“You're having these sacred items in there, sitting in it, and they sat there for a long time, right?” Feather said. “When you're talking about a taxidermy hawk in there, what's that smelling like? And then you have these sacred baskets. What are those looking like? Are they turned color now?”

She said these questions raise other questions like: “What's happening with my ancestors? I can't see them. Are they safe? Are they not? Are they deteriorating?”

“It’s just a lot of emotions, a lot of feelings around what is the condition of the items,” she said.

Joe Salinas, 50, the father of Sophie Salinas, is a Kashia Pomo member, artist and founder of the Pomo Dancers of Sonoma County.

He went to Roseland Elementary School for kindergarten and remembers Zmarzly and the museum fondly.

“They would take us over there, and being able to connect with my culture gave me a sense of self identity for myself as a kid back then,” Salinas said. “Later on, I remember walking into that museum with my kids.”

He said it was like walking into a time capsule. Zmarzly had not changed a thing.

"We really loved her for what she gave to our community ― to our culture,“ Salinas said. ”She loved the fact that I went as a kid and made me and my kids feel really comfortable.“

“Now when she passed it hurts my feelings to know that she is gone, because she really had a lot of love for our people,” Salinas said, growing emotional. “We lost somebody that was really there for us.”

He said it also pains him knowing she was working in a space that the district neglected for so long, but he has hope that it will be reopened soon.

Local museums have the power to help non-Native communities understand and sympathize with Native people and culture, he said.

“They provide opportunities for Natives to present our culture and help the people of our community understand that this is who we are,” he said.

It also helps improve Native youth develop their self identity. Then, they can take pride in their heritage and advocate for their community, he added.

Superintendent Guerrero had meetings with Feather-Cruz and Salinas to come up with a plan that includes their voices.

“This has been a real important issue for the Roseland community, and also for the Native American community as well,” he said.

The Roseland district is in the process of creating its facilities master plan, which would include the Roseland Indian Museum if they decide to reopen it.

Both Salinas and Feather-Cruz have offered to help reopen the museum or return the items to their tribes as soon as possible.

But for now, the artifacts remain locked inside a dark classroom, and those wishing to share it’s contents remain locked out.

You can reach Staff Writer Alana Minkler at 707-526-8531 or alana.minkler@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @alana_minkler.