Remembering Kathy Jefferson Bancroft

The Manzanar Committee mourns the loss this week of our dear friend, ally, and educator Kathy Jefferson Bancroft. She was a tireless advocate for Indigenous rights and was a fierce defender of her homeland, Payahuunadü (Owen’s Valley). As Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, she worked alongside the Manzanar Committee to stop the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) from building a solar ranch adjacent to Manzanar National Historic Site. Bancroft also led the fight to defend Conglomerate Mesa – an area of land near Owens Lake – from being destroyed by mining companies seeking to exploit the land.

Wendi Yamashita is the Director of Katari, a partnership between the Manzanar Committee and the National Park Service that mentors college Nikkei about Japanese American history and community building. She recalled, “For many years, Kathy welcomed Manzanar Pilgrimage participants to Payahuunadü reminding us whose land we are on and how we are all connected and responsible to each other. Kathy also spoke at our Katari program, explaining how white settlers brutally oppressed the Paiute and Shoshone people to exploit the land and resources of Payahuunadü.”

Manzanar Committee Co-Chair Bruce Embrey will always remember Kathy’s warmth, beautiful smile, boundless energy, and fierce determination. “Working with Kathy and the Paiute and Shoshone people over the years have greatly enhanced our understanding of the land and where Manzanar fits into the overall history. She was a compassionate warrior who always welcomed us with open arms and was ready to work with anyone who was willing to listen and learn.”

Ann Kaneko, Director of the documentary Manzanar, Diverted: When Water Becomes
Dust, remembered, “Kathy is at the center of my Manzanar, Diverted journey, and I was so fortunate to have met her in 2015. I was endlessly impressed by her depth of knowledge, wisdom and her openness and willingness to share. She knew that solidarity would help build awareness, and she recognized the importance of alliances with Japanese Americans and others who had a stake in the history of Payahuunadü. She recognized that our struggles are shared and knew that “outsider” storytellers could be partners in helping people learn about this place. I am so overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to be her friend, laugh with her and stories with her. I am grateful for her example of optimism, kindness, resilience and strength.”

According to Walking Water, an organization dedicated to collaborating with shareholders on the sustainable use of water, “Kathy was able to bring attention and action to address the more than hundred years of misuse and extraction of water by Los Angeles through her science training and ancestral knowledge. She was a contributor to many films that tell the unjust water stories of the Valley to a global audience. She spent unending hours attending to Patsiata and caring for the team of monitors.”

In a recent interview with Charlotte Cotton of Metabolic Studio, Bancroft reflected on her motivation for advocating and preserving Payahuunadü: “The way we look at it, this whole valley is sacred. Here is where my ancestors walked — on every part of this valley. That’s who makes me who I am, that’s where I get my strength from. They’re all still here. There are places where special things happen and places where terrible things have happened. I know of six or seven massacre sites on the lakebed. It’s sad but it’s a part of history and they need to be preserved, remembered, and respected for us to know what people went through to stay in this valley. I have an aunt who is 101 years old. She lived out here for years, doing what it took to survive in this valley. Outsiders have been here a little over one hundred years, but we’ll still be here long after everybody else is gone. And we’ve got to clean up the mess, so we’re going to start now.”

Rest in Power Kathy Jefferson Bancroft. Your work will continue to live on in the lives that you’ve inspired through your advocacy and educational work.

Please consider donating to help cover funeral costs if you are able: https://www.gofundme.com/f/funeral-support-for-kathy-jefferson-bancroft