Redwood National and State Parks Flag Nine Tribal Books After Federal Review

Visitors and bookstore customers at Redwood National and State Parks in Humboldt County were confronted March 6, 2026, with the disclosure that park staff had “flagged” nine books related to local tribal histories and Indigenous topics for a federal review, a development that could affect titles sold by the park nonprofit, Redwood Parks Conservancy. The flagged list was submitted by site managers to park leadership, and the submission identified the items as inventory sold by the Cooperating Association, the nonprofit Redwood Parks Conservancy.

The review traced back to federal guidance described in the materials as coming from the Trump administration, instructing parks to identify and scrub material that “disparages Americans past or living” or that emphasizes anything but the nation’s “beauty, abundance, or grandeur.” An internal park excerpt of the instruction was truncated in one report at the characters “ina,” so the fuller policy language relied on other materials that quote the directive in full.

Leaked documents tied to the review “identify hundreds of signs, exhibits, books, films and other items that were apparently flagged for review,” extending the scope beyond the nine titles at this Redwood site to a broader nationwide review of interpretive and educational materials. Managers at the Redwood site framed the books as local-history inventory when they wrote, “The following books are sold by our Cooperating Association the nonprofit [Redwood Parks Conservancy] that focus on local tribal histories.”

One named title on the submitted list is We Are Dancing for You, by Cal Poly Humboldt Associate Professor Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy. The materials describe the book this way: “We Are Dancing for You, by Cal Poly Humboldt Associate Professor Dr. Cutcha Risling Baldy, focuses on the revitalization of the women’s coming-of-age ceremony for the Hoopa Valley Tribe through a feminist lens. However, it also addresses methods of dismantling colonial power. Is that concept inherently demeaning to colonizers?” The park-submitted materials also note outreach attempts to the author, stating, “We emailed Dr. Risling Baldy on Friday seeking comment on the administration’s orders and her book’s inclusion on the submitted list but hadn’t heard back by the time of publication.”

Aside from We Are Dancing for You, the supplied materials do not include the remaining eight titles on the Redwood list. The leaked documents and the managers’ submission are the only available records identifying the nine flagged books; the full set of flagged titles, any annotations attached to each title, and the dates when the flags were applied were not included in the materials provided for review. To establish what actions, if any, will follow, the leaked documents and on-the-record statements from Redwood National and State Parks management, Redwood Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service must be produced and examined to determine whether flagged items will be removed, relabeled or retained.