Kathleen C. Whiteley

About:

Kathleen Whiteley (Wiyot descent) is an assistant professor in the Department of Native American Studies. She was born and raised in Eureka, California, and is a descendant of the Wiyot Tribe. 

Prof. Whiteley’s research focuses on Native American history in California from the nineteenth century to the present, with particular emphasis on the social, legal, and gendered dimensions of Indigenous North America. 

Prof. Whiteley’s current book manuscript, Justice in the Balance: The Indians of California versus The United States of America, 1900- 1955, is the first work to trace the history of the land claims cases brought by the Native peoples of California against the U.S. federal government. This case revolved around the question of appropriate monetary compensation for the value of land that would have been set aside under eighteen treaties that were made between 1851 and 1852. Congress failed to ratify these treaties at the time, then put them under an injunction of secrecy. As a result, they remained “lost” until 1905. Justice in the Balance shows that this legal legacy of broken treaties and lost lands catalyzed California Indians to engage in longstanding and varied modes of intertribal activism to fight for their nations and their ancestral lands and waters. However, it argues, the court system was ultimately an imperfect vehicle for Native redress and paved the way for ongoing injustice. Exploring the themes of balance and justice through the lens of legal, social, and environmental history, this book offers critical insight into the historical and contemporary dimensions of contested territory and land rights—as well as the potential of returning land to Native Nations either through government policy or private initiative. 

After receiving her PhD in American Culture from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Prof. Whiteley was awarded a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship at UC Berkeley. She has also conducted research as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, served as the UC Davis Faculty Liaison to The Newberry Consortium in American Indian and Indigenous Studies, and is currently the Designated Emphasis Graduate Advisor for the Native American Studies department at UC Davis.

Selected publications and projects:

• Justice in the Balance: The Indians of California versus The United States of America, 1900- 1955, manuscript in progress.
• “History on the Lost Coast: Locating Wiyot Stories of Resilience in Nancy and Matilda Spear,” The American Historical Review 129, no. 4 (December 1, 2024): 1542–66.
  • AHR History in Focus Podcast: https://www.historians.org/podcast/histories-of-resilience/ 
• “In the Grand Scheme of Things: California Indians and California Land Claims, 1920-1945,” California History 102, no. 2 (May 2025): 3-21. 
• “47 Cents Per Acre: The Outstanding Balance of the Indian Claims Commission in California, 1946- 1972” (Under review)
• Tuluwat Reclaimed, a short film co-produced alongside director Michelle Hernandez (Wiyot)
  • Tuluwat Reclaimed is sponsored by Centering Tribal Stories, a University of California multicampus grant. The film traces the intergenerational political activism and environmental cleanup to reclaim the village of Tuluwat in Eureka, California.
    • Link to film: https://arcg.is/j1yz90