The Directors Guild of America in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, represents over 18,000 film directors. It was built on the homelands of the Buena Vista, Car-I-se, Cas-take, Hol-mi-uk, Ho-lo-cla-me, Se-na-hu-ow, So-ho-nut, Te-jon, To-ci-a and Uva tribes. This parcel of land was seized by unratified treaty in 1851 and granted to the state of California for the benefit of the University of California.
Founded in 1936, the membership of the
@directorsguildofamerica now comprises well-known directors like
@thumbelulu,
@msmelina,
@martinscorsese_,
@taikawaititi,
@alfonsocuaron, and
@officialspikelee, to name just a few.
Bounties for Indigenous heads and scalps, paid by the state and reimbursed by the federal government, encouraged the carving up of traditional territories without any compensation. Meanwhile, 18 treaties made to secure land cessions were rejected by the Senate and kept secret for a half-century. Thirty-two land-grant universities, including the University of California, got a share of California Indian land, raising approximately $3.6 million from over 1.7 million acres.