A California Democrat is seeking to replace a former statue of a controversial 18th-century Spanish missionary on the grounds of Sacramento’s Capitol Park with a new monument that recognizes regional tribes.

Assembly Bill 338, authored by Assemblyman James C. Ramos, D-Highland, would strike a decades-old requirement to keep and maintain a monument of Father Junípero Serra, who is dubbed “the father of the California missions.”

Instead, the bill would allow tribal nations in the Sacramento region, in coordination with the Department of General Services, to plan and construct a new monument.

The bill received bipartisan approval during an Assembly Rules Committee hearing on Thursday.

Under the bill, it’s not clear who or what would be represented in the new monument, but Ramos hopes it “calls on the Sacramento area tribes to come together and give options of a monument that would be rightly and respectfully dedicated to the local Indian people from this area.”

Protesters toppled Serra’s statue last July amid nationwide protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer. Serra statues in Los Angeles and San Francisco were also toppled last year….

Ramos’ bill is co-sponsored by six Northern California tribes, including the Wilton Rancheria, Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians, Ione Band of Miwok Indians, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians….

The above comes from an April 30 story in the Fresno Bee.