Dr. Dorothea Theodoratus
Dr. Dorothea Theodoratus is a Principal Investigator with Pacific Legacy, and she heads our ethnographic and ethnohistoric research program. Dr. Theodoratus is Professor of Anthropology (Emeritus), Native American Studies, at California State University, Sacramento. She is widely recognized as a leading expert on Native Ameican ethnography from Northern California to Alaska.
Dr. Theodoratus has participated as an “expert witness” on Native American issues in State and Federal courts. As Professor Emeritus she actively continues her research on Native American issues and is currently a consultant to several California tribes and two tribal consortiums on tribal preservation issues. She also continues as a regular volunteer consultant to the California State Native American Heritage Commission (preservation issues) and California Indian Legal Services (federal acknowledgment cases). Her recent and continuing work with California Indian Legal Services provides ethnohistorical background for tribal restoration through Congress, resulting in several northern California tribes receiving federal reinstatement as recognized tribes. She has also conducted seminars on government-to-government procedures (Presidential Memorandum April 29, 1994) for federal agencies, and she has worked with several tribes on NAGPRA projects (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act).
Dr. Theodoratus’ research focus has been on sacred lands, ethnohistory, and especially Native issues which involve the impact of non-Natives on Native cultures, and the improvement of communications between agencies/companies and Native Americans. She is concerned with both preservation and change, and particularly in the presentation of data to the general public so they can experience present and former Native domains with appreciation and sensitivity.
Pacific Legacy houses Dr. Theodoratus’ extensive ethnographic library resulting from over forty years of research.
