Rob Wood, CIHC Project Manager

Rob Wood is the Project Manager for the California Indian Heritage Center project.  Mr. Wood is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation, in Oklahoma, and is a fifth generation Northern Californian.  He has worked for the State of California for over 30 years, 24 with California State Parks.  He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in American history, with an emphasis in western American history and Native American history and culture, from California State University, Sacramento.  Prior to coming back to State Parks, Mr. Wood was the Native American Heritage Commission's representative for California coastal counties from San Luis Obispo to Orange, as well as Kings, Fresno, Tulare and Kern Counties.  Among his duties is responding, in accordance with California State laws, to discoveries of Native American human remains.  He also reviewed and analyzed development project impacts, subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), with the goal of protecting California Native American traditional cultural places.

During his previous service with State Parks, Mr. Wood served as an Associate State Historian, Museum Curator II, and State Park Interpreter II.  During his time as a State Park Interpreter II in the Office of Interpretive Services, Mr. Wood was responsible for artifact acquisition, preparation, and installation for three of the Department's Regional Indian Museums.  While a Museum Curator for the Park Services Division, he acted as coordinator for the Department's response to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA).

From 1990 to 1994, Mr. Wood was the Curator of the Department of Parks and Recreation's State Capitol Museum, responsible for the Museum's collections and exhibit programs, including research, planning, artifact acquisition, and supervision of a five person staff; and representing the Museum to the legislature, state agencies, and the public.  He also acted as the Director of the Museum, for over a year, which included supervision of over 30 full time and seasonal staff, and 50 volunteers.  Between 1979 and 1982, during the State Capitol's Restoration, he had been the Furnishings Historian, responsible for the development of the Capitol Museum's nine historic rooms.