American Indian Studies

A federal reservation of Klamath, Karuk, and Shasta Indians in Siskiyou County in northwestern California near the community of Fort Jones. The original Quartz Valley Reservation was near the current one, but was terminated in the 1960s. The total area today is about 174 acres, with the tribe still in the process of reacquiring land for the reservation. The population is around 126, with a tribal enrollment of about 150. Many tribal members live in or near the communities of Greenview, Fort Jones, and Etna.

The Spanish term for small Indian settlements. Rancherias are a particular California institution. A small area of land was set aside around an Indian settlement to create a rancheria. Some rancherias developed from small communities of Indians formed on the outskirts of American settlements who were fleeing Americans or avoiding removal to the reservations. Reservations represented lands bought for Indians previously without land, or lands traditionally uninhabited, as happened to Indian groups east of the Sierra divide. Before 1906, most land set aside for California Indians were designated as reservations. Between 1906 and 1934, 54 rancherias were established, as well as one "Indian village." Since 1934, five rancherias, an "Indian village," an "Indian community," and four reservations have been established. With the passage of Public Law 83-280 in the mid-1950s, terminating federal supervision and control over California tribes, some 40 rancherias lost the right to certain federal programs, and their lands no longer had the protection of federal status. In 1983, a lawsuit resulted in restoring federal recognition to 17 rancherias, with others still waiting for the reversal of their termination.

A most useful source for information on Indian reservations is American Indian Reservations and Trust Areas (Albuquerque: Tiller Research, 1996) edited by Veronica E. Velarde Tiller. The first reservations in California were established by a federal treaty commission during 1851-1852. Eighteen treaties were signed to set up reservations amounting to 8.5 million acres. These treaties were never ratified, however, and kept secret until 1905. By 1867 there were four reservations established - Hoopa Valley, Round Valley, Smith river, and Tule River. By 1906, there were 35 reservations established. In addition, some rancherias were recognized. The total area of the reservations established during the 19th century was less than 500,000 acres. From 1906 to 1934, there were a series of appropriations for money to be used to purchase land for landless Indians in California. Rancherias were also established by a variety of legal mechanisms. In 1910, bad publicity finally forced the Indian Office (later to become the BIA) to enlarge certain reservations and establish some new ones. Since 1934, four reservations have been established, as well as five rancherias, one "Indian village" and one "Indian community."

A federal reservation of the Covelo Indian Community, which is made up of Achomawi, Concow, Nomelaki, Wailaki, Wintun, Yuki, Pit River, Little Lake, and Pomo Indians in northeastern Mendocino County. Total area is over 30,537 acres, making it the second largest reservation in California and one of the oldest reservations in the state. The population of the reservation is around 300, with a tribal enrollment of about 2,615. Historically, the Round Valley Reservation was the "depository" for tribes which were rounded up by the U. S. Army between 1855-66, creating a convergence of various peoples and cultures.

These people traditionally lived along the south-central California coast, inland to the mountains. Today's Salinan descendants live mainly in the Salinas Valley between Monterey and Paso Robles. There is no tribal land and the Salinan Nation has not received federal recognition. In the late 18th century there were approximately 3,000 Salinan Indians, with several hundred descendants today. In 1771, the Spanish constructed the first mission in Salinan territory called San Antonio de Padua. A second mission followed in 1797 called Mission San Miguel. After secularization of the missions in 1834, the Salinan people experienced a rapid depopulation, primarily as a result of intermarriage and assimilation. Survivors worked on the large rancheros and some were ranchers, hunters, and gatherers. Until the 1930s there was a Salinan community not far from Mission San Antonio known as The Indians. The religion of the Salinan involved offering prayers to the golden eagle, the sun, and the moon. Shamans controlled the weather. Initiation into religious societies was important. The Salinan political organization was by the typical tribelet of California Indians. In the past, the Salinan were governed by the Aak'letse, or village headwoman. Now, there is a Tribal Council.

The Serrano Indian people traditionally lived in the Mojave Desert and the San Bernardino Mountains, in southern California. Their language belongs to the Takic branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. They hunted and gathered in the desert areas and relied on acorns and game in the foothills, where their settlements were more permanent. The term "serrano," meaning mountaineer, was initially used by the Spanish to designate "unnamed" Indians in the mountainous regions of southern California. Later the name came to refer only to that band of Indians whose territory extended roughly from Mount San Antonio in the San Gabriel Mountains to Cottonwood Springs in the Little San Bernardino Mountains. Traditionally, the Serranos were divided into two groups, or moieties, and marriage was only allowed across group lines. Communities were usually villages of 25-100 people. Few people still speak the Serrano language, and few ancestral rituals survive. Some continue to sing traditional Bird Songs on special social occasions. Today around 85 Serrano people live on the San Manuel Reservation. Many of the 1,000 or so residents who live on or near the Morongo Reservation are also of Serrano descent. And, other Serrano people live on or near the Soboba Reservation.

The Indians called the Shasta people traditionally lived in the northernmost part of California (Siskyou County) and southern Oregon (Jackson and Klamath Counties). The Shasta were one of four Shastan tribes, the others being Konomihu, Okwanuchu, and New River Shasta. Their language belongs to the Hokan family, spoken throughout California and into Mexico, as well as through the Great Basin and into the Southwest. For food, they depended on the semiannual king salmon runs along the major rivers of their territory, as well as on acorns and game. In the 18th century there were around 3,000 Shastas. Today there are around 100 Shasta people living on the Quartz Valley Reservation in Siskyou County, and some in Yreka, California.

The Shoshone Indian people (or, Newe) traditionally lived on lands in the east-central area of California to the east of the Sierra Nevada range, including Owens Valley and the lands south of it, which includes Death Valley. The Shoshone language belongs to the Uto-Aztecan language family and is closely related to Paiute. These people lived in small, extended-family groups, and made a living by desert hunting and gathering. There are less than 2,000 Shoshone people today in California, living mainly on the Big Pine, Bishop, Timbi-Sha, and Lone Pine reservations.

A federal reservation of Tolowa Indians in Del Norte County, in northwest California, north of Crescent City, and near the town of Smith River. Total area is about 186 acres. Population is 240 on-reservation people and 660 off-reservation (mostly local in Del Norte County, California, Humboldt County, California and Curry County, Oregon). The tribal land base also supports a casino, an elderly nutrition center, housing for the elderly and handicapped, a medical and dental facility, a Headstart facility, tribal housing and a tribal cemetery.

The original 30-acres of the Rancheria were purchased August 15, 1923 under the Landless and Homeless Act under which the U.S. Congress provided funds to purchase lands for landless and homeless California Indians. An additional 120 acres was added to the Rancheria on October 14, 1978, under the special legislation of Public Law 95-459 which was sponsored by Congressman Bizz Johnson. Another 80 acres was donated to the Rancheria in 1994 that has not been put into Federal Trust status. An additional 72 acres located at the Sierra Army Depot based in Herlong, California, was acquired from the U.S. Department of the Army under the Base Reutilization and Closure (BRAC) Act and added to the Rancheria on November 6, 2000. The tribe elected to charter under authority of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of 1934, and thus the Rancheria Constitution and Bylaws were approved by the Secretary of the Interior on March 3, 1969. The anthropological tribes associated with the Rancheria are: Northern Paiute, Northeastern Maidu, Washoe, Achomawi and Atsugewi. The federal government, however, through the Department of the Interior recognizes political entities and not the anthropological entities. The original 30-acre parcel was purchased from a Mrs. Taylor for the landless and homeless California Indians living in and around the Susanville area. Because there were many landless and homeless Paiute, Maidu, Washoe and Pit River Indians (the Bureau of Indian Affairs recognized the Pit River Tribe as the political entity for the Achomawi and Atsugewi Indians) living in the general Susanville area, the Rancheria land was purchased and considered to have "federal status as a tribe." The individual Indians from the various named tribes thus became one political, governmental entity with the charting and approval of its constitution and bylaws by the Secretary of the Interior in 1969. The Susanville Indian Rancheria, although it is made up of various other tribes, is recognized as a distinct (political) entity from the other tribes who make up the Susanville membership. There is no dual membership allowed in the Susanville Constitution. The Washoe Tribe is formed and recognized by the federal government as the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California. The eleven small bands of the Pit River Indians have formed and are recognized by the federal government as the Pit River Nation. The Maidu Tribes are in the process of forming under the recognition process through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Susanville Indian Rancheria is acknowledged as the recognized tribe for the Rancheria although there are four anthropological tribes involved, each of which are recognized as political entities. Thus, the federal government recognizes only the Susanville Indian Rancheria as the political entity for the rancheria. The governing body of the Susanville Indian Rancheria is the General Council, which is composed of all the members who are at least eighteen years old. The General Council has delegated the responsibility of running the day-to-day business of the Rancheria to the Tribal Business Council, which is a seven-member board. The members are elected by the General Council members every three years. The officers of the Tribal Business Council are: Chairman, Vice Chairman and Secretary/Treasurer. The Tribe has a voting membership of 246, but including spouses and members under the age of eighteen, there is a population of 361 individuals associated with the Rancheria. The Tribal Health Program serves over 1,500 Native Americans in Lassen County.