Nearly 900 acres of land have been returned to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation in California. The land borders Yosemite National Park — one of the most visited National Parks—— and the Sierra National Forest.
The land was transferred from the Pacific Forest Trust and was underwritten by a grant from the California Natural Resources Agency Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Program.
The Nation now has ownership of the culturally significant Henness Ridge, site of an ancestral trail from the Central to the Yosemite Valley and a key migration corridor for deer and other mammals.
The trust has a history of working with tribal nations. In the 1990s, the organization partnered with the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council, establishing the first-ever conservation easement with tribal entities in the U.S.
Located just west of Chinquapin/Badger Pass and State Highway 41, the property overlooks both branches of the Wild and Scenic Merced River to the south and north, the Central Valley to the west, and the main Yosemite Valley to the north. Since time immemorial, the Southern Sierra Miwuks were stewards of the forests, meadows, and springs.
The Nation was expelled from its lands beginning in the late 19th century to make way for settlers and the lumber industry. The last of the tribal residents who lived in the valley were evicted by the National Park Service in 1969.
“Having this significant piece of our ancestral Yosemite land back will bring our community together to celebrate tradition and provide a healing place for our children and grandchildren,” Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation’s Tribal Council Chair and elder Sandra Chapman said in a press release. “It will be a sanctuary for our people.”
Tribal Secretary Tara Fouch-Moore said the transfer will bolster the Nation’s food sovereignty and traditional ecological practices.
“We will be able to harvest and cultivate our traditional foods, fibers, and medicines and steward the land using traditional ecological knowledge, strengthening our relationships with plants and wildlife, and benefiting everyone by restoring a more resilient and abundant landscape,” she said.
As well, the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation will take over protection of water quality feeding the two tributaries of the Wild and Scenic South Fork Merced River.