Land area

Reservation of the Cah-wia, Choi-nuck and others in California (area 276)

Shape traced from the 1899 maps; approximate. Open on the map

1851
Set aside as a reservation
By California Treaty A: Camp Belt, King's River, 1851 (unratified)

In the record

Set aside as a reservation for the Cah-wia, Choi-nuck, Yo-kol and other bands by an 1851 treaty that was never ratified; not a cession. The area covers about 369 thousand acres in what is now California.

This area was not ceded. The 1899 record shows it as a reservation the nation kept, at least until the record ends in 1894.

Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources.

See this cession on the map

Shapes come from C. C. Royce’s 1899 maps as georeferenced by the US Forest Service. They are approximate and are not legal descriptions of land. Royce recorded land the United States treated as ceded; the shape does not show a nation’s territory.

Who is doing the work

Working with these nations

Tule River Indian Tribe Nation government 17,030 acres (Yowlumne Hills) with tule elk reintroduction, Oct 2025

Land return and Native-led work nearby

InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council Nation government Land conservation and return of coastal Sinkyone lands to tribal stewardship (nearly 5,000 acres protected) Give on their site Website
Koy'o Land Conservancy (Colfax-Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe) Nation government Restoring traditional homelands to tribal members Website
Kumeyaay Diegueno Land Conservancy (KDLC) Nation government Acquiring and preserving sacred and culturally sensitive lands in Kumeyaay aboriginal territory Give on their site Website
Mechoopda Indian Tribe of Chico Rancheria Nation government 450 acres (2026), first ancestral land return in the Big Chico Creek watershed

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Native American Rights Fund (NARF) Native-led Litigation and legal advocacy for tribal sovereignty, treaty rights, land and resources Give on their site Website
NDN Collective (LANDBACK Campaign) Native-led LANDBACK campaign (launched 2020; Mount Rushmore closure and return of Black Hills public lands), Indigenous… Give on their site Website
Indian Land Tenure Foundation (ILTF) Native-led Land recovery and control by tribes and individual Indian landowners Website
Decolonizing Wealth Project (Indigenous Earth Fund; California Tribal Land Return) Native-led Reparative philanthropy Give on their site Website

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Connections

Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Sources

Royce, Indian Land Cessions (1899), Schedule entry dated 1851-05-13primary record
Royce’s map sheet: California 1 (Library of Congress)primary record
USDA Forest Service, Tribal Lands Ceded to the United States (digitized Royce maps)reference work

The record’s fields

Area number in the 1899 record: 276
Dates in the 1899 record: 1851-05-13
Peoples as named in the 1899 record: Cah-wia; Choi-nuck; Hol-cu-ma; In-tim-peach; No-to-no-to; Ta-che; To-e-ne-che; To-lum-ne; Tu-huc-mach; We-mil-che; Wic-chum-ne; Yo-kol
States: CA
Counties: Fresno; Kings; Madera; Merced; Tulare
Map sheets in the 1899 record: California 1
Geometry: Approximate shape from Royce’s 1899 maps

Research notes

geometry_role is 'cession' for every USFS feature: no field in the source distinguishes cessions from reservations.

Kind: Land area
Confidence: Medium

Correct this record