Nation
Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation · southern sierra miwuk · American Indian Council of Mariposa CountySouthern Sierra Miwuk Nation
Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.
- Recorded status
- Petitioning for federal acknowledgment
- Region
- California
In the record
This nation carries the history of A-wal-a-che, Apang-as-se, Pó-to-yun-te, Si-yan-te and Po-ho-nee-chees in the treaty record. Land has come back: Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation regains land bordering Yosemite.
Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources. This is what the United States’ treaty record says, not the nation’s own account.
The record over time
Circles are land the United States recorded as ceded, sized by acres and colored by how it was taken. Bars are treaties, broken promises, court cases and land returns.
Names
Each name shows where it comes from. A nation’s own name is shown as the nation writes it.
Official names
Recognition, as each source states it
Recognition is a legal and political status that governments assign; it is not a measure of who a people are.
- Petitioning for federal acknowledgment, California (Mariposa County / Yosemite)Petitioner #82 (Awaiting Supplement on OFA Petitions in Process list); negative proposed finding 83 FR 59409 (2018). Tribe states its ancestors signed the unratified Gold Rush-era treaties. NPS calls it one of seven traditionally associated tribes of Yosemite.source
Who is doing the work
Working with these nations
- Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation Nation government About 900 acres returned Dec 2025
- Pacific Forest Trust Allied land trust Stewarded the land for 20 years before ~900-acre return near Yosemite (Dec 2025) Website
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
These links were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.
Carries the treaty history of 5
Governed by 1
Named in 1
Organizations that work with this nation 1
Sources
- southernsierramiwuknation.orgunclassified
Our ancestors signed treaties in good faith with the federal government during the Gold Rush. These treaties were hidden away and left unratified
- nps.gov/articles/000/2023-pwr-cultural-resource-awards-yosemite.htmreference work
The Tribe is one of seven traditionally associated tribes of Yosemite National Park.
Research notes
From org-southern-sierra-miwuk.
- Kind
- Nation
- Confidence
- Medium
- Nation review
- Not yet reviewed by this nation