Esselen Tribe of Monterey County

What happened

The Esselen Tribe of Monterey County describes itself as "first and foremost a Tribal Group" that is also registered as a nonprofit. ProPublica lists it in Carmel Valley, California, under EIN 82-5246660, with tax exemption issued in June 2019. Its history page says that since the Mexican-era land grants broke up its homeland, "the indigenous peoples of Big Sur have been a landless group." It is not known to be federally recognized, and its own pages do not address its status.

The tribe's Sacred Lands page describes a Tribal Lands Conservation Project with Western Rivers Conservancy. It says the conservancy is working with the tribe to conserve a 1,199-acre ranch on the Big Sur coast. The page states: "Thanks to funding from the California Natural Resources Agency, WRC will convey the lands to the Esselen Tribe." It says the land will be available to tribal members for ceremonies, plant gathering and repatriation of tribal members. The page is undated and does not say whether the transfer has closed.

The tribe's home page says that in 2026 it is working to reclaim Tularcitos Creek parcels of the historic Rana Creek Ranch. It asks for support and says the land otherwise risks being divided into luxury estates and vineyards. Those are the tribe's statements about its plans.

Good to know. Western Rivers Conservancy reported the Big Sur ranch transfer (the Adler Ranch) completed in July 2020; the Rana Creek parcels are a plan the tribe describes for 2026.

Summarized with AI assistance from 5 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error