Indian Canyon Mutsun Band of Costanoan

What happened

Indian Canyon is land south of Hollister, California, in the Gavilan range. A 2010 Santa Clara University magazine profile says Ann-Marie Sayers built her cabin on her great-grandfather's home site after years of battling the federal government for the land, which she claimed through the Indian Allotment Act of 1887. The same profile says that, as far as the federal government is concerned, Sayers and most Bay Area Native Americans who call the region home are not members of a recognized tribe.

The San Francisco Foundation's profile of Sayers says Indian Canyon consists of about 1,000 acres and is "the only federally recognized Indian territory from Sonoma to the coast of Santa Barbara." Other sources describe the acreage differently, so treat the size as uncertain. The profile also says the land is available to all indigenous people for traditional ceremonies.

The nonprofit based on the land is Costanoan Indian Research, Inc. (CIR). The Indian Canyon community site says it is a registered 501(c)(3) Native American nonprofit with federal ID 68-0287736, at Indian Canyon in Hollister. ProPublica lists Costanoan Indian Research Inc in Hollister under that EIN. CIR's site describes an annual storytelling gathering and a mission to preserve Mutsun Ohlone and California Indigenous knowledge and culture.

The community's site is indiancanyonlife.org; the similar indiancanyon.org is unrelated.

Good to know. Sources disagree on the size of Indian Canyon, from about 1,000 acres to roughly 270. The family is not part of a federally recognized tribe, though the land is described as federally recognized Indian territory.

Summarized with AI assistance from 4 sources and checked against their words; not yet reviewed by historians or by the nations. Report an error