Nisenan Miwok Collective

What happened

The Nisenan Miwok Collective calls itself an Indigenous-led nonprofit and the nonprofit arm of the Southern Hill Nisenan Tribal community. Its site lists Laura Galvan, a Southern Hill Nisenan Tribal member, as Chairwoman. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer lists it as a Sacramento 501(c)(3) with tax exemption issued in September 2023.

The Collective's mission is land and water restoration, land return, food sovereignty, cultural practices and self-determination for the Southern Hill Nisenan of the Sierra Nevada. Its territory, in its words, includes El Dorado County, Placer County, Plymouth and the forks of the Cosumnes River, where it says its headsmen signed Treaty J in 1851.

The site describes Treaty J as unratified and says the Southern Hill Nisenan "remain largely landless" within their ancestral territories. It says it is working, through land return, conservation partnerships and strategic acquisition, to reestablish a permanent presence at culturally significant village sites. It invites direct gifts, tax-deductible donations, and land or estate transfers.

The Collective reports no completed land transfer, acreage or deed. They describe goals and methods, including native plant restoration and cultural burning. The Collective says the Southern Hill Nisenan Band represents the tribe's people and cultural leadership, while the Collective is the operating entity.

Good to know. The Southern Hill Nisenan are not federally recognized, and Treaty J of 1851 was never ratified. The Collective has no online donation page; it asks people to email about gifts.

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