Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation

What happened

The Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation's website says its people are indigenous to Mariposa County and Yosemite, California. It says that since 1982 the Nation, also known as the American Indian Council of Mariposa County, has petitioned for federal acknowledgment. It says its ancestors signed treaties in good faith during the Gold Rush, that those treaties were left unratified, and that this left the Nation and many California Indians landless. The Nation's site says it received over 300 public comments supporting acknowledgment between November 2018 and December 2024 and filed a response with the federal Office of Federal Acknowledgment on March 14, 2024. It describes a Proposed Finding it disputes. The Nation is not federally recognized.

The land return comes from Pacific Forest Trust's account, not the Nation's own pages. PFT says the nearly 900-acre Henness Ridge property, between Yosemite National Park and Sierra National Forest, has been returned to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation. PFT says the transfer was completed in November 2025 with funding from the California Natural Resources Agency Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Program, and quotes Tribal Council Chair Sandra Chapman calling the land "a sanctuary for our people."

PFT does not say whether the transfer was a gift or sale to the Nation. PFT also says a land base could support the Nation's case for federal recognition.

Good to know. The Nation is not federally recognized. The land return is reported by Pacific Forest Trust, which says it was completed in November 2025 but not whether it was a gift or a sale.

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