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Land return

Santa Ynez Chumash Camp 4 trust land

Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.

A 2019 defense bill directed that the 1,427-acre Camp 4 ranch go into trust for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash, per the Band.

Nation
Chumash (Santa Ynez Band)
Where
Santa Ynez Valley, California
Acres
1,427
Status
Returned

Where the land is

Camp 4, near the Highway 154 / 246 junction, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County, California. Location approximate.

This land was returned inside Land of the Buena Vista, Car-I-se and others in California, ceded 1851 (area 286), which the United States treated as ceded under California Treaty D: Camp Persifer F. Smith, Texan Pass, 1851 (unratified), a treaty the Senate never ratified.

about 1400 acres returnedabout 9.6 million acres ceded in 1851

Location from pacbiztimes.com.

What happened

Camp 4 is a ranch of roughly 1,400 acres along Highway 246 in the Santa Ynez Valley, California. The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians says it bought the land from Fess Parker in 2010 to provide tribal housing for its members, only 17 percent of whom lived on the original reservation. The Band says it plans 143 homes and a small Tribal Hall on the land.

The route to trust status was contested. Noozhawk reported on February 13, 2019 that U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson granted summary judgment to a local landowner challenging a 2017 Bureau of Indian Affairs decision to take Camp 4 into trust, declaring that decision null and void and sending the matter back to the agency. The suit argued an official lacked authority to issue the final decision.

The Band's own press release of December 17, 2019 says the Senate voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes language directing the Department of the Interior to take 1,427 acres, known as Camp 4, into federal trust for the Band. The Band says it had pursued both the administrative and legislative routes. Its release says Senator Feinstein's office cited the Band's agreement with Santa Barbara County and a perpetual exclusion of gaming on Camp 4. The Band's reservation page states Camp 4 was placed into trust through federal legislation on December 20, 2019, increasing the reservation tenfold.

Good to know. The Band says Camp 4 was placed in trust by federal law on December 20, 2019; sources give the size as 1,427 acres or more than 1,400.

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

What the sources say, and how this was checked

Supported by the sources below; some details rest on one source.

  1. more than 1,400 acres of ranch land known as Camp 4 was placed into trust through federal legislation on December 20, 2019The Santa Ynez Reservation (Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians)
  2. directing the Department of Interior to take 1,427 acres, otherwise known as Camp 4, into federal trust for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash IndiansCamp 4 Included in National Defense Authorization Act Passed by Senate (Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, Dec. 17, 2019)
  3. The tribe purchased the land from Fess Parker in 2010 for the purpose of providing tribal housing for its membersThe Santa Ynez Reservation (Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians)
  4. essentially declaring that act null and void and sending the matter back to the federal agency to handle properlyFederal Judge Overturns Decision to Place Chumash Camp 4 Property Into Trust (Noozhawk, Feb. 13, 2019)

Research notes. Acreage: the Band cites 1,427 acres in its 2019 release and "more than 1,400" on its reservation page; the atlas shows 1,390, which none of the sources opened used. The Band's statement that the land was placed in trust on December 20, 2019 is the Band's account; the text of the defense act and the Federal Register notice were not opened, and the exact signing date was not confirmed. Lawsuits and the later history (and the hold on trust noted in local press) were not verified.

Who is doing the work

Land return and Native-led work nearby

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Corrections to this record

  • acres was listed as “1390”; corrected from chumash.govmore than 1,400 acres of ranch land known as Camp 4 was placed into trust through federal legislation on December 20, 2019

Connections

Links marked “suggested” were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Nations named 1

Located in 1

Supported by 1

Sources

  1. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Ynez_Band_of_Chumash_Indianspointer
  2. chumash.gov/the-santa-ynez-reservationreference work
    more than 1,400 acres of ranch land known as Camp 4 was placed into trust through federal legislation on December 20, 2019
Kind
Land return
Confidence
Low
Nation review
Not yet reviewed by this nation

Correct this record