The Redwood Valley Rancheria (officially known as Redwood Valley Little River Band of Pomo Indians) is a federally recognized Indian tribe located in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, California. The tribe is primarily composed of Pomo Indians. Redwood Valley Rancheria is a sovereign Indian tribe with the powers of self-governance.
The Rancheria is located approximately 1.25 miles northeast of the community of Redwood Valley in Mendocino County, California and consists of 160 acres of land held in trust to the Tribe by the United States as well as additional land held in trust to individuals.
The property consists of 10 acres of rolling hills where the Tribal Office, Learning Center and 33-home Tribal community is located, and 150 acres of steep grassland, oak woodland and chaparral to the east. It is an irregular parcel on the east side of the valley and faces generally west. It extends from the top of the ridge that separates Redwood and Potter Valleys to the edge of the valley floor. The elevation ranges from 900 feet on the western border to 2300 feet on the eastern ridgetops. The area is in a mild and transitional climate between coastal and interior valleys. Rainfall averages 35 inches (890 mm) per year.
The Redwood Valley Little River Band of Pomo Indians (Redwood Valley Rancheria) is a federally recognized Indian tribe [1] located in Redwood Valley, Mendocino County, California. For several thousand years the Tribe’s ancestors lived along the West Fork of the Russian River, located north of Calpella, CA. The Tribe interacted with other Pomo tribes located within the Russian River watershed, the Eel River watershed, and with tribes found along the coasts of the Clearlake and the Pacific Ocean. They were hunters, gatherers, basket-weavers, singers and dancers. Their lives were rich with language, art, ceremony, and community. Sadly, much was lost with the advancement of European settlers before and after the California Goldrush. State and federal policies were implemented that dislodged the Pomo from their traditional lands and undermined their relationship to their land, language and culture. Only now is it being recognized that this was state sponsored genocide of a people and culture.
In 1909 Redwood Valley Rancheria was established as a home for "Homeless Indians," as a result of the Indian Appropriation Act of 1908. [2] However, In 1958 the United States Congress terminated Redwood Valley Rancheria and many other tribes by enacting the California Rancheria Termination [3] Act. In 1983, as a result of the Tillie Hardwick, et al. v. United States of America, et al. Case, this termination was declared illegal. [4] Redwood Valley Rancheria and many other rancherias had their tribal status restored. Since then the tribe has formed a tribal government, acquired a land-base, began an economic-development program, and established numerous social, educational, and environmental programs [5]
On June 20, 1987, The Redwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians was formed with a constitution and bylaws, according to the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. This tribe now governs the Redwood Valley Rancheria by a General Council, who elects a seven-member Tribal Council. The tribe is federally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Other current Pomo communities in Mendocino County:
The Pomo are a Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small group, the Tceefoka, lived in the vicinity of present-day Stonyford in Colusa County, separated from the core Pomo area by lands inhabited by Yuki and Wintuan speakers.
The Miwok are members of four linguistically related Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok languages in the Utian family. The word Miwok means people in the Miwok languages.
The Guidiville Rancheria of California are a federally recognized Pomo tribe located in Mendocino County, California.
The Round Valley Indian Reservation is a federally recognized Indian reservation lying primarily in northern Mendocino County, California, United States. A small part of it extends northward into southern Trinity County. The total land area, including off-reservation trust land, is 93.939 km2. More than two-thirds of this area is off-reservation trust land, including about 405 acres (1.64 km2) in the community of Covelo. The total resident population as of the 2000 census was 300 persons, of whom 99 lived in Covelo.
The Hopland Band of Pomo Indians of the Hopland Rancheria is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo people in Mendocino County, California, south of Ukiah. The Hopland Band Pomos traditionally lived in the Sanel Valley.
The 70-acre (280,000 m2) Coyote Valley Reservation in Redwood Valley, California is home to about 170 members of the Coyote Valley tribe of the Native American Pomo people, who descend from the Shodakai Pomo. They are a federally recognized tribe, who were formerly known as the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians of California.
Indian termination is a phrase describing United States policies relating to Native Americans from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. It was shaped by a series of laws and practices with the intent of assimilating Native Americans into mainstream American society. Cultural assimilation of Native Americans was not new; the belief that indigenous people should abandon their traditional lives and become what the government considers "civilized" had been the basis of policy for centuries. What was new, however, was the sense of urgency that, with or without consent, tribes must be terminated and begin to live "as Americans." To that end, Congress set about ending the special relationship between tribes and the federal government.
The Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Miwok in Amador County, California. The Buena Vista Miwok are Sierra Miwok, an indigenous people of California.
The Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester Rancheria, formerly named the Manchester Band of Pomo Indians of the Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria, is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Indians in California. The tribe is a community of Pomo Native Americans who are native to Northern California. The Bokeya society are enrolled in the Manchester Band of Pomo with the approval of their constitution and by-laws in 1936.
The Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Indians in California. The tribe is currently considered "landless", as they do not have any land that is in Federal Trust. In 2008 they acquired approximately 80 acres (32 ha) of property on the southern end of Cloverdale, California. The property is currently going through the Fee to Trust process to become the tribe's landbase.
The Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Indians in California.
The Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Indians in Lake County, California. The tribe's reservation, the Upper Lake Rancheria, is 119 acres (0.48 km2) large and located near the town of Upper Lake in northwestern California.
The Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo Indians, as well as some Wappo and Lake Miwok Indians, in California, headquartered in Middletown, California.
The Pinoleville Pomo Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo people in Mendocino County, California. Leona Williams serves as Tribal Chairperson.
The Potter Valley Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of Pomo people in Mendocino County, California. They were previously known as the Little River Band of Pomo Indians and Potter Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California. The tribe is descended from the first-known inhabitants of the valley, which the Pomo called Ba-lo Kai. Europeans first settled there, at the headwaters of the East Fork of the Russian River, in 1852.
Tillie Hardwick was a Pomo Indian woman who was instrumental in reversing the California Indian Rancheria termination policy of the U.S. government.
The California Rancheria Termination Acts refer to three acts of Congress and an amendment passed in the 1950s and 1960s as part of the US Indian termination policy. The three Acts, passed in 1956, 1957, and 1958 targeted 41 Rancherias for termination. An additional seven were added via an amendment in 1964. Including three previous terminations, 46 of the 51 targeted Rancherias were successfully terminated. Through litigation and legislation, over 30 Rancherias have been restored and at least five are still working to be.
The InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council is a consortium of Northern California tribal nations focused on environmental and cultural preservation. The council, which includes members of 10 federally recognized tribes in Mendocino and Lake counties, has worked to protect lands of cultural importance along the North Coast within the traditional Sinkyone tribal territory since it was established in 1986. Nonprofit and governmental organizations have cooperated with the council in the restoration of property to descendants of its original inhabitants which is part of an effort to return Indigenous lands and autonomy to Indigenous communities. After the invasion of the traditional Sinkyone tribal territory by multitudes of Euro-American settlers in the mid-1850s, Sinkyone people eventually became enrolled members at several tribes located throughout the region. The council is made up of the Cahto Indian Tribe of the Laytonville Rancheria, Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Hopland Band of Pomo Indians, Pinoleville Pomo Nation, Potter Valley Tribe, Redwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians, Robinson Rancheria of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes, Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians and Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians.