Appendix E: California Tribes and Tribal Communities
This appendix provides information submitted by California Tribes and Tribal Communities in the MLPA North Coast Study Region. California Tribes and Tribal Communities were invited to submit information to be included, verbatim, in a special appendix to the regional profile as supplemental to the information provided in sections 5.2 (Native American Tribes and Tribal People) and 7.1 (Federal, Tribal, State, and Local Jurisdiction and Programs) of this regional profile. The information included in this appendix has been included as it was submitted to the MLPA Initiative and has not been edited by MLPA Initiative staff. The pages that follow are exactly as they were submitted, except that page numbers have been added which continue the page numbering of this regional profile. Information in the appendix is organized alphabetically, as follows:
Page
187 Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria, submitted by Nick Angeloff, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria
197 Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, submitted by Jacque Hostler, CEO/Transportation Land Use Director, Trinidad Rancheria
223 Elk Valley Rancheria, submitted by Reweti Wiki, Chief Governmental Officer, Elk Valley Rancheria
225 InterTribal Sinkyone Profile, submitted by Hawk Rosales, Executive Director, InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council
269 Noyo River Indian Community, submitted by Valerie Stanley, Representative, Noyo River Indian Community
273 Potter Valley Tribe, submitted by Gregg Young, Environmental Manager, Potter Valley Tribe
275 Robinson Rancheria, submitted by Meyo Marrufo, Environmental Coordinator, Robinson Rancheria
277 Tolowa Dee-ni’ Tribe of the Smith River Rancheria, submitted by Russ Crabtree, Tribal Administrator, Smith River Rancheria
279 Tolowa Nation, submitted by Raja Storr, Tolowa Nation member
291 Wiyot Tribe, submitted by Stephen Kullmann, Environmental Director, Wiyot Tribe
293 Yurok Tribe, submitted by Megan Rocha, Acting Self-Governance Officer, Yurok Tribe
Please note: The content included in this appendix was not created by MLPA Initiative staff nor does it reflect the views or opinions of the California Department of Fish and Game, California Department of Parks and Recreation, or the MLPA Initiative.
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April 12, 2010
California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative C/O California Natural Resources Agency 1416 Ninth Street, Suite 1311 Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Bear River Regional Profile
The Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria regional profile includes sections on the history of the tribe as it relates to federal recognition, an overview of the historic coastal land use and an overview of contemporary life among the tribe. This profile is intended to bring a broad understanding to the reader and is not comprehensive in any manner. Identifying specific information with regard to the location of prehistoric (or contemporary) use areas is not appropriate in a document of this sort. There are tables of archaeological species documented as being utilized in the past; this list is neither complete nor comprehensive as archaeological data is jaded as a function of preservation, if faunal remains do not preserve then they are not captured in archaeological recovery projects.
The Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria is located on a rural parcel of Federal Trust land located two miles east of Loleta, CA. It overlooks the mouth of the Eel River and the Pacific Ocean; this land lies within the ancestral territory of the tribes served by the Bear River Rancheria. Tribal lands now amount to 191 acres, of which 62 are trust lands. The Tribe currently has 400 members.
The Rohnerville Rancheria was established in 1910 as a refuge for dispossessed Indian people. It drew in members from various tribes in the area. The Rancheria was terminated following the California Rancheria Act of 1958, and was reinstated after the Tillie Hardwick vs. United States case of 1983. The Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria is federally recognized as having members from the Bear River/Mattole tribes and the Wiyot tribes. Its members have direct ancestral links to each of the local tribes, and principally to the Wiyot, Bear River, Mattole, Lassik, Nongatl, Sinkyone and Whilkut. The members of Bear River are active in hunting and gathering, ceremony, traditional manufacturing and many other aspects of continued use of traditional resources.
187 Since the Rancheria’s inception a century ago, Bear River has established itself as one of the most progressive tribes in the area. It has a tribal government composed a tribal council and an elected chair and a constitution. It has established numerous other administrative offices: a Historic Preservation Office, an Environmental Department, and Administration on Aging Department, a Child Care
188 Department, a Library, and a Tribal Social Services Department. Five years ago, the Tribe opened a casino and in 2009 it opened a gas station. In short, the Tribe has demonstrated great resourcefulness in developing self funded and state and federal funded projects. Historic Coastal Land Use The Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria has been active participants, proponents of and has conducted archaeological research for over two decades. The tribe believes that archaeological research is an aspect of their history is a legitimate resource that should be fully understood in order to provide a holistic understanding of their past. A part of this research includes ethnographic research as a tool to document the words of their ancestors. Both of these tools, archaeology and ethnography have been utilized to the benefit of the tribe and some of the information gathered over the past two decades is presented here. Ethnographic works along coastal areas includes Llewellyn Loud’s Ethnogeography and Archaeology of the Wiyot, Gladys Ayers Nomland’s Bear River Ethnography and Pliny Earle Goddard’s compilation of field notes. The archaeological data gathered by Loud (1913) is included below as a synthesis of species represented in the archaeological record. However, Loud is very clear in his work that substantial coastal resource use was being practiced during his brief visit to Wiyot territory. There is clear evidence in Loud (1913) of coastal resource use at each of the sites listed below, all are associated with either the ocean or Humboldt Bay and all were major use areas in 1850 and most were in use in 1908 when Loud visited with the Wiyot people.