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- By Chez Oxendine
- Real Estate
The Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation has reclaimed nearly 900 acres of ancestral land bordering Yosemite National Park, marking the end of a 175-year separation from territory the tribe considers sacred.
The Pacific Forest Trust transferred the property in early December with support from a California state grant. The land includes Henness Ridge, which contains a traditional trail connecting the Central Valley to Yosemite and serves as a wildlife migration corridor.
Sandra Chapman, tribal council chair and elder, said the return will strengthen community ties.
“Having this significant piece of our ancestral Yosemite land back will bring our community together to celebrate tradition and provide a healing place for our children and grandchildren,” Chapman said in a statement. “It will be a sanctuary for our people.”
The tribe, which lacks federal recognition despite a bid dating to 1982, plans to use cultural burning, native plant cultivation and forest restoration to manage the land. The land transfer supports the tribe's ongoing recognition effort.
Tara Fouch-Moore, the tribe's secretary, said members would resume traditional practices on the land.
"We will be able to harvest and cultivate our traditional foods, fibers, and medicines and steward the land using traditional ecological knowledge," she said.
The Pacific Forest Trust spent two decades preparing the property for the transfer. Laurie Wayburn, the organization's cofounder and president, called the outcome "extraordinarily fitting."
The transfer was funded through California's Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Program
