The California Valley Miwok Tribe is a
federally recognized tribe
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
of
Miwok people
The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) 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 ' ...
in
San Joaquin County
San Joaquin County (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''San Joaquín'', meaning "Joachim, St. Joachim"), officially the County of San Joaquin, is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 20 ...
and
Calaveras County, California
Calaveras County (), officially the County of Calaveras, is a county in both the Gold Country and High Sierra regions of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,292. The county seat is San Andreas. Angels C ...
.
"Tribal Office Locations."
''California Department of Transportation: District 10.'' Retrieved May 29, 2012. They were previously known as the Sheep Ranch Rancheria or the Sheep Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indian of California. The California Valley Miwok are Sierra Miwok
The Plains and Sierra Miwok were once the largest group of California Indian Miwok people, indigenous to California. Their homeland included regions of the Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, and the Sierra Nevada.
Geography
The Plains and ...
, an indigenous people of California
The indigenous peoples of California (known as Native Californians) are the indigenous inhabitants who have lived or currently live in the geographic area within the current boundaries of California before and after the arrival of Europeans. ...
.
Government
The tribe conducts business from Stockton, California
Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...
. The current tribal administration is:
* Silvia Burley, Chairperson
* Anjelica Paulk, Vice-Chairperson
* Rashel Reznor, Secretary/Treasurer
According to the tribe's website, it is currently governed by a tribal/general council that meets monthly. Officers are elected for six-year terms, with the tribe electing a vice chairperson in 2015 and both a chairperson and a secretary/treasurer in 2017.
History
Membership of the tribe was very low throughout the 20th century. In 1916, the federal government purchased at Sheep Ranch
A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...
, California for the benefit of 12 named members of the tribe. They were described by the Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government.
Background
The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...
who arranged the purchase as "the remnant of once quite a large band of Indians in former years living in or near the old decaying mining town known and designated on the map as 'Sheepranch' ". In 1935, the only Indian recorded as living on the ranchería
The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the resident ...
was Jeff Davis. Davis was recorded as voting in favor of the Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...
on June 8, 1912.
By 1966, Mabel Hodge Dixie was identified as the only adult member of the tribe living on the ranchería
The Spanish word ranchería, or rancherío, refers to a small, rural settlement. In the Americas the term was applied to native villages or bunkhouses. Anglo-Americans adopted the term with both these meanings, usually to designate the resident ...
. The Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
developed a plan to distribute the tribe's assets to her that year under the 1958 California Rancheria Act, but never declared the tribe terminated or treated it as such. In 1994, Mabel's son Yakima Dixie identified himself as "the only descendant and ... recognized member of the Tribe."
Legal and membership disputes since 1999
From the late-1990s there was a long-running dispute over the government, membership and status of the California Valley Miwok Tribe. On August 5, 1998, Yakima Dixie accepted Silvia Burley as a member of the tribe, along with her two daughters and granddaughter. Burley provided information tracing her ancestry to Jeff Davis, who had been listed as the only member of the tribe in a 1913 census; she had contacted Dixie at the suggestion of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...
. At the time of Burley's admission in 1998, the tribe was not "organized" as defined by the Indian Reorganization Act, and the BIA recommended that, given its small size, the tribe should form a general council, a simpler structure than formal organization.
A general council of all adult citizens was formed on November 5, 1998, and by late 1999 a dispute had arisen between Burley and Dixie. Between 1999 and 2010, each party appealed to the BIA to support its view and to intervene on the grounds that the other had not involved the "whole tribal community" of both enrolled citizens and potentially enrolled citizens. For much of this period, the BIA took the view that it had a duty to intervene in the tribe's affairs on behalf of potentially enrolled citizens of the tribe. In this respect, the BIA became the adjudicator between the claims of the competing parties, determining which decisions were valid and which members constituted the tribe's government. In a December 22, 2010 decision, the BIA completely reversed its opinion, deciding that it had no obligation to represent the interests of potentially enrolled tribe members, and that therefore the BIA was free to wash its hands of involvement. the BIA advised the parties that, "continuing this imprudent dispute risks potential adverse consequences well beyond the Tribe and its descendants". The BIA noted that "it is ''equitably'' appropriate for the CVMT to reach out to potential citizens..." but that it is not a duty of the federal government to impose this requirement on the tribe. This decision was reaffirmed by Larry Echo Hawk, assistant secretary of Indian Affairs, in a detailed letter to the parties on August 31, 2011.
The California Gambling Control Commission
California Gambling Control Commission (CGCC) is the official gambling commission of the state of California.
The Commission was proposed in the mid 1990s under the bills AB 2803 and AB 362 to "create a state agency to license card clubs and cas ...
made distributions to the tribe worth $1.1 million per year from the Indian Gaming Revenue Sharing Trust Fund from July 2000 through August 2005. Following the BIA's intervention in the tribe's affairs, the CGCC decided to cease distributions to the California Valley Miwok Tribe and instead to hold them in trust. In a 2007 letter, the commission told the tribe it would release the funds after the BIA recognized the governing body and the tribe resolved its leadership dispute. However, the funds were not released following the 2011 BIA decision to recognize Burley as the tribe's chair, prompting Burley to sue the commission in state and federal courts. A non-member of the tribe, Chadd Everone, who describes himself as a "deputy and consul general" for Yakima Dixie, has countersued to prevent distribution of the funds to Burley's group, contending that Dixie never resigned as chair of the tribe. Court filings by Burley's group claim that Everone is manipulating Dixie and wants to use the gaming distributions "as security" to attract outside investors for a project to build a tribal casino. They allege that Everone intends to bring the tribe under his own control with Dixie as a "puppet" chair of the tribe.
See also
*Miwok people
The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) 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 ' ...
*Sierra Miwok
The Plains and Sierra Miwok were once the largest group of California Indian Miwok people, indigenous to California. Their homeland included regions of the Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley, and the Sierra Nevada.
Geography
The Plains and ...
References
Sources
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External links
Each side in the ongoing dispute over governance has its own web presence. The tribal government run by Burley maintains its presence o
LinkedIn
an
Facebook
with an archive of its former official -nsn.gov site still viewable on th
Internet Archive
The current official site is located a
californiavalleymiwok.us
and an additional informative site a
californiavalleymiwoktribe.us
The opposing side (Everone) has a web presence a
CaliforniaValleyMiwok.com
Both sites contain both tribal announcements and news releases supporting the legal position of the relevant faction.
{{DEFAULTSORT:California Valley Miwok Tribe
Miwok
Native American tribes in California
Federally recognized tribes in the United States