The Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of

Pomo The Pomo are an Indigenous 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 ...

Indians in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The tribe is currently considered "landless", as they do not have any land that is in Federal Trust. In 2008 they acquired approximately of property on the southern end of

Cloverdale, California Cloverdale is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States; it is both the westernmost and the northernmost city in the San Francisco Bay Area. The San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad reached Cloverdale in 1872. The Cloverdale Ranch ...

. The property is currently going through the Fee to Trust process to become the tribe's landbase.

History

The Cloverdale Rancheria is a community of

Indians, who are indigenous to the region that is now called

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa. It is to the north of Marin County and the south of Mendocino ...

in northern California. They traditionally spoke the

Southern Pomo language Southern Pomo is one of seven mutually unintelligible Pomoan languages which were formerly spoken and is currently spoken by the Pomo people in Northern California along the Russian River and Clear Lake. The Pomo languages have been grouped to ...

. Basketry was integral to Pomo culture, and both men and women wove baskets.Rowe, Peggy
Early History of Cloverdale.
''Cloverdale Historical Society.'' Jan 2002 (retrieved 26 Feb 2009) Annie Burke, the mother of one of the most celebrated Pomo basket weavers,

Elsie Allen Elsie Comanche Allen (September 22, 1899 – December 31, 1990) was a Native American Pomo basket weaver from the Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians of California in Northern California, significant as for historically categorizing and teachi ...

, was a Cloverdale Pomo and Elsie spent part of her childhood living on the Cloverdale Rancheria.Elsie Allen Biography.
''Encyclopedia of World Biography.'' 2008 (retrieved 26 Feb 2009) Russian fur traders were the first non-Indians to settle in Pomo land in the late 18th century. They established

Fort Ross Fort Ross ( Russian: Форт-Росс, Kashaya ''mé·ṭiʔni''), originally Fortress Ross ( pre-reformed Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, tr. ''Krepostʹ Ross''), is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America i ...

in 1812 and hunted sea otter. The gold rush of the mid-19th century brought an onslaught of European-Americans to the region, who disrupted tribal life and destroyed tribal lands.History.
''Cloverdale Rancheria of Pomo Indians.'' 2008 (retrieved 26 Feb 2009) In the early 20th century, the US government created a system of rancherias, or small reservations, for displaced Californian Indians. In 1921 the US recognized the Cloverdale Rancheria and deeded to the tribe; however, in 1953 the California Rancheria Act divided the reservation lands into individual allotments. The act also terminated relations between the US federal government and the Cloverdale Rancheria, as well as 43 other Californian tribes. Tillie Hardwick (1924–1999), a Pomo woman, sued the United States in the 1979 over the California Rancheria Act and termination policy. In 1983 she won the lawsuit, paving the way for 17 California tribes to regain federal recognition, including the Cloverdale Rancheria. In 1994, tribal landowners were forced by

California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacr ...

to sell their land for a U.S. Route 101 bypass. The freeway ran directly through the middle of the reservation, rendering much of it uninhabitable.

Today

Despite challenges, the Cloverdale Rancheria remain committed to preserving and sustaining their traditional culture. In 2006 a traditional dance group formed to teach Pomo dances and to the youth. The current, elected tribal leaders are: * Patricia Hermosillo, Chairperson * Silver Galleto, Vice Chairman * Maria Elliott, Tribal Secretary * Vickey Macias, Tribal Treasurer * Sandra Roope, Tribal Representative.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cloverdale Rancheria Of Pomo Indians Of California Native American tribes in Sonoma County Pomo Federally recognized tribes in the United States