The Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California 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 Unite ...

of Maidu people in Plumas and Tehama Counties, California."Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians."
''SDSU: California Indians and Their Reservations.'' 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2012.

Reservation

The Greenville Rancheria is a federally recognized ranchería with an area of . It is located in

Plumas County Plumas County () is a county in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,790. The county seat is Quincy, and the only incorporated city is Portola. The largest community in the county is ...

, just east of Greenville.

History

The Greenville Rancheria was initially donated as a "safe-zone" for Indian people from Euro-American settlers in the late 1800s. This land contained a boarding school for Maidu and other Californian tribes from 1890 until 1920 when it was burned down. This land eventually adopted rancheria status and was held in trust by the federal government for the Maidu tribe. In 1958 the tribe lost federal recognition and the land lost rancheria status due to the

California Rancheria Act 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 terminati ...

. Due to the removal act, many individuals lost their land and the Maidu Indian community of Greenville Rancheria was almost completely destroyed. In the late 1970s, Greenville Rancheria and 16 other Indian tribes sued the federal government for illegally terminating the tribes and removing their land from trust status. The tribes' perseverance paid off when in 1983 the Tillie-Hardwick ruling was established. Because of this act, the tribes regained federal recognition and the original boundaries of Greenville Rancheria were restored. These boundaries were also labeled as "Indian Country". More than half of the tribe moved to the City of Red Bluff in Tehama county so no lands are held in trust for the tribe. Because the tribe is spread out in two counties they struggled to establish a government after regaining federal recognition. In 1988 the tribe formally elected its first Tribal Council since regaining federal recognition. The tribe operates medical clinics providing healthcare to tribal members and low-income residents around the area.

Government

Greenville Rancheria is headquartered in

Greenville, California Greenville is a unincorporated community in Plumas County, California, United States, on the north-west side of Indian Valley. Most of the buildings were destroyed by the Dixie Fire in August 2021. The population was 1,129 at the 2010 census, d ...

. The tribe is governed by a democratically elected, five-person tribal council. The current tribal administration is as follows. * Chairperson: Kyle Self * Vice chairwoman: Crystal Rios * Secretary/Treasurer: Rachel Radcliff * Tribal representative: Guadalupe Luna * Tribal representative: Debra Self The Tribal Council meets every other Wednesday in Red Bluff. In order to conduct elections the tribe has adopted an election ordinance that is consistent with the constitution.

Cultural preservation

The Greenville Rancheria Cultural Department serves to protect

sacred site Sacred space, sacred ground, sacred place, sacred temple, holy ground, or holy place refers to a location which is deemed to be sacred or hallowed. The sacredness of a natural feature may accrue through tradition or be granted through a bless ...

s, tribal cultures, languages, customs, and beliefs. They conduct

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

surveys with the Environmental Protection Agency Program to review

culturally sensitive Cultural sensitivity, also referred to as cross-cultural sensitivity or cultural awareness, is the knowledge, awareness, and acceptance of other cultures and others' cultural identities. It is related to cultural competence (the skills needed fo ...

areas on development to the land. The department is also starting a native plant garden to provide food and medicine to Tribal members. There is a long history of inappropriate treatment of Native American human remains and cultural objects. In order to protect from continued negligence the

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Pub. L. 101-601, 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq., 104 Stat. 3048, is a United States federal law enacted on November 16, 1990. The Act requires federal agencies and institutions tha ...

(NAGPRA) was created. The Sierra Nevada NAGPRA Coalition (SNNC) recognizes that is solely the tribe's decision what do with human remains and cultural objects. In 2006 Greenville Rancheria was awarded a grant to facilitate training in the fundamentals of NAGPRA and organize a regional strategy in handling ancestral remains.

Environmental protection

Greenville Rancheria has a Tribal Environmental Protection Agency which aims to protect all natural resources while allowing the environment to rebuild itself without man made hazards. The environmental staff is also a part of the "Region 9 EPA Air Work Group" which works to maintain correct air quality in Greenville Rancheria. They work with the Plumas County Public Health Department to make sure that air quality is within acceptable ranges during projects that involve construction and ground disturbance. Water quality tests are regularly made to maintain proper drinking water quality. The environmental staff attends trainings to stay updated on procedures for keeping the region's drinking water, surface water, and ground water safe. In order to assure that Native American cultural and spiritual sites are protected, timber harvesting plans are reviewed by the environmental staff. Plans are also reviewed to make sure they won't affect water quality. Map plotting and GIS data keeping is essential for the environmental staff to know where cultural sites, sensitive habitat areas and watercourses are located when reviewing project plans. The tribe has been working for years on securing land for housing and membership. The current status of the land the tribe holds is 1 acre in Redding, 10 acres in Greenville, 15.5 acres in Red Bluff under fee status and 1.5 acres in Greenville under fee status for the medical and dental facilities.

Notes

References

* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.

External links

Greenville Rancheria
official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenville Rancheria of Maidu Indians Native American tribes in California Federally recognized tribes in the United States Maidu Plumas County, California Tehama County, California