The Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake 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 ...

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 Lake County,

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 ...

.California Indians and Their Reservations.
''San Diego State University Library and Information Access.'' 2009 (retrieved 27 Feb 2009) The tribe's reservation, the Upper Lake Rancheria, is large and located near the town of Upper Lake in northwestern

History

The Habematolel Pomo are indigenous to California's Clear Lake Basin. Artifacts made by early Native Americans in the Clear Lake Basin have been carbon-dated to 8,000 years ago, although tribal occupation probably extends back further in time. By 6,000 years ago the entire lake was used by tribes evenly settled around the lake shore.Clear Lake's First People.
(pdf file) ''Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake.'' (retrieved 27 Feb 2009) By 1800, Pomo population in California was an estimated to be 10,000-18,000 people, belonging to 70 different Pomo tribes and speaking seven different

Pomo languages The Pomoan, or Pomo , languages are a small family of seven languages indigenous to northern California spoken by the Pomo people, whose ancestors lived in the valley of the Russian River and the Clear Lake basin. Four languages are extinct, ...

. The Habematolel Pomo, were some of the estimated 350 Northern Pomo. The Habematolel Pomo belong to the

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

and Eastern Pomo language groups, both of which are considered today to be extinct. Known for their extensive trade networks, the Habematolel Pomo traded

magnesite Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula ( magnesium carbonate). Iron, manganese, cobalt, and nickel may occur as admixtures, but only in small amounts. Occurrence Magnesite occurs as veins in and an alteration product of ultramafic ...

and

obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements such as silicon ...

with the

Coast Miwok Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Poi ...

s for a variety of shells. Pomo are known for their woven baskets and elaborate feather headdresses. The Bloody Island Massacre or ''Bonopoti'' occurred in 1850, on "Old Island", at the north end of Clear Lake. The 1st Dragoons US Cavalry slaughtered almost 200 Pomos, mostly women and children of the Clear Lake Pomo and neighboring tribes. In 1856, the Lake County Pomo were rounded up by the US military and forced to relocate onto the Nome Cult Indian Farm in Round Valley in northern

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza) is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,601. The county seat is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists whol ...

. This later became the Round Valley Indian Reservation. Faced with the onslaught on non-Indian settlers in their homelands, four Pomo groups, the Danoxa, Kaiyo-Matuku, Xowalek, and Yobotui, pooled their resources and purchased of land in 1878 at Xabematolel. This community was called Habematolel in Upper Lake. In 1907, the US federal government created the Upper Lake Rancheria for the tribe on adjacent land. The reservation grew to be . As part of its Termination and Relocation Policy in the interest of assimilating Natives into mainstream society, the US government passed the California Rancheria Act of 1953. This law enabled the US to terminate relationships with the Habematolel Pomo and break up the lands of the Upper Lake Rancheria into individual allotments. The tribe responded with a lawsuit, ''Upper Lake Pomo Association v. James Watt'', in 1975 saying that termination was an illegal policy. In 1980 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 ...

oversaw an election of a tribal council, who began drafting a new tribal constitution and bylaws. In 1983 the tribe won its federal court case and tribal recognition was restored in 1998, when a new council was elected. The current constitution was ratified in 2004.

Today

The tribe is

federally recognized 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 ...

and has 191 enrolled members. The Habematolel Pomo operate their own housing, environmental, and educational programs, including computer classes and GED preparation. The tribe has been able to purchase land on its traditional territory, near the historical tribe village of Maiyi. The Habematolel Pomo are governed by an elected, seven-member tribal council. As of early 2009, they are: *Sherry Treppa Bridges, Chairperson *Angelina Arroyo, Vice-Chairperson *Iris Picton, Secretary *Kimberly Cobarrubia, Treasurer *Ida Morrison, Member-at-Large *Aaron Holstine, Member-At-Large *Aimee Jackson, Member-at-Large. In 2014, the Habematolel Pomo were featured in an article published in Al Jazeera English language edition, as an example of a federally recognized sovereign tribe involved in the short-term loans industry. In 2017, the Tribe was sued by the Federal Consumer Protection Agency over loan practices.

References

External links

Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake
{{authority control Native American tribes in California Lake County, California Pomo tribe Federally recognized tribes in the United States

History

Today

See also

References

External links