California tribe reclaims stolen land
When the Wilton Rancheria tribe restored its control over a 77-acre parcel outside Sacramento recently, tribal Chairman Jesus Tarango Jr. couldn’t stop smiling. … For years, Tarango’s elders had fought to remain on their ancestral territory in the Sacramento Valley, only to have the U.S. government repeatedly renege on promises: Officials sold their land to private buyers and even canceled their status as a federally recognized tribe. … “Home” means something different if you happen to be a descendant of the Miwok and Nisenan tribes that lived on and watched over this part of Northern California only to watch it fall into the hands of outsiders, Tarango said. He describes his tribe as “a river people.” They view the Cosumnes River and the many creeks that rush over boulders and wind past wooded banks in their homeland as sacred givers of life and sources of power. Those waters flow through them too.