Native American Group-California Valley Miwok Tribe

Native American Group-California Valley Miwok Tribe

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December 5, 2016

Erica Lloyd

Native American Group-California Valley Miwok Tribe

The California Valley Miwok Tribe is a tribe located in the San Joaquin and Calaveras Counties. The Miwok is a California indigenous people and are a Sierra based tribe. They have land in Stanton, California. The Miwok tribe was located on the Central California coast near San Francisco and also near the Sierra Nevada. Miwoks lived in small villages and worked together. The central coast is filled with Miwok villages. The Miwok tribe was highly distinctive due to the tattoos and paint they used to adorn their bodies.

Leadership role within the tribe

        Women held powerful positions in some Miwok tribes. Among other things, they were in charge of planning for various festivals the Miwoks had.  There are five different Miwok Rancherias, each with its own tribal leadership. Not all Miwok people today live on these Rancherias, however. Some live in intertribal communities with members of other tribes, such as the Round Valley Reservation. Others live in Northern California towns. Each Miwok Rancheria is governed by a tribal council elected by its residents (2016). There is no centralized government controlling the different Miwok bands, and there never has been. 

Removed from their lands

In 1579, Sir Francis Drake claims California for England and encounters the coastal Miwok people. Chaplain Fletcher with the Sir Francis Drake expedition wrote: “They are of a free and loving nature, without guile or treachery.” During the 1800's, the Spanish began raiding Miwok villages for converts forcing them to work as slaves in Spanish missions (Miwok Tribe, n.d). In 1812, the Franciscan Mission San Jose is established and large numbers of Miwok are forcibly moved to the mission between (1812 - 1833). In 1821, Mexico wins its independence from Spain and takes control of California. Large numbers of Miwok people are indentured to Mexicans. In 1833, Cholera and Malaria epidemics kill many Miwok people. In 1836, Mexican Salvador Vallejo was made commandant general of California (Miwok Tribe, n.d). Smallpox epidemic (1838-1839) ravages the tribe. In 1838, the Alta California missions were closed as religious and farming communes - some Miwok return to their homelands.  In 1856, the Miwok people were rounded up and forced onto the Mendocino and the Round Valley reservations. The Miwok reservations were established at Jackson Rancheria in 1893, Tuolomne Rancheria in 1910, Sheep Ranch Rancheria in 1916 and Middletown Rancheria in 1990 (Miwok Tribe, n.d).