California Tribes receive beach and ancestral village site back from transportation authority
On the Northern California coast, where the tall trees meet the sea, ancestors of the Coast Yuki people lie buried in an old village site above the bluffs in the U.S. state. Yet despite its cultural significance, the land has been owned by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) until very recently. A deed recorded […]
On the rugged coast of Northern California, where dense forests meet the azure sea, lies a sacred burial ground for the Coast Yuki people. For centuries, this ancestral village site perched atop bluffs has been owned by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). However, on July 6, the tide finally turned as a deed transfer granted 55 hectares (136 acres) of this culturally significant coastline to Kai Poma, a nonprofit organization representing the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians, Round Valley Indian Tribes, and the Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians.
This marks the first instance in history where land once held by Caltrans has been returned to Indigenous ownership, according to Kai Poma, the organization's founder and a historic preservation officer for the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians. Eddie Knight, the chairman of Kai Poma and a descendant of the Coastal Yuki, expressed deep emotional satisfaction, stating, "We always felt this was ours.
It may have been privately owned by someone else, but we still knew it was ours." The site, known locally as Blues Beach, holds great historical importance as it is recognized by the Coast Yuki and Pomo tribes as K’etim. According to tribe traditions, K’etim is the spot where Seaweed Woman, a figure from their lore, encountered and fell in love with Coyote, thus shaping the formation of the coastline and the natural world surrounding it.
Written by urgent.news from Mongabay's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
