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900 Acres of Yosemite Land Returned to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation
Now, 56 years after the last members of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation were expelled from the area to make way for Yosemite National Park, some of their ancestral land is being returned. 897 acres (1.4 square miles) of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation’s ancestral land in Yosemite have been returned. This was made possible through a grant from the California Natural Resources Agency Tribal Nature Based Solutions Program and help from the Pacific Forest Trust. The trust has controlled the land for the last two decades to conserve it and prevent vacation homes from being developed there.
“Having this significant piece of our ancestral Yosemite land back will bring our community together to celebrate tradition and provide a healing place for our children and grandchildren. It will be a sanctuary for our people,” – Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation’s Tribal Council Chair and elder Sandra Chapman
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The nearly 900-acre plot of land that borders Yosemite National Park is located just west of the Chinquapin/Badger Pass and State Highway 41, overlooking both branches of the Wild and Scenic Merced River to the south and north, the Central Valley to the west, and the main Yosemite Valley to the north. The Southern Sierra Miwuk people plan to restore biodiversity and climate resilience of the land through traditional ecological practices such as cultural fires, cultivation of native plants, forest restoration, and protection of the water quality of the tributaries of the Wild and Scenic Fork Merced River.
And for those who are concerned that 1.4 square miles is a large chunk of the national park, its is only a small portion of a single percentage of the park’s 1169 square miles. Additionally, with there being no named trails that go through the tribal land, there should be no risk of hikers accidentally finding themselves on tribal land, unless they are already breaking park rules by going off-trail.
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