California pledges to open 7% of its land and waters to Indigenous tribes - a step toward healing a 175-year-old broken promise

"That number represents roughly 7% of the state's land and waters. It also corresponds with the amount of land the federal government promised it would hold as reservations for Indigenous tribes after California joined the union in 1850. Congress ultimately rejected these treaties in a secret meeting - after pressure from the state - and failed to notify tribes, many of whom upheld their end of the agreement to relocate."

"The new policy, set by the California Natural Resources Agency, aims to start healing the harm caused by the state's actions to bar tribes from their homelands and criminalize their cultural and land management practices. These actions not only harmed Native communities, whose cultures and ways of life are intimately tied to the plants, animals and landscape of their homelands, but also caused well-documented harm to ecosystems through the loss of biodiversity, takeover of invasive species, degradation of water quality and increase in wildfire risk."

"It formalizes processes that allow tribes to acquire land, access important sites for events such as boat races for tribal youth and bring back previously outlawed practices such as careful intentional fires to manage land."

California announced a policy to place at least 7.5 million acres of land and coastal waters under tribal care, representing approximately 7% of the state. This acreage matches what the federal government promised as tribal reservations after California's 1850 statehood, though Congress secretly rejected these treaties under state pressure without notifying tribes. The policy formalizes processes enabling tribes to acquire land, access cultural sites, and restore practices like controlled burns for land management. It addresses historical harm from excluding tribes from homelands and criminalizing their cultural practices. Tribal stewardship is recognized as essential for ecosystem health, biodiversity, water quality, and wildfire prevention, while supporting indigenous ways of life connected to their ancestral landscapes.

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