Environment

Nevada City Rancheria objects to leasing of land to another tribe






A view of Sycamore Ranch Park in California. Photo from Tsi Akim Maidu Tribe

The Nevada City Rancheria of California says another tribe is encroaching on its ancestral territory.

The Yuba County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday to lease 2.5 acres to the Tsi Akim Maidu Tribe. Plans haven't been announced but could include a cultural or interpretive center at the site, which is part of the 90-acre Sycamore Ranch Park.

The Nevada City Rancheria, however, claims the land is part of Nisenan, not Maidu, territory.

"We do not believe the Tsi Akim should be given the right to build an indigenous center on our tribal land," Secretary Shelly Covert told the board, The Marysville/Yuba City Appeal-Democrat reported. "The land is not being returned to them. This is improper because the land was never in their tribal area."

The Tsi Akim Maidu Tribe has held an Indigenous Peoples Day ceremony at the park since 2010. The Nevada City Rancheria hasn't been involved in the event but the county formed a committee to discuss the tribe's involvement in future plans.

The Nevada City Rancheria says it was illegally terminated by an act of Congress and is trying to get its federal status restored.

Get the Story:
Tribes at odds about 2 1⁄2 acres in Yuba County (The Marysville/Yuba City Appeal-Democrat 1/29)

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