The Elk Valley Rancheria, California (rancheria is a Spanish term meaning a small Indian reservation) is geographically located in Tolowa ancestral territory, close to Yurok lands, and our Tribal rosters include people of both Tolowa and Yurok descent.
The Rancheria was founded shortly after the Landless California Indians Act of 1906 as a piece of land reserved for “homeless” local Indians. In the mid-1950s, Elk Valley, along with approximately 40 other Rancherias throughout the state, was illegally terminated from federal recognition and its programs and protections after the Congressional passage of the California Rancheria Act. In the 1980s, Tillie Hardwick, a Pomo Indian from the Pinoleville Rancheria, filed a class action suit, which resulted in the restoration of federal recognition of 17 Rancherias, including Elk Valley. The Tribe formally reorganized in 1994 pursuant to a written Tribal Constitution approved by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior. As a Tribe, we are deeply interested in our past, preserving our culture, and restoring our lands.
