In California, tribal members are reclaiming ‘flowing water land’

The vast territory known as the Owens Valley was home to Native Americans for centuries, who lived along its rivers and streams fed by snowmelt that cascaded down the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada.

Then came European settlers, and over time, tribal members lost access to almost all of that land. Eventually, water was lost, too: in the early 20th century, Los Angeles developers famously built a 226-mile-long aqueduct from Owens Lake to the city. It was this project, the story goes, that allowed Los Angeles to become the booming metropolis it is today.

Less well known is what happened to the Owens Valley and the people who lived there after most of the water was sent south. Owens Lake is now a collection of salt pools covered in pink crystals and wetlands filled with gravel mounds designed to trap dust. And today, the four recognized tribes in the area have less than 2,000 acres of reservation land, estimates Teri Red Owl, a Native American leader.

But things are changing, tribal members say. They have recently reclaimed corners of the valley, spurred on by the growing momentum across the country to return land to indigenous stewardship, also known as the Take Back the Land movement.

In recent years, Native American tribes have reclaimed hundreds of acres of ancestral land, often after decades of advocacy. Members of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation have repurchased 130 acres in Illinois, which will become a federally recognized reservation for the tribe. And about 850 acres of land along the Mattaponi River in Virginia was returned to Native custody and conservation.

In California, state and local leaders have acknowledged a dark history of brutality toward Native Americans, and tribes have reclaimed territory up and down the state.

Earlier this year, the state transferred ownership of the Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery, a European-style stone hall built in 1917 and landscaped grounds, to the Fort Independence Indian Community of the Paiute Indians, in the first return of its kind under a new state directive. .

And last year, the owners of a healing retreat called Three Creeks sold their five-acre property to a water conservation group representing three local tribes.

Along Highway 395, the desert road that runs along the base of the Sierra Nevada, the landscape is rocky and scrubby. But the approach to Three Creeks is like a portal to another world, opening into a lush green space and a pond that reflects the clear, blue sky. On the property itself, apple, cherry and apricot trees bloomed on a recent afternoon, while the sounds of running water and laughter floated through the air.

This is not what the ancestors of the tribe members would have seen. But Mrs. Red Owl, the executive director of the Owens Valley Indian Water Commission, the group that bought Three Creeks, said it’s no less important.

“To me, it’s sacred,” she said as she took a break in the fresh air of what’s known as the Heron Hut, a circular building on the property used for gatherings and ceremonies.

The former owners of Three Creeks created the place about 25 years ago for visitors from around the world to stay, tend the gardens, hike the nearby mountains and learn about the history of the area from the members. of the local tribe. In the process, they built relationships with the Native American community.

Gigi Coyle and her partners were told they could have sold the property for $1.5 million on the open market. Instead, they accepted the commission’s offer to buy it for $900,000 as a gesture to the people whose ancestors were there first. Donations to fund the commission’s purchase had come from people around the world who were touched by the community’s appeal.

Mrs Coyle, 74, said she hoped the return of the land would inspire others to challenge beliefs that land is simply property to pass down to heirs.

“Maybe think twice about that,” she said. “Recognize how important a relationship with country is and that these countries have destinies and so do these people.”

Members of the area’s Native American community, who make up a relatively large portion of the area’s overall population, have carried the legacy of brutal displacement and broken promises by the federal government. (According to census data, 13.8 percent of the approximately 19,000 residents of Inyo County, which includes the valley, identify only as American Indian, compared with 1.7 percent in California overall.)

At the Owens Valley Paiute-Shoshone Cultural Center, maps show where local tribes once lived near water sources. The name of their home, Payahuunadü, translates to “land of flowing water”.

Other exhibits trace how, in the 1850s, white miners and ranchers discovered that water and made deals with a United States government that steadily reduced their territory.

Today, the four recognized tribes in the area struggle to provide enough housing for members, many of whom have left as a result. On the Bishop Paiute Tribal Reservation, trailers are parked in the front yards of worn ranch houses and duplexes. Ahead are the jagged, high peaks of the mountains – this spring, covered in dazzling white.

While many land returns involve sites that have historical or ceremonial significance, tribal leaders in the Owens Valley say they also want to reclaim properties that community members can use for living and work that can sustain their lives.

“We take care of our roads, we take care of our water, we take care of housing — the state doesn’t do that for us,” said Carl Dahlberg, chairman of the Fort Independence tribe. whose reservation is about 40 miles south of the Bishop Paiute tribe.

The Fort Independence tribe, which is not part of the group that bought Three Creeks, took ownership of the Mount Whitney Fish Hatchery thanks to a recent rule change giving tribes the right of first refusal when the state distributes excess property.

Marilyn Bracken, 85, a longtime member of Friends of Mt. Whitney Fish Hatchery, who has helped preserve the site, remembers visiting there for field trips and birthday parties as a girl growing up on the Fort Independence reservation. She said it was meaningful that her community now controlled the site.

“It’s encouraging because this used to be our land here,” she said as she helped prepare for a tribal member’s wedding on the nursery grounds. “Do we feel like we’re the ones who have to give it back? No, it had to be my grandparents and great-grandparents. But it’s happening now.”

Environmental groups are working with indigenous leaders in hopes of keeping more water in the Owens Valley, and in particular, Owens Lake. Los Angeles’ demand for water, they say, has left the region’s ecosystems barely hanging on. They hope that after two rainy winters, Los Angeles water officials have more leeway to rethink how much water they really need and rely more on conservation and reclamation measures in Southern California.

“We have a moment here. There is water in the lake. People are ecstatic,” said Wendy Schneider, executive director of Friends of the Inyo, an environmental nonprofit.

Los Angeles water officials said they are committed to keeping water bills affordable for the millions of customers they serve in the city. And water from the Sierra Nevada and lower Owens Valley is the cheapest source in the utility’s water portfolio, which includes buying water from the overflowing Colorado River.

Officials also pointed out that in drier years, their first responsibility is to provide water to the tribes, which often leaves less for society.

“We’re trading impacts from one area to another,” said Jaime Valenzuela, who manages Owens Lake planning for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. “It’s a big balancing act.”

The Owens Valley Indian Water Commission, the group that owns Three Creeks, sees more potential for land reclamation in the area. Already, a couple who own a neighboring property bordered by a stream are working on a letter of intent to sell to the commission.

For now, tribal members and other community members are working to make Three Creeks a sanctuary for anyone interested in learning about the indigenous history of the Owens Valley. They are setting up campsites around the edge of the pond and cultivating native plants such as wild rose and stinging nettle.

Julia Morales, 33, a member of the Bishop Paiute tribe who lives in a cottage in Three Creeks with her daughter, was tending to a group of bushes in the garden on a recent afternoon. She also has a job at a restaurant in Bishop, but said she has always wanted to work outdoors and with the environment.

“I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be,” she said.