HISTORY OF US: Nisenan Tribe of the Nevada City Rancheria

by Richard B. Johnson

Author Richard Johnson says: "History of Us" is about our people, our family members and those of us who still live here in Nevada County Indian Territory, and not just about the Gold Rush of 1849. Nevada County, with its many streams and rivers, grassy meadows and its abundant oak trees and wild life, has been the home of the Nisenan Indian Tribe for many thousands of years. Thanks to our surviving ancestors this tribe is still here today."

Genres: History

325 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Alex Moses · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for anyone who grew up or lives in Nevada County!

[Tibby]

It was embarrassingly recently that I discovered the California Indians I was taught about for maybe a day in elementary school were grossly misrepresented down to the very name we used for them. I live on stolen NISENAN land (not Maidu, and yes, stolen).

This book is a bit dense, but also incredibly informative and interesting. Just be prepared for a reading experience you might really need to focus on. It should also be required reading for any Sacramento/foothills area high school students and for any teachers in the area that teach any level of children.

Johnson splits the book into two sections. The first gathers cultural information about the Nisenan, the indigenous people who were native to the Sacramento area and up into the Sierra foothills east of Sacramento. This is both fascinating and heartbreaking to know that most of this information was very nearly lost and was lost for some bands of Nisenan. He covers structures, foodways, clothing, crafts, and some spirituality and rituals.

The second section covers the Gold Rush Era and the genocide of the Nisenan people, and applies more broadly to all California natives. A lot of it is shocking and gruesome. Johnson relies on accounts from Nisenan history and local, contemporary newspaper articles, letters, and official documents. It isn't the most through historical account, which is fine, but it's incredible for its specificity to the Nevada City band of Nisenan.

The second half of the second section of the book details the Nevada City Rancheria's founding, termination, and legal battle to be reinstated as a federally recognized tribal nation. (Rancherias were what reservations were called in California.) This is where the book gets especially dense, but also especially important. Johnson is the tribal chairman for the Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan and the tribe's nonprofit organization is heavily involved with the effort to be federally recognized. It's both hyper specific to the region, but also a microcosm of how California natives were treated by the federal government from the Nixon era on. You glean the story of what happened through legal documents and a small bit of commentary from Johnson and a tribal lawyer. I wish it had been a little more narrative, but I think it's also incredibly powerful and important to see the legal documents (they are decipherable for a layperson with a cup of coffee and a couple google searches for some legal terms). The basics of the story are that the federal government late in the 19th century decided they would give some land back to the people they had stolen it from (there were 18 un-ratified treaties from California that included many of the indigenous groups). This entitled the various groups to funding, services, and supplies from the federal government as well as some types of tax exemption and meant that the groups were recognized as sovereign nations (this it the case for all federally recognized tribes). However, in the 1950s and 60s a series of legislation was passed terminating federal recognition of nearly 20 groups of California native peoples. Some of these groups were able to petition to have their status reinstated and were successful. The Nevada City Rancheria was included in a class action lawsuit, but through a clerical error or some unknown mistake was left out of the final ruling in that lawsuit. Once this was discovered they began the process of trying to become federally recognized yet again. They have not, to this point, been successful, but the documents make both the legal and moral case for why they should be.

So little is taught about the current history of California Indigenous people. As with most natives they are only presented as existing in the past with the ugly parts of how they are no longer here ignored or glossed over. I think it would be surprise to most school children to realize that there are still Nisenan living in the Sacramento area, with some living on the land where their ancestors lived. I think Johnson's book does a good job of presenting both the historical facts of who the Nisenan were and also the present struggles of the people to be seen and recognized. That makes this book so necessary for understanding the history of the Sacramento area.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is so generous of Tribal Chairman Richard B. Johnson and the rest of the Nisenan Tribe of the Nevada City Rancheria to share so much of their history and culture with the public. The Nisenan are indigenous people who have lived in California's central valley and northern Sierra Nevada foothills for thousands of years. The first half of the book presents an incredibly thorough account of Nisenan history, culture, society, beliefs, practices, and more. The second half of the book describes the tribe's encounters with white settlers who arrived at the beginning of the Gold Rush in 1848, the establishment and illegal termination of the Nevada City Rancheria, and the tribe's ongoing legal battle for federal recognition. The Nisenan were/are horribly mistreated by both settlers and the federal government-- they were subject to land theft, genocide, kidnapping, slavery, and more. Due to the federal government's theft of their rancheria, the Nisenan are today a landless tribe. They are currently raising money to purchase an important cultural site, Yulića, on their ancestral homelands-- if you feel inspired to contribute to this cause, you can find their GoFundMe by searching "Homeland Return for Nevada City Rancheria Nisenan."

I picked this book up looking for clues on the historical ecology of the northern Sierra Nevada foothills and found lots of fascinating tidbits about plants, animals, burning practices, and more. This book presents a smattering of evidence that the Nisenan carefully tended their land and, as a result, influenced many ecosystem processes. Many of the ecological problems in the northern Sierra (densely crowded forests, huge high-severity wildfires, and susceptibility to drought, storm, insect, and pathogen damage) are consequences of the physical and cultural genocide of the Nisenan people. I believe that their land cries for justice.

[Lisa Redfern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remarkable Labor of Love and Cultural Sharing

Tribal Chairman Richard B. Johnson describes the indigenous lifestyle (before white men came to California) in a way that makes the heart long to experience it, feel the close family ties, and understand the intimate connections with the land.

Nisenan villages had communication and trading systems, and convention-style gatherings where art and culture were exchanged.

Included in the book are photos of tools that were crafted for hunting, fishing, and food storage as well as ceremonial regalia. Herbalists and native plant enthusiasts will appreciate the flora resources chapter.

Although every aspect of Nisenan life, past and present, is captivating, my favorite section is belief and tradition stories. Coyote trickery, the creation story, and the Huitals, one-legged people who live in caves, had my imagination working overtime.

As one would expect, reading about the brutality that the Nisenan People experienced during the Gold Rush is upsetting. It should be. Johnson’s detailed research and chronology of horrific news articles is commendable.

The latter part of the book details termination of the Rancheria's tribal designation. It lays out evidence the tribe is using to re-establish its federal recognition. This technical section was not as easy to follow as the first 75% of the book.

History of Us is a valuable gift for upcoming Nisenan generations, and a powerful tool that, I hope, provides the right information to the right people who can assist the tribe in reaching their goals.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I regret to say I was completely unaware of the Nisenan prior to moving to Nevada County. Even up here, they are only acknowledged in certain circles. This book has compiled a wealth of documentation. Part one focuses mainly on the cultural background and history of the tribe before the Gold Rush. Part two details the injustice and brutality they experienced at the hands of the miners and other white Americans. The second half of Part 2 outlines at length the legal battle between the Nisenan and the government for Tribal recognition. This is highly important documentation, but I got somewhat bogged down by the legal terminology. All in all, though, an important read, both for locals and others concerned with indigenous rights.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hugely important documentation of the history and lives of the Nisenan people, on whose ancestral lands I currently live. It is so beautiful and fascinating to learn how the Nisenan tribe lived in these areas before the Gold Rush led to clashes with white miners. It was infuriating and heartbreaking to read about how they were essentially exterminated and treated by the state of California and the way that the government lied to them, ignored them, and then gaslit them. I highly recommend this book, especially if you live in the Sacramento area.