Round Valley Indian Tribes of the Round Valley Reservation
Encyclopedia
The Round Valley Indian Reservation is a federally recognized Indian reservation
lying primarily in northern Mendocino County, California
, USA. A small part of it extends northward into southern Trinity County
. The total land area, including off-reservation trust land, is 93.939 km² (36.270 sq mi). More than two-thirds of this area is off-reservation trust land, including about 405 acres (1.6 km²) in the community of Covelo
. The total resident population as of the 2000 census
was 300 persons, of whom 99 lived in Covelo.
, who were the original inhabitants of Round Valley, Concow
, Little Lake and other Pomo
, Nomlaki
, Cahto, Wailaki, and Pit River
peoples. They were forced onto the land formerly occupied by the Yuki tribe.
The Round Valley Indian Reservation began in 1856 as the Nome Cult Farm, an administrative extension of the Nome Lackee Reservation located on the Northwestern edge of the Sacramento Valley, one of the five reservations in California legislated by the United States Government in 1852. The system of Indian reservations had a dual purpose: to protect Indians by segregating them from the settlers converging on California in greater and greater numbers; and to free Indian land for the settlers' use.
When the reservation was established, the Yuki people (as they came to be called) of Round Valley were forced into a difficult and unusual situation. Their traditional homeland was not completely taken over by settlers as in other parts of California. Instead, a small part of it was reserved especially for their use as well as the use of other Indians, many of whom were enemies of the Yuki. The Yuki had to share their home with strangers who spoke other languages, lived with other beliefs, and who used the land and its products differently.
Indians came to Round Valley as they did to other reservations - by force. The word "drive", widely used at the time, is descriptive of the practice of "rounding up" Indians and "driving" them like cattle to the reservation where they were "corralled" by high picket fences. Such drives took place in all weather and seasons, and the elderly and sick often did not survive.
From years of intermarriage, a common lifestyle, and a shared land base, a unified community emerged. The descendants of Yuki, Concow Maidu, Little Lake and other Pomo, Nomlaki, Cahto, Wailaki, Pit River peoples formed a new tribe on the reservation, the Covelo Indian Community, later to be called the Round Valley Indian Tribes. Their heritage is a rich combination of different cultures with a common reservation experience and history.
, requested official designation of the valley as Nome Cult farm, and the granting of his request in 1858, Round Valley slowly filled with farms and ranches despite its reservation status. Relations between the various Indian groups, settlers and White employees of the reservation reached a state of extreme hostility. Bloodshed became a frequent occurrence as settlers massacred Indians. Superintendent Henley requested that the United States Army be sent to the valley to mediate.
Late in 1858, a company of the U. S. Army departed Benicia for Mendocino County. Due to inclement weather, the march was forced to halt at Fort Weller in Redwood Valley, but Lieutenant Edward Dillon was sent ahead with a party of seventeen men to occupy the barracks in Round Valley. Fort Wright
was then established in December 1862, on the western edge of the Valley.
Originally the soldiers were to protect the Indians from White attacks but soon were deployed to capture Indians throughout the area and bring them to confinement on the Reservation.
formally established the Round Valley Indian Reservation by Executive Order on March 30, 1870, pursuant to the Four Reservations Act of 1864. Life on the Round Valley Reservation has since been affected by much government legislation. Two of the most significant impacts were from the Dawes Act
of 1887, also known as the Allotment Act, and the Indian Reorganization Act
of 1934, known as the IRA.
The Allotment Act caused the Reservation to be subdivided in 1894 into five and 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) plots which were distributed to families. By assigning specific pieces of land to individuals, the Act opened the door to private land ownership for Indians. Although the land was allotted, it was still held in trust by the government. However, in 1920, allotees were allowed to "fee patent" their land: to receive a deed to it by giving up its trust status and accompanying benefits, such as freedom from taxation. Some Round Valley People lost their land as a result. Either they were unable to pay the new taxes on it or they sold it to whites or other Indians for the cash. Others prospered by establishing farming and stock-raising operations. They leased extra land and raised garden vegetables, hay, hogs, and cattle.
In 1934, the United States Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act
. In the interests of promoting self-government, only those Indian organizations consisting of elected councils, rather than those based on cultural traditions, were recognized as tribes by the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Indians of Round Valley jointly elected a tribal council and wrote a constitution both of which still function. Along with this alteration in tribal management, a whole range of new regulations intended to halt the loss of land from the Indian Community was also instituted. The IRA repealed the Allotment Act and Indians on the Reservation were deprived of the legal ability to buy and sell land, hold deeds and to take out loans. The land was put back into trust status and trust land could not be used as security.
When first recognized, the tribe and reservation were both known as the Covelo Indian Community.
Indian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
lying primarily in northern Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County, California
Mendocino County is a county located on the north coast of the U.S. state of California, north of the greater San Francisco Bay Area and west of the Central Valley. As of the 2010 census, the population was 87,841, up from 86,265 at the 2000 census...
, USA. A small part of it extends northward into southern Trinity County
Trinity County, California
Trinity County is a large, rugged and mountainous, heavily forested county located in the northwestern portion of the U.S. state of California, along the Trinity River and within the Salmon/Klamath Mountains. It covers an area of over two million acres , and as of the 2010 census its population...
. The total land area, including off-reservation trust land, is 93.939 km² (36.270 sq mi). More than two-thirds of this area is off-reservation trust land, including about 405 acres (1.6 km²) in the community of Covelo
Covelo, California
Covelo is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. Covelo is located east-northeast of Laytonville, at an elevation of 1398 feet...
. The total resident population as of the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
was 300 persons, of whom 99 lived in Covelo.
History of the Round Valley Indians
The Round Valley Indians consists of the Covelo Indian Community. This community is an acculmination of small tribes; the YukiYuki tribe
The Yuki are a Native American people from the zone of Round Valley, in what today is part of the territory of Mendocino County, Northern California. Yuki tribes are thought to have settled as far south as Hood Mountain in present-day Sonoma County...
, who were the original inhabitants of Round Valley, Concow
Maidu
The Maidu are a group of Native Americans who live in Northern California. They reside in the central Sierra Nevada, in the drainage area of the Feather and American Rivers...
, Little Lake and other Pomo
Pomo people
The Pomo people are an indigenous peoples of California. The historic Pomo territory in northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point...
, Nomlaki
Nomlaki
The Nomlaki are a Wintun people native to the area of the Sacramento Valley, extending westward to the Coast Range in Northern California. Currently one person speaks Nomlaki...
, Cahto, Wailaki, and Pit River
Achomawi
The Achomawi are one of eleven bands of the Pit River tribe of Native Americans who lived in northeastern California, USA....
peoples. They were forced onto the land formerly occupied by the Yuki tribe.
The Round Valley Indian Reservation began in 1856 as the Nome Cult Farm, an administrative extension of the Nome Lackee Reservation located on the Northwestern edge of the Sacramento Valley, one of the five reservations in California legislated by the United States Government in 1852. The system of Indian reservations had a dual purpose: to protect Indians by segregating them from the settlers converging on California in greater and greater numbers; and to free Indian land for the settlers' use.
When the reservation was established, the Yuki people (as they came to be called) of Round Valley were forced into a difficult and unusual situation. Their traditional homeland was not completely taken over by settlers as in other parts of California. Instead, a small part of it was reserved especially for their use as well as the use of other Indians, many of whom were enemies of the Yuki. The Yuki had to share their home with strangers who spoke other languages, lived with other beliefs, and who used the land and its products differently.
Indians came to Round Valley as they did to other reservations - by force. The word "drive", widely used at the time, is descriptive of the practice of "rounding up" Indians and "driving" them like cattle to the reservation where they were "corralled" by high picket fences. Such drives took place in all weather and seasons, and the elderly and sick often did not survive.
From years of intermarriage, a common lifestyle, and a shared land base, a unified community emerged. The descendants of Yuki, Concow Maidu, Little Lake and other Pomo, Nomlaki, Cahto, Wailaki, Pit River peoples formed a new tribe on the reservation, the Covelo Indian Community, later to be called the Round Valley Indian Tribes. Their heritage is a rich combination of different cultures with a common reservation experience and history.
Fort Wright
Between July, 1856, when Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Thomas J. HenleyThomas J. Henley
Thomas Jefferson Henley was a U.S. Representative from Indiana, father of Barclay Henley.Born in Richmond, Indiana, Henley attended Indiana University at Bloomington.He studied law....
, requested official designation of the valley as Nome Cult farm, and the granting of his request in 1858, Round Valley slowly filled with farms and ranches despite its reservation status. Relations between the various Indian groups, settlers and White employees of the reservation reached a state of extreme hostility. Bloodshed became a frequent occurrence as settlers massacred Indians. Superintendent Henley requested that the United States Army be sent to the valley to mediate.
Late in 1858, a company of the U. S. Army departed Benicia for Mendocino County. Due to inclement weather, the march was forced to halt at Fort Weller in Redwood Valley, but Lieutenant Edward Dillon was sent ahead with a party of seventeen men to occupy the barracks in Round Valley. Fort Wright
Fort Wright (California)
Fort Wright, was an Army post located in the Round Valley of Mendocino County, about one and a half miles northwest of the present town of Covelo, California. The principal duty of the garrison was to protect the Round Valley Indian Reservation's Indians from the intrusions, thefts and attacks of...
was then established in December 1862, on the western edge of the Valley.
Originally the soldiers were to protect the Indians from White attacks but soon were deployed to capture Indians throughout the area and bring them to confinement on the Reservation.
Federal legislation
President Ulysses S. GrantUlysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
formally established the Round Valley Indian Reservation by Executive Order on March 30, 1870, pursuant to the Four Reservations Act of 1864. Life on the Round Valley Reservation has since been affected by much government legislation. Two of the most significant impacts were from the Dawes Act
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide the land into allotments for individual Indians. The Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again...
of 1887, also known as the Allotment Act, and the Indian Reorganization Act
Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 the Indian New Deal, was U.S. federal legislation that secured certain rights to Native Americans, including Alaska Natives...
of 1934, known as the IRA.
The Allotment Act caused the Reservation to be subdivided in 1894 into five and 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) plots which were distributed to families. By assigning specific pieces of land to individuals, the Act opened the door to private land ownership for Indians. Although the land was allotted, it was still held in trust by the government. However, in 1920, allotees were allowed to "fee patent" their land: to receive a deed to it by giving up its trust status and accompanying benefits, such as freedom from taxation. Some Round Valley People lost their land as a result. Either they were unable to pay the new taxes on it or they sold it to whites or other Indians for the cash. Others prospered by establishing farming and stock-raising operations. They leased extra land and raised garden vegetables, hay, hogs, and cattle.
In 1934, the United States Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act
Indian Reorganization Act
The Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934 the Indian New Deal, was U.S. federal legislation that secured certain rights to Native Americans, including Alaska Natives...
. In the interests of promoting self-government, only those Indian organizations consisting of elected councils, rather than those based on cultural traditions, were recognized as tribes by the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Indians of Round Valley jointly elected a tribal council and wrote a constitution both of which still function. Along with this alteration in tribal management, a whole range of new regulations intended to halt the loss of land from the Indian Community was also instituted. The IRA repealed the Allotment Act and Indians on the Reservation were deprived of the legal ability to buy and sell land, hold deeds and to take out loans. The land was put back into trust status and trust land could not be used as security.
When first recognized, the tribe and reservation were both known as the Covelo Indian Community.
See also
Other Pomo communities in Mendocino County:- Coyote Valley ReservationCoyote Valley ReservationThe Coyote Valley Reservation in Redwood Valley, California is home to about 170 members of the Coyote Valley tribe of the Native American Pomo people, who descend from the Shodakai Pomo.It is also the location of the Coyote Valley Shodakai Casino....
- Redwood Valley RancheriaRedwood Valley RancheriaThe Redwood Valley Rancheria is the land reservation where the Native American community known as The Redwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians resides. It is located northeast of the town of Redwood Valley in Mendocino County, California.-Location and land status:The reservation spans on the...