The Indigenous People of the Sierra Nevada's Foothills are Nisenan

Often, the indigenous people of Nevada County are labeled as “Maidu” instead of the correct title, “Nisenan”. While the label “Maidu” is still used widely in Native American academia, “Maidu” is actually a gross over simplification of a very complex division of smaller groups, Tribelets and Bands of Indians.

Maidu map which is rarely used today.

Nisenan map which more correctly describes our lands.

The Nisenan have made their homes in the foothills of Nevada County for thousands of years. They were born in pre-contact villages such as Waukaudok, Woloyu, Ustomah and Kiwimdo. They were part of a perfectly balanced ecosystem which thrived on the Yuba, Bear and American river watersheds, their tributaries and the wildlife that also made this beautiful landscape their home. Written documentation of the Tribe and its federally recognized Rancheria begins in 1852 and continues into the present.

In 1887, Tribal Chief Charley Cully obtained a land allotment upon a piece of this same ancient land. It was his hope to secure a home for the Nisenan, forever. Upon his untimely death in 1911, Chief Cully’s land allotment was converted by presidential executive order into the Nevada City Rancheria. The land on Cement Hill became Federal Trust Land and the Tribal government became a federally recognized entity and remained so for decades.

Today, descendants of these same ancient Nisenan families stride forward as a Tribal unit. Though their Rancheria was illegally terminated in 1964 and their remaining piece of Tribal land lost, the people continue to protect their heritage, culture and future.

Much of the story of our once Federally recognized Rancheria and its Tribe of Nisenan are told in the documents below.

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