Who Are the Miwok?
The Miwok are indigenous peoples of central California, numbering approximately 3,500 enrolled members across several federally recognized tribes, though many more claim Miwok ancestry without enrollment. They speak Miwok languages (Utian/Yok-Utian family)—Bay Miwok, Plains Miwok, Lake Miwok, Coast Miwok, and Sierra Miwok—all critically endangered or extinct. The Miwok traditionally inhabited diverse environments from the San Francisco Bay to the Sierra Nevada, including Yosemite Valley, whose name derives from Miwok. Different Miwok groups adapted to coast, valley, and mountain environments, developing sophisticated land management including controlled burning.
Land and Subsistence
Miwok territory spanned remarkably diverse environments. Coast Miwok along the Pacific gathered shellfish and hunted marine mammals. Lake Miwok around Clear Lake relied on fish and tule. Bay Miwok occupied San Francisco Bay shores. Plains and Sierra Miwok inhabited the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills. Acorns were the staple food—gathered in fall, processed through leaching to remove tannins, and stored. Miwok managed landscapes through controlled burning, promoting oak groves and grasslands that supported deer and other game. This sophisticated land management created the "natural" landscapes later colonizers would claim as wilderness.
Yosemite and Dispossession
Yosemite Valley—Ahwahnee ("Place of the Gaping Mouth") to the Southern Sierra Miwok and Paiute who lived there—became symbol of American wilderness. But creating the national park (1864, 1890) required removing Indians. The Mariposa Battalion's 1851 invasion, part of the Mariposa War, destroyed Ahwahnee villages. Survivors were confined to reservations or worked on ranches. Yet Miwok never fully left; some worked in Yosemite, and Indian villages persisted in the park until 1969 when the last residents were evicted. The park's naturalistic aesthetics erased Indigenous presence; only recently has Miwok-Paiute history been acknowledged.
Contemporary Miwok
Modern Miwok are organized into several federally recognized tribes—Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria (Coast Miwok), Ione Band of Miwok Indians, Buena Vista Rancheria, Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk Indians, and others—plus unrecognized groups. The Graton Rancheria has developed gaming in Rohnert Park, bringing economic prosperity. Other Miwok communities remain impoverished. Cultural programs work to preserve languages and traditions; basketry and other arts continue. Yosemite National Park now acknowledges Miwok-Paiute heritage, though lands remain unreturned. How Miwok reclaim their story—from Yosemite's "wilderness" myth to living Indigenous presence—shapes these central California peoples' future.
References
- Levy, R. (1978). "Eastern Miwok" (Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 8)
- Spence, M. D. (1999). Dispossessing the Wilderness: Indian Removal and the Making of the National Parks
- Bibby, B. (2004). Deeper than Gold: A Guide to Indian Life in the Sierra Foothills