The History of
Northern Valley
Yokut Ohlone
Tribe
History of Tribe
The Northern Valley Yokuts is a Native American Tribe indigenous to the area of the San Joaquin Valley. Before colonization, we thrived in the lands of the San Joaquin Valley. Trading with local tribal bands, and practicing our culture, which consisted of many different things ranging from hunting, plant gathering, basketweaving, dancing and other practices important to our cultural heritage.
After the threat of extermination due to colonization, the Northern Valley Yokuts found themselves at a disadvantage both socially and politically. As our tribe drastically reduced in size and our culture was being rapidly erased due to forced assimilation.
Although the tribe has sustained many different atrocities, we were not eliminated, as we still exist today. We are actively reviving our culture and influencing our political status through lengthy and difficult processes such as, Federal Recognition of the Tribe.
Maintaining a strong presence in the local communities in the surrounding cities such as River Island, the city of Lathrop and other areas of cultural significance due to the establishment of parks developed in collaboration with our Tribe.
We also maintain relations with California State Parks, as we are in the process of helping to establish our cultural landscape into a private reserve so that it remains protected and undisturbed. These are just some of the ways our Tribe remains active in today’s society.
Intermarriage with other tribes
As previously mentioned, the Yokuts traded and actively met with tribes from the surrounding area, such as the Ohlone/Bay Miwoks/Patwin tribes. We also intermarried with each other due to the influence of Catholic Missions. Through this intermarriage, the Yokut tribe was able to survive the threat of Colonization and Catholicism by replenishing our numbers and spreading our culture into new, different areas of California, effectively evading the threat of eradication.
As explained to us by the BIA, the last tribe that you marry into is the Tribe you are considered, however this is something that our Tribe does not agree with, as our genealogy states otherwise. This policy imposed by the BIA limits our political status and pigeonholes our identity as a singular tribe. However, due to the Missions and forced intermarriage, our tribal background is much broader and we have a larger geographical area that spreads over much of central California.