The Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California is a federally recognized tribe of Miwok people in Tuolumne County, California. The Chicken Ranch Rancheria Miwok are Central Sierra Miwok, an indigenous people of California.
Official Tribal Name:Chicken Ranch Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California
Address: P.O. Box 1159, Jamestown, CA 95327
Phone: 209-984-4806
Fax: 209-984-5606
Email:
Official Website:
Recognition Status: Federally Recognized
Traditional Name / Traditional Meaning:
Common Name: Chicken Ranch Rancheria
Meaning of Common Name: The Rancheria was a chicken farm.
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Alternate spellings / Mispellings: Miwok
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Region: California
State(s) Today: California
Traditional Territory:
Originally, the Miwok lived in over 100 villages along the San Joanquin and Sacramento Rivers, from the area north of San Francisco Bay east into the western slope of the Sierra Nevada. The Sierra Mewuk traditional territory was in the Sierra Nevada foothills of the central part of California.
Confederacy: Miwok (Me-Wuk or Mewuk)
Treaties:
Reservation: Chicken Ranch Rancheria
Many of the Sierra Mewuk still live today around their traditional territory. Some live on the federal trust lands of the Jackson, Shingle Springs, and Tuolumne rancherias, and some live on the Sheep Ranch, Buena Vista, and Chicken Ranch rancherias, which have little or no trust lands. Others live in the surrounding areas of these rancherias.
Land Area: 2.85-acre parcel of land, located in Tuolumne County, California.
Tribal Headquarters: Jamestown, CA
Time Zone: Pacific
Population at Contact: In the 1700s there were collectively about 22,000 Miwok people in the three branches.
Registered Population Today: Collectively, in the three branches, there are about 3,500 Miwok people today.
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Language Classification: Penutian -> Utian -> Miwokan -> Sierra Miwok
Language Dialects: Coast and Lake dialects
Number of fluent Speakers: Today few tribal elders under the age of 60 speak the Mewuk language.
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Origins:
Bands, Gens, and Clans: Coast Miwok, the Lake Miwok, and the Sierra Mewuk, all from north-central California.
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The Miwok are known for their tightly woven baskets.
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Subsistance:
King salmon and acorns were the principle staples of the Sierra Miwok. They also gathered other plant foods and hunted deer and small game.
Economy Today: The tribe owns Chicken Ranch Bingo and Casino, located in Jamestown, California, as well as the Ranch House Restaurant.