Spirit Rock is located in the San Geronimo valley of West Marin County, California on unceded Coast Miwok territory. We name the history of this beloved place as a gesture of respect and reparation toward the Indigenous residents of the colonized land we now call home. We honor the Coast Miwok peoples, including the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin, who have brought a Ceremony to Spirit Rock to celebrate and honor the land and its history.
We commit to creating a culture of honor. We respect the enduring relationship between Coast Miwok and Indigenous peoples and their traditional territories. We strive to be good guests of the Coast Miwok people.
Local Tribal Groups
The Indigenous people local to West Marin are the Coast Miwok, part of the Me-Wuk language group.
The Miwok are represented by cultural and political groups including the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin, who have brought Ceremony to Spirit Rock celebrating and honoring the land and its history. The registered tribal nation for the Coast Miwok and some Pomo is the Federated Indians of Graton Ranchería (FIGR), in Rohnert Park.
Other local tribal groups include:
San Francisco: Ramaytush Ohlone
East Bay: Lisjan/Chochenyo Ohlone
South Bay: Muwekma Ohlone
Sonoma: Southern Pomo of Dry Creek Ranchería & Cloverdale Ranchería
Background: What is a land acknowledgment?
A land acknowledgment is a spoken or written statement that names and honors the ancestral people associated with the land where the speaker now lives or works. The practice of land acknowledgment has arisen in recent years as a gesture of respect and reparation toward the ancestral and contemporary Indigenous residents of colonized lands such as North America (called “Turtle Island” by many Indigenous cultures).
Many land acknowledgments, such as this one, also connect readers to educational materials about the history of the land, its human and non-human residents, and actions that can be taken to offer reparations or other forms of support to local Indigenous organizations.
Resources for further study
Find which Indigenous people lived where using the Native Land interactive map.
About land acknowledgment
Native Governance Center, A Guide to Indigenous Land Acknowledgment
US Dept. of Arts & Culture, #HonorNativeLand: A Guide and Call for Acknowledgment
LWVWI Community Alliances Committee, Land Acknowledgement Guide
California Indian Culture
Inter-Tribal Council Of California (ITCC)
CA Native American Heritage Commission, California Indian History
CA Indian Museum, California Native Perspectives
Federated Indians of Graton Ranchería (FIGR), Historical Background & Timeline
Map of Indigenous American Cultures & Living Histories, Federated Graton Ranchería
UC Berkeley, California Indian Songs and Stories
KQED, How This Native American Elder Reclaimed Sacred Land in the Bay Area
North American Indian Culture
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI)
History: The California Genocide
Madley, “It’s time to acknowledge the genocide of California’s Indians” (LA Times)
“Newsom apologizes for California’s history of violence against Native Americans” (LA Times)
Madley, “The Hidden History of How California Was Built on Genocide” (Truthout)
History: Treaties
OPB, Broken Treaties [documentary]
Unsettling, Decolonization, Allyship, Solidarity
Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, Recommended Reading
Resource Generation, Land Reparations & Indigenous Solidarity Toolkit
Taking action
There are many ways to take action to support Indigenous cultures and their rights. Donations can be made directly to many tribes, and Native-led cultural and economic projects like those produced by the Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin can be supported.
One powerful Indigenous-led project here in the Bay Area is the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, facilitating the restoration of a land base for the Ohlone people in the East Bay through a voluntary “land tax” paid by individuals and groups living and working in the East Bay. If you live or work in the East Bay, please consider paying the Shuumi Land Tax to Sogorea Te’. Residents of Humboldt county can pay a similar honor tax to the Wiyot tribe there.
