The Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation is a

federally recognized tribe A federally recognized tribe is a Native American tribe recognized by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs as holding a government-to-government relationship with the US federal government. In the United States, the Native American tribe ...

of Native Americans. The Tule River Reservation is located in

Tulare County, California Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great La ...

. The reservation was made up of

Yokuts The Yokuts (previously known as MariposasPowell, 1891:90–91.) are an ethnic group of Native Americans native to central California. Before European contact, the Yokuts consisted of up to 60 tribes speaking several related languages. Yokuts ...

, about 200 Yowlumne,

Wukchumni The Wukchumni () are a Yokuts tribe of California with about 200 members, residing on the Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation, Tule River Reservation. 3000 years ago, they broke off from the main Yokuts group and settled in the re ...

s, and Western Mono and

Tübatulabal The Tübatulabal are an indigenous people of California, indigenous people of Kern River Valley in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada range of California. They may have been the first people to make this area their permanent home. Today ma ...

.California Indians and Their Reservations.
''SDSU Library and Information Access.'' (retrieved 25 July 2009) Tribal enrollment today is approximately 1,857 with 1,033 living on the Reservation.

History

Tule River Farm

For thousands of years, this area was inhabited by varying cultures of

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. Historic tribes encountered by Europeans in the area included the

, Mono and

. The area was first colonized by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and

Mexicans Mexicans () are the citizens and nationals of the Mexico, United Mexican States. The Mexican people have varied origins with the most spoken language being Spanish language, Spanish, but many also speak languages from 68 different Languages o ...

, followed by European Americans after the US victory in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

in 1848. After the Owens Valley Indian War and Following the Tule River Indian War of 1856, the Tule River Farm, a farm attached to the Tejon Agency, was established in 1858 at the base of the foothills, near the present town of Porterville. The farm was established on on the South Fork of Tule River. In 1860, Thomas Madden, an Indian service employee, gained personal title to the Tule River Farm, by using state school warrants. The federal government rented the Tule River Farm and paid Madden $1,000 per year.

Tule River Reservation

In 1864, the Tule River Farm became the Tule River Reservation, one of five

Indian reservations An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

authorized by Congress. When the United States defeated Half the Owens Valley Paiutes in the

Owens Valley Indian War The Owens Valley War was fought between 1862 and 1863 by the United States Army and American settlers against the Mono people and their Shoshone and Kawaiisu allies in the Owens Valley of California and the southwestern Nevada border region. ...

of 1863, they were removed to the reservation, whose population nearly doubled. In 1864, the population consisted of 450 Tule River Indians and 350 Owens River Indians who were relocated there from

Fort Tejon Fort Tejon in California is a former United States Army outpost which was intermittently active from June 24, 1854, until September 11, 1864. It is located in the Grapevine Canyon (''La Cañada de las Uvas'') between the San Emigdio Mountains and ...

. The Owens Valley Paiutes were frightening settlers around the growing town of Porterville. The settlers began to demand removal of the Indians on the Tule River Farm to a more distant location. Indian agents clamored to provide the Indians with a more permanent home. Some also argued the need to separate the Indians from unscrupulous individuals who entered the reservation to entice the Indians to buy cheap liquor. As a result, the Tule River Indian Reservation was relocated; in 1873 it was established by Presidential Executive Order of

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

as a homeland for Tule River, Kings River, Owens River, Monache Cajon and other scattered bands of Indians. Traditionally, 60 Yokuts tribes lived-in south-central California to the east of Porterville. By the end of the 19th century their population was reduced by 75% due to warfare and high fatalities from European diseases. The surviving Yokuts banded together on the Tule River Reservation, including the Yowlumne,

bands of Yokut. While the Tule River Indian Tribe includes Owens valley Paiutes and

members, the majority of the tribe are

. In 1917, some Kitanemuk people also lived in the reservation.

Government

The tribe ratified their current tribal constitution in 1936 and last amended it in 1974.Constitution and By-laws of the Tule River Indian Tribe of California.
(retrieved 25 July 2009) Their Tribal Council is democratically elected and includes a chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, and Treasurer and five Council Members. The Tule River Tribal Council Consists of nine council members. Each member is voted for by the Tule River Tribal Members. The elected officials then decide who will perform functions of chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. The main piece of governing legislation is the Tule River Indian Tribe Constitution and Bylaws approved January 15, 1936.

Reservation

The Tule River Reservation was established in 1873 by a US Executive Order in the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

. The reservation is the site of Painted Rock, an ancient petroglyph site. Located south of

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

and north of

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

,Tule River Tribe.
(retrieved 25 July 2009) it occupies . 566 tribal members live on the reservation. Accessible only by one winding up into the mountains, the nearest town is East Porterville and/or Springville. Due to the failure of wells in August 2022, families on the reservation had to use bottled water for drinking, cooking, and bathing.

Programs

The tribe operates many programs to serve its members including a health clinic, a child care center, an adult and vocational education center, a college scholarship program, a housing authority, and a chemical dependency treatment center.

Healthcare

The Tule River Indian Health Center is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization founded in 1973 and dedicated to meeting the healthcare and health education needs of the Native American communities in Tulare County. Tule River Indian Health Center is governed by a Health Advisory Board composed of local tribal members from the Tule River Indian Reservation.

Ecology

The Forest Service signed a co-stewardship agreement in 2022 with the tribe for incorporation of tribal practices into management of the Sequoia National Forest.

Economy

Eagle Mountain Casino

On April 6, 2021, Tule River Tribe broke ground on the new property for Eagle Mountain Casino, to be moved from the reservation to Porterville. It opened in fall 2023.

Eagle Feather Trading Post

Eagle Feather Trading Post is one of the largest convenience stores in Tulare County, located on Hwy 190 just above Lake Success.

Culture

Many of the stories told by the elders of the Tule River Indian reservation have been handed down from generation to generation. Almost all of these stories reflect the ways and life of the Tule River Tribes. All of the stories carry a strong message to the youth and adults in the region. Significant historical facts on these stories come from Painted Rock, a remarkable set of pictographs along the South Fork Tule River, at on the Tule Indian Reservation. * Painted Rock * Coyote and the Moon * Coyote and the Sun * Big Foot, The Hairy Man * Soda SpringsSoda Springs
/ref>

Education

The reservation is mostly served by the Porterville Unified School District with a small portion of it served by the Springville Union Elementary School District.

References

External links

Official Tule River Bands of the Tule River Reservation website
{{authority control Native American tribes in California Federally recognized tribes in the United States Mono people Yokuts San Joaquin Valley Tulare County, California