About us
We are the original Shingle Springs Indians identified in 1848 and signatories to the 1851 Treaty of Cosumnes River with the United States.
In 1935, we voted as the representatives of the Shingle Springs Rancheria under the Indian Reorganization Act and were federally recognized accordingly.
We are the historic, federally documented tribe of El Dorado County.
We reject substitutions, fabricated narratives, and actions taken beyond lawful authority. Decisions made without statutory authority cannot be legitimized by repetition or misrepresentation.
The original record stands.
Truth does not change with politics.
...
We invite the public to join us in restoring the true history and lawful governance of the El Dorado County Nisenan-Miwuk peoples by learning, sharing, and standing for the record.
Your participation—through stewardship, donations, research, or advocacy—helps ensure this history is preserved, protected, and carried forward for future generations.
What makes this tribe REAL?
Federal records…we have them
and a certain other group don’t.
About Real Miwok Tribe
RealMiwokTribe.com is a public historical and educational archive sponsored by the Wopumnes Nisenan & Mewuk Heritage Preservation Society, a California-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Tax ID 83-2671897).
Our purpose is to document, preserve, and present the historical continuity and lawful governance of the Nisenan and Miwuk peoples of El Dorado County — centered on the Shingle Springs Indian Reservation and the original 1935 Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) electorate.
Why This Site Exists
For generations, the identities, governance, and land relationships of the Nisenan and Miwuk peoples have been obscured, mischaracterized, or displaced within public records.
RealMiwokTribe.com exists to restore clarity to the record.
We place names, families, dates, lands, and lived memory back into documented historical context — grounded in federal Indian law, public record, and community continuity.
This is a living archive. It will continue to grow as primary source documents are added, elders’ accounts are preserved, and governance history is clarified for the public, researchers, and policymakers.
What We Document
People & Lineage
Verified family names, kinship ties, and documented community continuity connected to the Shingle Springs Reservation and surrounding homelands.
Places & Homelands
Village sites, seasonal use areas, burial grounds, and cultural landscapes across the Sierra Foothills of El Dorado County.
Dates & Documents
Timelines, censuses, correspondence, land records, and official materials — including documentation related to the 1935 IRA governing body.
Stories & Cultural Continuity
Oral histories, traditions, language fragments, arts, and lifeways that reflect enduring Nisenan and Miwuk presence.
Law & Governance
Clear explanations of federal Indian law as it relates to recognition, governance authority, land stewardship, and public accountability.
Our Commitment
We are committed to:
Accuracy.
Transparency.
Documented evidence.
Respect for cultural heritage.
Materials are reviewed and contextualized to ensure that history is neither simplified nor politicized — but understood in full, by record and by community memory.
Support the Work
Preserving living history requires community participation.
We welcome responsible support in the following forms:
Land Stewardship
Parcels within ancestral territories that may be protected through conservation, cultural use, or preservation easement.
Artifacts & Archival Materials
Baskets, tools, photographs, letters, maps, recordings, and family documents requiring ethical care and proper provenance documentation.
Financial Contributions
Tax-deductible donations that support archival preservation, historical research, legal compliance, educational outreach, and land stewardship initiatives.
All contributions are managed in accordance with nonprofit law, cultural property standards, and applicable federal and state protections.
Get Involved
If you hold materials connected to the Nisenan or Miwuk peoples of El Dorado County — or wish to support this work — we invite you to contact us to discuss responsible documentation, transfer, and preservation.
RealMiwokTribe.com stands for historical truth, lawfully grounded governance, and the enduring presence of the Nisenan and Miwuk peoples — survivors and stewards of El Dorado County since the 1848 Gold Rush.
Mission
Giving daylight to the true Miwok Tribe and citizens of El Dorado County.
The old-timers know our surnames. (Kessler, Padilla, Medina, Blackwell, Franklin, Smith, Hart, Tom, Howdy, Pollock, Craig, Tripp...)
They know our families (over 30 historic Nisenan-Mewuk families).
The community hears the stories about us... the Digger Indians of the Goldrush. They look at our grinding rocks in Coloma and all over the county.
They care for our beads, baskets and our sacred sites.
They went to school with us, the real Shingle Springs Nisenan-Miwok families whose presence traces back to the 1848 Coloma Gold Rush.
Through decade after decade: 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, 1950, 1960, 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000-2026....
Generation after generation, this county has known who THEIR historic REAL Miwok Tribe is.
This is not academic, it is lived memory.
This site, RealMiwokTribe.com, exists for one reason:
Transparency.
Federal recognition carries power.
Land authority.
Legal standing.
In 2004, an ultra vires action by the Bureau of Indian Affairs redirected millions in taxpayer funds to a late-assembled group, the Verona Band, with no documented historical presence in El Dorado County prior to 1980 and no ethnographic record as a distinct tribal entity in the area. That action remains under seal in El Dorado County v. Gale Norton (2004). We filed to unseal it.
When BIA actions disregard Federally documented Native history, the public interest is harmed. The record deserves to be examined in full daylight.
Those sealed agreements affect this county every single day.
They affect our lands.
They affect our heritage.
They affect our tax dollars.
...and the public is entitiled to know...
We have the right to federal transparency.
We have the right to accountability.
We have the right to know that our public funds are aligned with documented historic continuity and the IRA.
The Federal documents have always existed.
Historical records exist.
Community witnesses exist.
The community knows who its Real Miwok Tribe is and who it isn't.
The public demands that the Federal Register reflect the truth.
We are publishing the Federal documents.
We are publishing the correspondence.
We are publishing the court record.
No more filters.
No more gatekeepers.
No more quiet decisions behind closed doors.
If you believe federal transparency is not optional — stand with us.
If you believe taxpayer funds must align history and public intent — stand with us.
If you believe public records should be given daylight — stand with us.
Keep this effort alive for the all the community and the dignity of all Native American nations.>>> Donate today!
REALMIWOKTRIBE.COM is managed by the Wopumnes Nisenan & Mewuk Heritage Preservation Society (Tax ID 83-2671897).
Subscribe
Support/Donate
Thank you for your interest we give blessing to you.
22-23 God spoke to Moses: “Tell Aaron and his sons, This is how you are to bless the People of Israel. Say to them,
24 God bless you and keep you,
25 God smile on you and gift you,
26 God look you full in the face
and make you prosper.
27 In so doing, they will place my name on the People of Israel—
I will confirm it by blessing them.” (Numbers 22-27)
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
