A coalition of   Native American federation of tribes   has reclaimed charge of a redwood forest in northerly California they were forcibly absent from by European - American colonizers generations ago .

The Save the Redwoods Leaguepurchaseda 211.65 - hectare ( 523 - Akko ) area speckle of redwood forest on the remote northern California coastal expanse have it away as “ the Lost Coast ” back for $ 3.55 million in July 2020 .

This week , the groupannouncedthey have officially pass on over ownership of the property to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council , a consortium of 10 federally recognize Northern California Tribal Nations .

To honor the inheritance of the timber , it will fall to its original name of Tc’ih - Léh - Dûñ , meaning " Fish Run Place " in the Sinkyone language .

" rename the property Tc’ih - Léh - Dûñ lets hoi polloi know that it ’s a hallowed space ; it ’s a place for our Native hoi polloi , ” Crista Ray , a gameboard appendage of the Sinkyone Council who is of Eastern Pomo , Sinkyone , Cahto , Wailaki , and other stock , said in astatement .

" It get them know that there was a terminology and that there was a citizenry who lived there long before now . "

“ Today I stand on the shoulder joint of giants , my ancestors … to lend them purity , and to not let our old ways be forgotten , for our next generation , my kid , my grandchild and all the tiddler that I ’ll never get to see , ” added Buffie Schmidt , vice - chair of the Sherwood Valley Rancheria of Pomo Indians and board treasurer of the Sinkyone Council , who is of Northern Pomo and other parentage .

Tc’ih - Léh - Dûñis a coastal conifer forest that ’s home to an unbelievable diversity of plant animation and trees – include the magnanimous and tallest Tree in the macrocosm , redwood . It also supports an teemingness of uncommon and endangered creature , include cohoe Salmon River , steelhead trout , marbled murrelet , and northern spotted hooter .

The tribal peoples of Sinkyone , Cahto , Coast Yuki , Mattole , Nekanni , Pomo , and other neighboring lineage lived around this broken land – what ’s now forebode southerly Humboldt County and northern Mendocino County – for thousands of years .

The status quo was seriously disrupted in the nineteenth century when European colonizer began forcibly displacing the local universe . Through state - sanctioned massacres , starvation , diseases , and other atrociousness , the indigenous culture was decimated and the survivor exiled to reservation far from their traditional homeland .

bring back this land to its original owners is not just an significant cultural and historical sack , but it also hop to foster the renovation of this ancient ecosystem , which was importantly impacted through historical logging .

The Sinkyone Council has indicate Tc’ih - Léh - Dûñ as a Tribal Protected Area that will not allow commercial timber operations , fragmentation , ontogenesis , or public admittance .

“ The Sinkyone Council today represents the Indigenous Peoples who are the original keeper of this farming . Their connecter to the sequoia wood is longstanding , and it is cryptical , ” explained Sam Hodder , Chief Executive and CEO of Save the Redwoods League .

“ The League is reward to support a coming back of Native the great unwashed to this position and to partner with the Sinkyone Council in their direction and stewardship of Tc’ih - Léh - Dûñ . We believe the best way to for good protect and cure this land is through tribal stewardship . "

" In this unconscious process , we have an opportunity to restore balance in the ecosystem and in the communities connected to it , while also accelerating the pace and scale of measurement of conserve California ’s iconic sequoia forest . ”