Summer 2024 Newsletter

AMTB and AMLT Embark on a Path to Ancestral Land Return

By Mohini Narasimhan, AMLT Communications Manager

Until very recently, the Amah Mutsun Land Trust (AMLT) has been a land trust without land. As you read in this newsletter’s Letter from Chairman Lopez, land acquisition was not initially listed as a goal of the land trust. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (AMTB) does not believe that they own the land in their ancestral territory, but rather that the land belongs to Creator and that the Amah Mutsun people have a sacred obligation to Creator to take care of Mother Earth and all living things. This will always remain true. And while that is true, the land trust has realized over the years that creating the conditions for Tribal members to return to their ancestral territory and fulfill their obligation to Creator may need to include land acquisition. 

In the recent months, AMLT has started work to build its land acquisition program to return Amah Mutsun land to the Tribe. On October 11, 2023, after three years of planning and relationship building, AMLT and the Trust for Public Land (TPL) formalized their capacity-building partnership during a signing on the steps of the California State Capitol Building, in front of an audience of Amah Mutsun Tribal Band members, AMLT staff, TPL staff, and invited guests. In the months since, TPL has played a pivotal role in mentoring AMLT as we strengthen our capacities for acquiring and stewarding land. 

AMTB Regains Permanent Legal Access to Land in Mutsun Territory

In May 2023, TPL worked closely with AMLT to create a first-of-its-kind affirmative Indigenous cultural conservation and access easement over 540 acres of culturally and ecologically important land near the City of San Juan Bautista in Mutsun territory, referred to as the “Nyland property.” This unique cultural easement will provide the AMTB access to the property for cultural, spiritual, and ceremonial tradition. This marks the first time in over 200 years the AMTB has regained permanent legal access to and control of ancestral lands in San Benito County. 

This land, now recognized as being in San Benito County, is a part of Popoloutchum, where the Amah Mutsun people have lived since time immemorial.  The 540-acre Nyland property is located on low hills on the outskirts of the small City of San Juan Bautista, less than half a mile from the Mission San Juan Bautista. It contains important water features including drought-resilient springs, wetlands and seasonal streams, expanses of oak woodlands, riparian habitats, and grasslands – all of which supported and was sacred to the Amah Mutsun people for thousands of years. The property also contributes to the Santa Cruz Mountains wildlife linkage, which connects the Santa Cruz Mountains with the Gabilan and Diablo Ranges. This linkage is vital for the survival, movement, and genetic viability of wide-ranging mammals in the region. 

In partnership with the Central California Prescribed Burn Association, CAL FIRE, San Benito Agricultural Land Trust, California Academy of Sciences, TPL, and many other partners, the AMLT team conducted a cultural burn on the property in June 2023, and are beginning to plan for the future management and public use of the site, including planning access for Tribal Elders.

AMLT is Awarded Funds Solely for Ancestral Land Return Planning

The Amah Mutsun Land Trust is excited to announce that AMLT will be a recipient of funding through the Tribal Nature Based Solutions grant program (TNBS), a historic effort from the state of California to distribute over $100 million solely to Tribes, Tribal organizations, and organizations working directly with Tribes. 

The TNBS program, held through the California Natural Resources Agency, aims to support: “the return of ancestral lands to tribal ownership and stewardship, planning and implementation of habitat restoration projects, protecting our coast and oceans, advancing wildfire resiliency and cultural fire, and so many more multi-benefit nature-based solutions projects across California.” 

Being awarded this landmark grant is due in large part to the support from and relationship with our partner, the Trust for Public Land. TPL has provided invaluable support as the applicant to the TNBS grant program. Often, state funded grants require a lot of effort to obtain then manage, and having TPL be the project applicant reduces some of the administrative burden AMLT will face since the grant funds have been awarded. Together, AMLT and TPL will work to plan the return of ancestral lands to the AMTB – which is the stated purpose of AMLT’s grant award.

This grant award from TNBS allows AMLT to take the critical next step towards returning ancestral land to the Tribe. The funding is a planning grant to plan for ancestral land return. Grant funds will support our partnership with TPL to focus on: building AMLT’s capacity to plan for and pursue priority land acquisitions, conduct cultural assessments, and steward AMLT’s newly acquired cultural conservation easement over the Nyland property through creating stewardship plans (such as plans for post-burn monitoring, restoration, and Tribal access). Having funding set aside specifically for planning rather than immediate implementation is crucial because it allows for AMLT to not only work towards ancestral land return, but plan for all that encompasses holistic land return. Holistic land return, as it's used by AMLT, is an integrative approach to ancestral land return that acknowledges the need for active land stewardship and responsiveness to Tribal community needs that must occur and continue to take place well beyond the acquisition itself. Ensuring that AMLT is equipped to steward and care for lands it’s able to acquire is essential to supporting the Amah Mutsun in fulfilling their obligation to Creator.

Despite systematic removal from ancestral territory during a brutal colonial past, an ongoing lack of federal recognition and support, and many other barriers, the Amah Mutsun have maintained their cultural identity and remain committed to the revitalization of their culture and stewardship on their ancestral lands. The lands of the Amah Mutsun traditional territory are sacred to the Amah Mutsun. The ability to access, return to, and care for these lands is central to the identity and goals of the Mutsun people. Protecting the land’s ability to honor previous generations and sustain future generations is central to the survival of the Tribe. Planning for holistic ancestral land return is one step towards ensuring that these lands will be protected and cared for until the last sunrise. 

We congratulate and celebrate the many other California Native American Tribes that were also awarded funding through the Tribal Nature Based Solutions program. AMLT is proud to enter this significant and historic program with them, and together pave the way for ancestral land return.