Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation

Background

The Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation's site gives its own welcome as Michəksəsəə. Its people are indigenous to Mariposa County and Yosemite, and live in the Mariposa region and surrounding communities today. The Nation is also known as the American Indian Council of Mariposa County, incorporated by the state in 1972 and a 501(c)(3) since January 1993. It has petitioned for federal acknowledgment since 1982, and its federal recognition page records the docket as Petitioner #82 with a letter filed with the Office of Federal Acknowledgment on March 14, 2024 alongside more than 300 public comment letters received between November 2018 and December 2024. Its Miwumati Family Healing Center at 4629 State Highway 49 South in Mariposa runs mental health counseling, a community food pantry, cultural workshops, Southern Sierra Miwuk language preservation, a community food and herb garden and a monthly tribal elders' luncheon. The Nation's postal address is P.O. Box 186 in Mariposa.

Visit and learn

Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation's own site

Tribal lands have their own laws. Check the nation's site before you visit.

Parks on its homelands

Yosemite National Park

The Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, also called the American Indian Council of Mariposa County, is one of two Yosemite nations the park says are still seeking federal recognition, and a 2018 agreement lets the council lead development and management of a village cultural center in the Valley. Source

Programs

• Miwumati Family Healing Center

  A center at 4629 State Highway 49 South in Mariposa, California. The phone number is (209) 966-3245.

  https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/miwumati·other

• Meh-su Beaver Crew

  A stewardship crew working with the Nation on restoring land and the relationship to it, part of what the Nation calls tribal eco-cultural stewardship projects run throughout Mariposa County.

  https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/single-project·land

Sources

• https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/federal-recognition
• https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/
• https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/about-2
• https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/miwumati
• https://www.southernsierramiwuknation.org/non-profit-aicmc

Checked September 2026.

Found an error? Tell us.