The lands California promised and is finally giving back
. In 1850, California's tribes signed treaties. They agreed to relocate, to give up vast stretches of their homelands, in exchange for land the federal government promised to hold for them. Then Congress rejected those treaties in a secret meeting - without telling the tribes. This week, 175 years later, California took a step toward acknowledging what happened. The state announced a plan to bring at least 7.5 million acres of land and coastal waters back under Indigenous stewardship - a number chosen deliberately. It matches, almost exactly, what was promised and never delivered. The policy isn't just symbolic. It revives practices that were actively criminalised for generations, including the careful intentional burns that tribes used for centuries to keep landscapes healthy and wildfires manageable. Geneva Thompson, the Natural Resources Agency's first-ever deputy secretary for tribal affairs, has seen what happens when tribes return to land that's been waiting for them. On one newly returned stretch of coastal wetlands, she watched tribal culture experts stop mid-tour to tend to native plants they noticed needed care. "It's so much more beautiful seeing it in practice than it is writing it out on paper," she said. For Angela Mooney D'Arcy, a California Indigenous advocate who has spent 30 years working toward land return, the policy lands with the weight of a long time coming. "It's really exciting," she said, "to see what has been lifelong work for so many California Indigenous folks come to fruition." 👉 Read more. In 1850, California's tribes signed treaties. They agreed to relocate, to give up vast stretches of their homelands, in exchange for land the federal government promised to hold for them. Then Congress rejected those treaties in a secret meeting - without telling the tribes. This week, 175 years later, California took a step toward acknowledging what happened. The state announced a plan to bring at least 7.5 million acres of land and coastal waters back under Indigenous stewardship - a number chosen deliberately. It matches, almost exactly, what was promised and never delivered. The policy isn't just symbolic. It revives practices that were actively criminalised for generations, including the careful intentional burns that tribes used for centuries to keep landscapes healthy and wildfires manageable. Geneva Thompson, the Natural Resources Agency's first-ever deputy secretary for tribal affairs, has seen what happens when tribes return to land that's been waiting for them. On one newly returned stretch of coastal wetlands, she watched tribal culture experts stop mid-tour to tend to native plants they noticed needed care. "It's so much more beautiful seeing it in practice than it is writing it out on paper," she said. For Angela Mooney D'Arcy, a California Indigenous advocate who has spent 30 years working toward land return, the policy lands with the weight of a long time coming. "It's really exciting," she said, "to see what has been lifelong work for so many California Indigenous folks come to fruition." 👉 Read moreExpert summary pending. Showing the newcomer version.