According to Qwo-Li Driskill in her essay “Stolen From our Bodies” indigenous people were not only ripped from their lands, but from their bodies as well. Along with the home that surrounded them, their environment, they also lost a home within themselves. Furthermore, this change majorly impacted women and two-spirit people as the patriarchy stripped their humanity from them as well. In indigenous communities, there was not a history of women being oppressed until their communities experienced colonialism (Wilbur 28:00). Although these events are considered historical, indigenous people today are still fighting for their land and their basic human rights back. Colonialism has continued throughout all of these years and still heavily impacts the indigenous peoples today.

Today, it is often forgotten that the land we live on was once home to indigenous tribes across “California.” The descendants of these tribes now struggle as they watch their ancestors being ripped from the earth and their monuments and burial sites being completely disregarded as commercial enterprises continue to dishevel the land. However, they are continuously trying to regain what has been taken from them. For example, Tuluwat is an island that’s considered a sacred place for the Wiyot tribe. In 1860, the majority of the tribe was massacred by colonizers. In 2004, the city council of Eureka agreed to give the northeastern tip of the island back to the tribe (Baldy 11:10). This accomplishment is due to the hard work of the indigenous community, including women and two-spirt people.

The Nisenan people, along with three other tribes, were historically mislabeled as Maidu people and while have been considered a sub-group of the Maidu, they have their own unique customs and culture. They lived around the Sacramento, Yuba and American rivers as well as within the Central Valley to the Sierra Mountains. In 1833, they had a grievous malaria epidemic which impacted their ability to defend themselves during colonization during the time of the Gold Rush and they experienced the depletion of their resources, more diseases, and the effect of mass genocide. By the 1950s, the population of the Nisenan had dropped from 9,000 to 2,500.

Today, there is a small group of Nisenan people living in Nevada City, California. The Nisenan used to be federally recognized through the Nevada City Rancheria, which was established by Woodrow Wilson in 1913, but they currently aren't recognized by the U.S. Government due to the California Rancheria Termination Acts during the 1950's and 60's. While most Rancherias have been restored, the Nevada City Nisenan Rancheria has yet to be. As residents of the land they used to call home, it is our responsibility to be allies to and support the Nisenan in the efforts to become a recognized tribe once again.