History and Tribal Governance
About Trinidad Rancheria
Our Vision
Honoring the Past, Living in the Present, Looking Towards the Future.
Our Mission
The mission of the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria is to preserve and promote our cultural and traditional beliefs; improve quality of life and self-sufficiency; uphold tribal sovereignty; create positive partnerships; and protect the environment in order to provide a healthy community, honor our elders, and guide our youth.
Trinidad Rancheria is a sovereign Tribal nation located in Humboldt County, California, situated on the bluffs among the redwoods and above the Trinidad Bay kelp forests. The existing Rancheria is within the ancestral territory of the Yurok people and includes many sacred and culturally significant areas. The Tribe’s membership is primarily Yurok and has ancestral ties to the Wiyot and Tolowa peoples.
Since time immemorial, the Yurok, Wiyot and Tolowa people have lived in the coastal redwood forest region of Northern California. Our ancestors were fishers, hunters and gatherers, artisans, and medicine people who subsisted primarily on salmon, clams, mussels and other ocean fish, as well as deer, elk and smaller game animals. Assorted berries and tan oak acorns were also food staples. Year-round ceremonies were, and continue to be, central to the Yurok, Wiyot and Tolowa culture bringing families and villages together to give thanks, heal and pray.
The Tribe was established in 1906 by enactment of the United States Congress, which gave authority for the Federal Government to purchase small tracts of land for homeless California Indians. In 1908, sixty acres of land along U.S. Highway 101 in Humboldt County were purchased for Indians living along the Northern California Coast. We gained federal recognition by the United States Department of the Interior in 1917.
The current government was organized in 1961 under the Articles of Association. At the time, 15 Original Assignees and their families met the criteria of the BIA and established home assignments on the reservation. These individuals made up the base roll of the Tribe. Through their leadership, the Tribe began building programs and enterprises for the benefit of the membership and it is in their honor that we continue to work in balance and respect for the land, the water, and the people.
