UC Davis

California Indians have been subject to genocide and colonization resulting in traumatic events that reverberate through time and space. This is exemplified by the ongoing desecration of Native American graves. Depopulated, landless, legally disenfranchised, and economically devastated, California Indians were powerless to protect their graves as Americans populated Indian territories and altered the landscape to accommodate western agriculture and infrastructure.This dissertation examines this history in the greater Sacramento valley, which is a significant location due to the region’s role in the California Gold Rush, and due to the presence of one of the first California archaeological programs at Sacramento Junior College in the Early to Mid-20th Century. This region is also significant to The Ione Band of Miwok Indians, the Tribe of which the author is a citizen, and a short history of the Tribe is provided in this text. Additionally, this dissertation analyzes federal and state legislation that facilitates the repatriation of Native American ancestors and cultural items. Finally, this dissertation offers a proposal in the form of a theoretical strategic plan to repatriate ancestors from the Sacramento region. This plan focuses on Amador and Sacramento Counties but lays groundwork that can be adaptable to other areas that are significant to the Miwok and Nisenan tribes of the Sacramento region.