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California Indian tribe gets back Big Sur ancestral lands

Doug Steakley/AP

This undated photo provided by the Western Rivers Conservancy shows the Little Sur River in Big Sur on the coast of California south of Monterey. A Native American tribe has reclaimed a small part of ancestral lands on California's Big Sur coast that were lost to Spanish colonial settlement nearly 250 years ago. The Mercury News reports the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County closed escrow on 1,199 acres about 5 miles inland from the ocean that was part of a $4.5 million deal involving the state and the Western Rivers Conservancy. It marks the first restoration of any lands to the tribe. The land encompasses old-growth redwoods, oak woodlands, meadows and endangered steelhead trout. (Doug Steakley/Western Rivers Conservancy via AP)

By: Associated Press

Posted at 10:04 AM, Jul 29, 2020

and last updated 2020-07-29 13:04:53-04

BIG SUR, Calif. — A Native American tribe has reclaimed a small part of ancestral lands on California’s Big Sur coast that were lost to Spanish colonial settlement nearly 250 years ago.

The Mercury News reports the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County closed escrow on 1,199 acres about 5 miles inland from the ocean that was part of a $4.5 million deal involving the state and the Western Rivers Conservancy.

It marks the first restoration of any lands to the tribe, which lost 90% of its approximately 1,000 members to disease and other causes by the early 1800s.

The land encompasses old-growth redwoods, oak woodlands, meadows and endangered steelhead trout.

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California Indian tribe gets back Big Sur ancestral lands

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