Wilton Rancheria tribe marks 17 years since regaining federal status
Wilton Rancheria notes an important anniversary this month, an historic day for the Native American tribe based in Elk Grove.
On June 8, Wilton Rancheria celebrated 17 years since the tribe was regained formal federal recognition and could operate as a sovereign nation once again. The tribe is currently the only federally recognized Native nation in Sacramento County and considered the original stewards of the region.
“This is when my people were able to call themselves a people again,” said Jesus Tarango, chairman of Wilton Rancheria.
Federal recognition gives tribes sovereignty, which allows Native nations to self-govern, according to the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Federally recognized tribes are permitted to create their own laws, place land into federal trust, and form their own tribal courts. Their citizens are given voting rights and become eligible for healthcare, housing and educational programs. Tarango describes it as the “ability and right to self-govern.”
“Our sovereignty is an inherent right,” the chairman said. “We have an inherent right to protect those lands that we come from...in the Sacramento region.”
The history of Wilton Rancheria
Wilton Rancheria has more than 1,600 citizens of mostly Miwok and Nisenan heritage, tribes Indigenous to the Sacramento region. In 1851, the signing of the Treaty at Forks of Cosumnes River promised land along the Cosumnes River where local tribes could live.
In 1928, Wilton Rancheria became a nation, with 38.77 acres of land held in trust in Wilton for members of the tribe.
This time was short-lived, Tarango said. Due to the California Rancheria Termination Acts, the tribe lost its recognition in 1964, according to the tribe’s website. These acts were a part of the state’s termination policy of Native communities, which sought to assimilate Native communities into mainstream society. With its passing, Wilton Rancheria lost the ability to act as a sovereign nation alongside the United States.
“From 1929 to 1958, that’s a generation missed,” Tarango said. “That’s a generation lost.”
The grandchildren of the original Wilton Rancheria residents fought for decades to reclaim their federal status, including Tarango’s mother, Mary Tarango. In 1991, those descendants reassembled Wilton Rancheria’s tribal government, and in 1999 requested that federal recognition be restored.
After a 7-year legal battle initiated in 2002, Wilton Rancheria was restored as a federally recognized tribe.
Mary Tarango called the restoration of sovereignty the end of a “long struggle for justice,” and the beginning of unity for the Wilton Rancheria people. Almost 20 years later, her son called it the “greatest day in (his) people’s history.”
“When (we’re) talking about what this month means and what this date means to us, it’s a national holiday for my people,” Tarango said.
Wilton Rancheria today
Wilton Rancheria has become an integral part of the Sacramento region’s economy.
The Rancheria opened the Sky River Casino in Elk Grove in 2022 alongside Boyd Gaming Corporation. Just this year, in April, the 100,000-square-foot gaming and entertainment facility announced the casino’s planned expansion, including a luxury hotel.
The tribe also has majority ownership of Sacramento Republic FC, Sacramento’s professional men’s soccer team. It became the first Northern American tribe with majority ownership of a men’s professional sports team. The tribe has also invested $7.5 million to support Sacramento State athletics and its Native American institution, Wileety Native American College.
As members of the greater Sacramento County community, the tribe has partnered with Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper and Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho to review unsolved cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. The partnership has expanded to other counties and law enforcement agencies.
Chris Franklin, the chief operations officer of Wilton Rancheria, said the tribe is investing in supporting and protecting “seven generations ahead” of its nation through economic and cultural development.
“Economic development is really one of the most tangible expressions of sovereignty,” Franklin said. “When we invest, when we build, and we create jobs, we’re really exercising our self-determination in real time.”
While reflecting on the history of the tribe and regaining its federal recognition, Tarango called on education for local government entities on what it means to work with a sovereign Native nation. As the “Capitol tribe,” he said, Wilton wants to work more with local governments in the area.
“What Wilton does, and what Wilton has been doing, it helps transform our region,” Tarango said. “ (It’s) pulling in these other tribes and our local government to come in and provide something bigger and better for all the people that come here.”
