How Wilton Rancheria chairman is helping Sacramento-area tribe reclaim its identity
Wilton Rancheria was once stripped of everything.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the tribe lost its federal recognition under the California Rancheria Termination Acts. After decades of fighting, Mary Tarango, the tribe’s former chairwoman of the Elk Grove tribe, regained the nation’s sovereignty in 2009.
Decades later, her son, Jesus Tarango Jr., stepped into her position. Growing up, he watched his mother lead the tribe, and now he’s determined to bring his people into the greater Sacramento community, he said.
“We see the world that we’re in now as untapped, because I don’t really see a lot of tribes getting active with their communities or their counties or the cities,” Tarango, 43, said. “Yes, they partner and do things, but have we ever really worked together to go fight for something that we both need?”
Tarango said he wants Wilton to be a tribal nation that accomplishes “a lot of firsts.” In 2024, Tarango made a historic move by acquiring co-ownership of Sacramento Republic FC, Sacramento’s professional men’s soccer team. With this agreement, the tribe became the first Northern American Native nation to be a majority owner of a men’s professional sports team. This partnership will aid the economic development of the tribe and its citizens through building generational wealth, Tarango said.
With the Sacramento Metro Chamber, Tarango brought the needs of his citizens to the table in Washington D.C., during the organization’s Cap-to-Cap trip. While representing Wilton Rancheria, he advocated for funds to improve the infrastructure of Elk Grove and Wilton Rancheria. Tarango received the Al Geiger Memorial Award by the Chamber for this accomplishment in January.
“Tribes and cities, counties, it doesn’t matter. We should be working together to go after things that are going to benefit our community,” Tarango said.
Overcoming loss
The road toward Wilton Rancheria wasn’t linear. He was stuck in a job at FedEx for 20 years, Tarango said. He spent years “making mistakes,” and struggled with sobriety.
That changed with his cousin, Bobby.
Instead of running in the streets, Tarango said, Bobby came to his house to play G.I. Joes with him like an older brother. As the dance captain in Tarango’s cultural dance group, he taught Tarango to be proud of being Native.
“He always showed me the way on how to treat people above you and beneath you, because of how he treated me,” Tarango said. “I’m seeing this big man who’s very well known, and he is somebody in that world. And here he is taking the time to talk to me and show me the way.”
In 2002, Tarango, Bobby and their cousins planned to spend a day at their grandfather’s ranch. Bobby, who turned back to pick up a forgotten item, was going to be late. As time passed, the room grew eerie, Tarango said. They soon learned Bobby died in a car accident.
At the scene of the accident, Tarango and his cousins found a necklace which belonged to Bobby. It was his gift from the Hesi Dance, a sacred dance ceremony.
Bobby’s death led Tarango to therapy. After one session, Tarango fell apart, he said. He decided who he really wanted to be — a leader to his people.
“That’s how you know how powerful this stuff is that we do,” Tarango said. “But I think good leaders today, you have to have that. You have to know where you come from. This is who you are. You should be practicing it now, because that’s going to get you to the future.”
His path to politics followed as Wilton Rancheria evolved as a nation, he said.
There were still hurdles Tarango had to overcome, he said, like maintaining sobriety. As a child, he watched his grandfather, a survivor of Indian boarding schools, abuse alcohol to cope. Tarango saw the cycle continue in him and his younger brother.
“Even growing up, I think I almost gave my little brother and my little cousins a false sense of what success and what happiness looks like. Money, cars, you’re partying, you have a great job, you’re doing this,” Tarango said. “But you’re missing the biggest, you’re missing your biggest obligation, and that is to teach that next generation how to be.”
Once Tarango stepped into Wilton’s politics, he vowed to stop drinking. As the youngest member on council, he had to prove he was mature enough to lead.
“When you make choices like that, it’s like turning that light switch on,” Tarango said.
The journey towards tribal leadership
Tarango serves more than 1,000 citizens with Nisenan and Miwok ancestry, the tribe told The Sacramento Bee in previous reporting. In 2016, Tarango became the youngest tribal leader in Wilton Rancheria’s history, serving on tribal council at 35. He served as a vice chairman in 2018 and was elected as the youngest chairman in 2020.
Throughout his term, Tarango got back 77 acres of land for the tribe. This site will be home to education and recreation centers, he previously told The Bee. He also helped organize Sacramento’s first Native American parade which brought visibility to the tribe. Tarango said he, alongside other regional tribes, are forming a regional task force to investigate Missing and Murdered Indigenous People cases and provide resources to families.
In 2023, Tarango advocated for Assembly Bill 338, which built a statue of William “Bill” Franklin, a renowned elder of Wilton Rancheria, replacing the sculpture of Junipero Serra, who took part in the California genocide of Native tribes. Tarango knew Franklin as Grandpa Bill.
For Raquel Williams, it seems like she has known Tarango forever that she’s lost count of time, she said. As vice chairwoman of the tribe, she described him as passionate, driven and respectful. Tarango is “one of those people who will support you and care for you even when you have no idea,” she said.
“The Chairman has the ability and the want to keep people together when there’s something that needs to be tackled, or there’s a task at hand, or something for the greater good. He wants everybody to be involved,” Williams said.
Being a leader isn’t easy, Tarango said. You’ll be criticized and people are always looking towards you, he said. While he’s been chairman for years, Tarango said he’s still growing. Just as the tribe is.
“That’s who I am today, but I’m definitely not finished. I think there’s a lot more that I need to learn, the things we still need to continue to improve,” Tarango said.
This story was originally published February 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
