A Century of Waiting: Help the Mono Lake Kutzadika’a Tribe be RecognizedFor nearly a century, my family has carried a dream that has never faded, the dream that the Mono Lake Kutzadika’a Tribe will finally receive the federal recognition our people have worked so long to achive. According to our family’s history, my grandmother began this journey in 1928. she believe that one day our people would be recognized not only for who we are, but for who we have always been. She never saw that day. Today, my mother is 93 years old. My greatest hope is that she will live to witness the moment our tribe is finally recognized by the United States. After generations of waiting, that recognition would mean more than a legal designation. It would be the fulfillment of a promise carried through our family for nearly 100 years. Every elder we lose takes with them stories, language, traditions, and knowledge that cannot be replaced. Federal recognition is not about the past alone. It is about ensuring that our future, our culture, and our children have the opportunity to continue the traditions that have existed around Mono Lake since time immemorial.
Our homeland is not simply where we live. It is who we are. The waters of Mono Lake, the surrounding mountains, the plants, wildlife, and sacred places are woven into our identity. For countless generations, our people have lived in relationship with this extraordinary landscape, caring for it and drawing life from it. Protecting this land is not only an environmental responsibility; it is a cultural and spiritual obligation.
One person who has devoted her life to this mission is my cousin, Charlotte Lange. Through decades of dedicated leadership, she has worked tirelessly to preserve the lands and waters of Mono County while strengthening and protecting the Kutzadika'a tribal community. Her perseverance reflects the determination of generations of tribal members who have refused to let our history disappear.
Today, legislation recognizing the Mono Lake Kutzadika'a Tribe has been introduced in Congress, continuing years of bipartisan efforts to achieve federal recognition. This legislation would acknowledge our tribe's longstanding presence in the Mono Basin and make our people eligible for the same federal recognition afforded to other federally recognized tribes.
As we approach 100 years of waiting, we are asking people across America and especially those in Washington, D.C. to hear our story. Recognition is about justice. It is about honoring a people who have never left their homeland.It is about preserving one of California's most remarkable cultural landscapes, and it is about allowing our elders to see that their lifelong efforts were not in vain.
Please help us bring awareness to the Mono Lake Kutzadika'a Tribe. Share our story. Tell others why Mono Lake matters, not only as one of America's natural treasures, but as the ancestral homeland of a living Indigenous people who continue to protect it. We have waited nearly a century. We pray the next generation will not have to wait another.