Cultural Resources
Greetings from the Cultural Resources Department.
Haw lesh ma’ and Munahoo are standard greetings from two distinctly different Native American languages at Table Mountain Rancheria. The old language, Gashowu, is a dialect of the Yokuts language, similar to Tachi and Chukchansi. The Mono language is also spoken here. Our Department was formed in 1997 as a division of the Table Mountain Rancheria Tribal Government in part to help develop a Cultural Center and Museum, and record and preserve oral history, language and stories.
The Museum Collections at Table Mountain Rancheria began when Tribal Elders from the area would occasionally bring up baskets to Tribal Council to sell. Over the last century and a half, much of our priceless Tribal heritage had found its way into private collections as well. The Tribe has made every effort to bring these pieces of our shared heritage home.
Since 1996, this incredible collection of Native American art at Table Mountain Rancheria has grown to include baskets from over 20 different Tribes or Tribal groups in California. Work is under way to complete traditional village exhibits on our Native Plant Trail, developed in partnership with the Tribal Youth Council. We hope to open the doors to a new Cultural Center and Museum in the near future.
Village exhibits, funded in part by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), for the future Cultural Center and Museum at Table Mountain Rancheria.
The Mono village of Chawanakee Flats, then (1898) ….. and now (2013)
History • Culture • Language • Preservation • Repatriation • Archaeology
Under the authority of the Tribal Council, our responsibilities also include preserving and protecting the cultural and historical resources of the Tribe through consultation with neighboring Tribes, local, state and federal agencies, working closely with our community and Tribal Elders.
Table Mountain Rancheria, in partnership with our neighboring Tribes, is part of the Central California Yokuts NAGPRA Coalition, formed to address the rightful return and respectful reburial of Yokuts ancestral remains and cultural objects from federally funded institutions as required by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and CalNAGPRA.
Other state and federal laws such as the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Historic Preservation Act guide the Tribe and its local, state and federal agency partners to protect sacred places and the Tribe’s irreplaceable heritage.
Tribal Cultural Resources staff with Tribal Chairman emeritus Lewis Barnes, surveying the old trail from Table Mountain Rancheria to Camp McKenzie.