Location of trust land for the Tejon Indian Tribe

The Tejon Indian Tribe is one of 16 tribes across the United States that will be receiving federal grant funds earmarked for the protection of America’s native cultures this year.

The National Park Service announced Wednesday that $531,187 in grant money is being awarded from its Historic Preservation Fund. Of that amount, the Tejon Indian Tribe is in line for $36,369. The only other California tribe on the list is the Karuk Tribe in the Klamath area ($39,911).

The Tejon tribe’s federal status was reaffirmed in 2012. It is currently undergoing environmental review of a planned casino on 306 acres in Kern County, just north of the Interstate 5-Highway 99 split.

“These grants from the Historic Preservation Fund represent one of the many ways the National Park Service works closely with tribes to help protect the cultures and history of America’s original inhabitants,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.

Tribal communities will use these grant funds to preserve cultural practices; survey and protect historic and archeological sites; and fund historic preservation education and training.

For example, tribal elders of the Muscogee Creek Nation in Oklahoma will use grant funds to mentor at-risk youth, teaching them the customary use of traditional items and the meaning of ceremonial grounds and traditional dances.

The Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa community in Michigan will collect oral histories of key historic events and developments integral to the community that will be featured in an exhibit for use in community outreach and education.

In Arizona, the Yavapai-Apache Nation will document and map the 180 mile route by which their ancestors were removed from their homelands and forced to march over rugged terrain.

Administered by the National Park Service, Tribal Heritage Grants are a part of annual appropriations from the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF).  Since its inception in 1977, the HPF has provided more than $1.2 billion in historic preservation grants to states, tribes, local governments, and non-profit organizations.  The funding is provided by Outer Continental Shelf oil lease revenues, not tax dollars, with intent to mitigate the loss of a non-renewable resource to benefit the preservation of other irreplaceable resources.

A full list of this year’s awards follows.

HISTORIC PRESERVATION FUND GRANTS TO INDIAN TRIBES