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Buena Vista Rancheria

Band of Me­-Wuk Indians

The Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians of California is a federally recognized Indian tribe. The Tribe has been listed by the Secretary of the Interior as such since 1985. The Tribe’s Rancheria land is a 67-acre parcel in Amador County just outside the town of Buena Vista.

"Our Family Story"

The Me-Wuk Indians of the Buena Vista Rancheria are an integral part of California's Native American history.  They lived in and around what is now Amador County for thousands of years. The Oliver family has roots in Amador County as early as 1817. As a result of the Mission Period, Gold Rush and then diseases that Indian people had never been exposed to, the Me-Wuks' numbers shrunk dramatically over the last three centuries. By the late 19th Century, the Me-Wuks in the Amador County area were reduced to a smattering of individual families.

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The Buena Vista Band and its descendents lived through some of the most horrific times in American history...from Casus Oliver and his mother escaping Mission San Jose, to continuing to practice their culture when it was forbidden. Casus Oliver came to Amador County with his mother and joined the settlement of Upusani. Today is what became of one such family, direct lineeal descendents of Louis and Annie Oliver.

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