LEE VINING, Calif.
They were expert hunters, gatherers and basket weavers who lived for thousands of years on a trade route over the Sierra Nevada range connecting them with the rest of California.
The modern history of the Mono Lake Kutzadika Paiute people is told mostly through economic hardship, displacement and a 150-year fight for federal recognition as a distinct Native American tribe a step needed to establish a sovereign land base to call home.
Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) on Saturday ventured into their lunar-like ancestral landscape of bizarre craggy formations, dormant volcanoes and jagged peaks and delivered good news during an emotional meeting with leaders of the tribe whose members have dwindled from 4,000 to 83.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Without federally protected land to call home, Mono Lake Paiute tribal members are scattered across the state. But their spiritual hubs remain nearby the almost million-year-old alkaline Mono Lake in the shadows of the jagged eastern escarpment of the Sierra Nevada.
The tribe takes its name from its traditional word for what was once a high-protein food source, the pupae of tiny black alkaline flies that carpet the Mono Lake shoreline. They have a crunchy, nutty flavor, which makes them very snackable when dried.
The tribe’s ancestors adapted to life in the high-altitude valley with short growing seasons by irrigating villages, harvesting pine nuts and hunting pronghorn antelope and jackrabbits for food and pelts for clothing.
A century-old fight for tribal recognition simmers over the eastern Sierra Nevada s Mono Lake msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The governor s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The petitioners submitted their letter Friday. The signers were Sens. Patricia Bates, R-Laguna Niguel, and Scott Wilk, R-Lancaster, along with Sens. Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, Andreas Borgeas, R-Fresno, Brian Dahle, R-Redding, Shannon Grove, R-Yucca Valley, Melissa Hurtado, D-Hanford, Brian Jones, R-El Cajon, and Jim Nielsen, R-Roseville; Sen.-elect Rosilicie Bogh, R-Rancho Cucamonga, and Assemblywoman Monique Limon, D-Santa Barbara. We urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to reclassify restaurants as essential businesses and adopt the industry s protocols that would allow restaurants to operate safely, the letter reads. The future of thousands of restaurants, their employees and the unique character of our local communities are dependent on the survival of this industry.