WELCOME

The Koi Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Southeastern Pomo people located in Sonoma County, California. We are the descendants of one of the oldest tribes of native people in California, with a history in the region of Sonoma and Lake Counties that goes back 17,000 years.

For those many centuries, our people enjoyed a spiritual relationship with the earth and its many gifts. We lived in harmony with the land until our ancestral lands were taken from us 150 years ago, at which time the Koi people found homes in the towns and cities in the Russian River Valley in and around Santa Rosa. A small and poor tract of federal land, known as the Lower Lake Rancheria, was put in trust for the tribe in 1916, but this land was determined to be uninhabitable by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the trust was terminated in 1956.

While we always have remained a sovereign nation, we are a landless one. Without land, our tribal sovereignty has been threatened, along with our ability to create the kind of economic stability for our people that is the goal of every native tribe.

The Koi people of today keep our tribal customs alive and honor the spirit of our ancestors as we seek to regain sovereign land in the region that we have inhabited for millennia. We will use that land to create economic opportunities for the Koi Nation and build a self-sustaining future with greater opportunity for ourselves and future generations.

Our people are proud of our history, preservation and educational efforts, which include two highly acclaimed documentaries. A Walk Through Time: The Story of Anderson Marsh, produced by the Koi Nation in 2017, is the winner of an Emmy Award. Saving the Sacred, produced by the Koi Nation along with the Habematolel Pomo of Upper Lake, examines the protection of sacred native American sites from archaeological crimes, and was an Emmy Award finalist in 2021.

Our tribe has always been a respectful and good neighbor to all the communities where we have resided. With a sovereign land base, we continue to look forward to a bright future for our tribe and our local community.