Help Return a Vast Wild Landscape to the Washoe People
In January 2026, the new Wášiw-šiw Land Trust plans to acquire 10,274 acres in the homelands of the Wel-Mel-Ti (Northern Washoe people). This is a historic and long-awaited moment for our people -- the return to Washoe ownership and care of land our ancestors stewarded for thousands of years.
The property we will be acquiring is vast and diverse. It lies approximately 20 miles north of Reno and straddles the mountains from Long Valley in the east to Sierra Valley in the west. The landscape rises from sagebrush scrub and grasslands in the east to conifer forests, aspen groves and mountain meadows. It includes pinyon pines, juniper woodlands, rocky crags, springs and perennial creeks.
Pronghorn, mule deer, mountain lions, and gray wolves all move through this land, as they have for thousands of years. The land also supports plants of cultural importance to the Washoe, including pinyon pine, a food source that has been devastated by recent wildfires throughout our homelands.
The Land Is Calling Us Back
And we are answering her call. This land is the first of many we hope to return to the care of the Washoe people. Returning lands to Washoe ownership and stewardship allows us to restore the abundance of culturally important plants and wildlife, protect sacred sites and re-establish gathering places and ceremonies. It also allows us to cultivate and diffuse Washoe Ecological Knowledge and nurture the well-being of tribal members through immersive language, cultural and lifeways.
Join Us
We need your financial help. Whether you are a member of our tribe or simply a friend, you have an important role to play. Working together, we can start to heal the deep pain created by the forced displacement of the Washoe people from so much of our homeland. Your leadership in supporting the return of lands to tribal ownership and stewardship is a powerful act of respect and cultural justice.
In our culture, land, language, food and life are bound together, inseparable. When our people were displaced from the land, we were separated from everything that sustained us. The impacts were devastating.
This is a cultural and economic turning point for our people. By supporting our work, you can join us in creating a new future for our people, and for the land that sustains us.
We Need Your Help
We are just getting started. In the next few months, we will be hiring staff, acquiring land, developing restoration plans, and starting the long-term work of healing the land. We will also be starting to get Washoe elders and youth out on the land together, so the elders can share their knowledge with younger members of the tribe. This is a joyful time for us, but we have a lot of work to do.
Every dollar you give will make a big difference. For the land, and for our culture. Your support is needed and appreciated.
While the Washoe Tribe works to set up the Wášiw-šiw Land Trust as an independent nonprofit organization, we invite you to support our work by making a tax-deductible contribution to the Washoe Tribe of NV and CA.
Your tax-deductible donation to the Washoe Tribe of NV and CA will support the acquisition and management of natural lands for conservation and cultural purposes, and the launch of the Wášiw-šiw Land Trust, a new nonprofit to advance this important public purpose.
Please join our GoFundMe campaign
or Mail your donation to:
Washoe Tribe of NV and CA
919 Highway 395 North
Gardnerville, NV 89410
Please make your check out to Washoe Tribe of NV and CA
and write Washoe Land Return in the memo line.
Thank You!
Photo and video credit: ©Elizabeth Carmel