Federally recognized sovereign nation
Of the Russian & Eel River headlands,from the beginning.
The Potter Valley Tribe cares for the health, safety, and welfare of our people — stewarding our aboriginal territory, building our economy, and passing our culture on to the generations still to come.
Ukiah, California · Eel River watershed · Pomo Community Forest · 879 acres of ancestral land returned
Current
Notices and announcements
Project · October 3, 2026
2026 ITEY Campout Learning Assessment & Slide Show
Project · October 3, 2026
35th Annual Eel River Cleanup
Press release
Pomo Community Forest established
Established with support from the Trust for Public Land and the USDA Forest Service — returning stewardship of forested land to the people who have always known it.
Program · Documentary
Biochar workshops at PVT & Hopland
Hands-on workshops with members of the Pomo tribes, educators, and environmental practitioners — documented on film. Explore the process, purpose, and community impact of biochar.
Preamble to the Constitution
We, the members of the Potter Valley Tribe, pursuant to our inherent sovereignty as a nation, adopt and establish this Constitution —
For the following purposes:
Every program, enterprise, and acre of land described on this site answers to one of these ten purposes.
- Firstto provide for the health, safety, and welfare of our people
- Secondto promote our economy
- Thirdto preserve, protect, and pass on our culture to future generations
- Fourthto maintain community harmony
- Fifthto achieve fairness and justice
- Sixthto honor our traditions, our ancestors, and our elders
- Seventhto assert and exercise our sovereignty
- Eighthto affirm and build the natural resources of our aboriginal land or any other acquired territory
- Ninthto carry on enterprises for the benefit of our community
- Tenthto establish the duties and rights of the citizens of the Potter Valley Tribe, living on or off reservation
Our core values
Three things we hold to
These values decide who sits at the table, how meetings end, and what we teach the children who come to camp each summer.
Family and respect each other
We are a small nation. Every decision reaches someone’s household by the end of the week.
Elders and community members
Our elders carry the language, the songs, and the memory of this territory. We plan around their needs first.
Tradition for kindness and giving
Giving is not charity here. It is the oldest form of governance we have, and we practice it as one.
Under review
A record of survival
Fifteen hundred people. Then six.
Our own membership rolls tell the plainest version of this history. We publish it because sovereignty is not an abstraction — it is what allowed a nation of six enrolled members to buy back its river, open its doors, and feed one hundred and sixty children last summer.
Before 1850
1,500
Members of the Potter Valley Tribe
By 1908
72
Recorded by the Office of Indian Affairs
2019 — enrolled
Under Review
Enrolled members on the tribal roll
2019 — served
29
Total population served by our programs
See the full historical record
| Year | Members | Population served | Membership, to scale | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-1850 | 1,500Members | 1,500Served | Guerrero, in ASI (2004) | |
| 1855 | 400Members | 400Served | — | |
| 1908 | 72Members | —Served | Office of Indian Affairs | |
| 1913 | 31Members | —Served | Membership Roll | |
| 1916 | 53Members | —Served | US Census | |
| 1993 | 29Members | —Served | Tribal Membership Rolls | |
| 1999 | 31Members | 199Served | Tribal Membership Rolls | |
| 2000 | 42Members | 100Served | HUD Housing Needs Inventory | |
| 2006 | 15Members | 34Served | Tribal Membership Rolls | |
| 2019 | 6Members | 39Served | Tribal Membership Rolls |
Bars drawn to a single linear scale · pre-1850 = 100%
Sources: Guerrero in ASI (2004) · Office of Indian Affairs · Tribal Membership Rolls · Full history on the About page
Under review — content pending approval by the Tribal Council.
Projects and programs
What we are building, right now
Land back into tribal hands, and young people back on that land.
Eel River — Trout Creek and Alder Creek
After a twelve-year process, the Tribe received the donation of forested lands on the main stem of the Eel River in January 2019, negotiated with the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council. A conservation easement is held by the Mendocino Land Trust.
Inter-Tribal Environmental Youth Campout
Held each summer at the Tribe’s Noyo-bida Ranch in Fort Bragg. Sixteen local tribes and five partner organizations join for a week of environmental, cultural, and traditional ecological knowledge workshops — run to a zero-waste goal.
Tribal enterprise
Gram's Coffee House
Espresso, mixed drinks, and blended drinks to go. Gram’s brings a passion to coffee that’s hard to find, with plenty of keto-friendly options — and every cup supports the community it belongs to.
Prices shown for a few favorites — the full menu has many more.
Reach the tribal office
Tell us what you need
Tribal members, agency partners, neighbors, and job seekers are all welcome to call or write.
- Tribal Community Center/Office
- 2251 S State St
Ukiah, CA 95482 - Phone
- (707) 462-1213