Tribal Relations
The Angeles National Forest is the ancestral and traditional homelands of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians (Serrano), Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians (Tataviam), Gabrieleno - San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians (Tongva), Gabrieleno Kizh (Kizh), Tejon Indian Tribe (Kitanemuk, Yokuts, and Chumash), and Ventureño Chumash (Chumash). Over decades, these Tribes have maintained and continue their connection and relationship with their ancestral lands to this day.
We honor America’s first inhabitants and the Tribal Nations that continue to thrive and who maintain their connections with USDA Forest Service managed lands. The USDA Forest Service would like to recognize the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, their inherent sovereignty, and recommit to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.
Welcome to Tribal Relations Program site for the Angeles National Forest. The USDA Forest Service recognizes American Indians as people with distinct cultures and traditional values. American Indians have a unique legal and political relationship with the government of the United States. This relationship is defined by history, treaties, statutes, executive orders, policies, court decisions, and the United States Constitution. Policy states that the USDA Forest Service will:
- Maintain a governmental relationship with Federally-recognized Tribal governments
- Implement our programs and activities honoring Tribal rights and fulfill legally mandated trust responsibilities
- Administer programs and activities to address and be sensitive to traditional relations beliefs and practices
- Provide research, transfer of technology, and technical assistance to Tribes.
The primary goal of the Tribal Relations Program at the Angeles National Forest is to maintain the relationships between the USDA Forest Service and Tribal governments, and the local American Indian communities, and organizations. The Angeles National Forest engages members of the local Tribal communities in a proactive program that facilitates mutual understanding of national forest management. The forest’s Tribal Relations Program Manager formally meets with American Indian groups on a regular basis to discuss a wide range of issues, including traditional practices, forest projects, management concerns, and archaeological investigations at the forest.
Although it is currently temporarily closed, one example of a successful partnership is the Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center. The American Indian community was seeking a place by which they could “reconnect to their roots” in a natural environment. The USDA Forest Service was able to provide a vacant fire station, through a permit, for use by the community. Haramokngna, "the place where people gather," has become a place for local Tribal members share their culture, heritage, and traditions with each other and provide educational information about local Tribes with the public, including visitors to the San Gabriel Mountains.