Graton Resort and Casino is owned and operated by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria and is located in Rohnert Park, just a couple miles away from Sonoma State. When I was driving around Rohnert Park and Cotati looking for Native American names I thought I’d head over to the casino to see if there was anything to indicate an association to local tribes. In California the only legal centers for most card and all dice or slot machine gambling are “Indian casinos” located on native-owned land. Graton Rancheria has been in the news for years, primarily because of controversy surrounding the building of the casino. I assumed “Graton” wasn’t a Native American name or word, and I thought it might be worth taking a look at. I was curious which tribes are recognized and included in this group, and why are they called “Graton Rancheria”?
Sonoma County was home to many tribes, most of whom are categorized under a broad umbrella of Coast Miwok or Southern Pomo based on language and cultural similarities. As Europeans, Spanish Missionaries, and eventually settlers moved into the area local natives were displaced and population numbers fell rapidly. In 1920, the Bureau of Indian Affairs purchased a 15 acre parcel west of the town of Sebastopol for Coast Miwoks which became the home to local Native Americans, federally recognized as Graton Rancheria. The term “rancheria” appears to date back to Mexican occupation of California and refers to land holdings that were granted to Native Americans in the post-Mission period. The town of Graton was named after a local realtor and has no association to local Natives.
There is a lot to unpack here in terms of ownership, disenfranchisement, autonomy, and the meaning of belonging. Digging a little deeper to find information about something I drive by every day raised more questions than it answered and to me that is the one of the most exciting things about what we’re doing in this class, but also what I love about anthropology: by examining those things that we usually take for granted or accept unquestioningly we change the way we see the world around us.
https://www.aaanativearts.com/graton-rancheria-timeline.htm
http://santarosahistory.com/wordpress/2009/08/birth-of-graton/