Returning Indigenous voices to our public lands
An Indigenous future for Felix Cove
Stolen ancestral homelands
On the west shores of Támal-liwa (Tomales Bay) within Point Reyes National Seashore, Felix Cove was home to the last Támal-ko (Coast Miwok) family to live on their ancestral lands.
The Felix Family lived and raised families at the cove, drawing on the ecological knowledge of their ancestors to live sustainably from Mother Earth. But in the 1950s, ranchers claimed title to the cove and used California property law to evict the Felix family.
Victor Sousa, son of Bertha Felix, fought the eviction with the assistance of Marin County District Attorney William O. Weissich. State courts ruled in favor of the ranchers. The same ranchers gained financial benefit through the sale of these Támal-ko ancestral lands to the National Park Service for the creation of the National Seashore. For over seventy years the Felix family was forced into a distant relationship with the cove, an exile.
Toward a shared vision
Building a relationship with the National Park Service
With the National Park Service we share goals of telling “All American Stories” of Park lands. In 2021 the Alliance for Felix Cove began with a meeting between Felix Family members and the Park Superintendent for Point Reyes. Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria were invited and declined.
In 2023 after two years of meetings with the Park and Point Reyes National Seashore Association, the Superintendent invited the Alliance to submit a vision plan as the first step towards a cooperative agreement.
A cooperative agreement would allow the Alliance to steward the cove and bring financial resources to restore the house - allowing family to safely enter the home of their mothers, aunts, uncles and grandparents. The Alliance developed this vision plan to offer a roadmap for rematriating Felix Cove.
Our vision begins with bringing together Indigenous care and ecological practices with community planning. It leads to the creation of a Felix Family Living History Center – a space where everyone can connect with Indigenous stories and lifeways and deepen their relationship to Mother Earth.
Explore the Vision Plan
At the Crossroads
The potential for an Indigenous renewal
of our park lands
The National Park Service has taken a significant step forward by essentially ending commercial ranching in Point Reyes National Seashore. In partnership with The Nature Conservancy, NPS was awarded $2.7 million in state funding to begin restoring the Park’s ecosystem, enabling plants and animals to return to healthy lands and waters.
In imaging the future of Point Reyes, this is a moment of extraordinary opportunity. But to truly care for these lands, as our friends at Audubon Canyon Ranch have said, “it is going to take a community.” True healing of these lands requires the participation of the diverse communities of Coast Miwok, Támal-ko, Pomo, California Indian, San Francisco Bay Area Indian peoples and Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, who hold ties to these ancestral lands, along with naturalists, environmental advocates, local residents, and the National Park Service. Current conversations around the Park’s future have yet to invite community perspectives, including Indigenous ecological scientists and traditional ecological knowledge holders based on what we find in media reports.
This absence of Indigenous voices calls us to share our vision plan for Felix Cove as presented to NPS in 2023. While this plan represents our imagining from two years ago, it is grounded in community participation. Today we continue to work toward the creation of an Indigenous community vision that brings back the beauty and abundance nurtured by the ancestors.
Stand with us!
Join the Alliance in creating an Indigenous-centered Felix Cove where all peoples can learn to live sustainably in the ways of the ancestors.
Add your email address below to share your support for returning Indigenous lands to Indigenous hands! You’ll begin receiving our newsletter that includes invitations to powerful cultural events and opportunities for getting involved in our work to “create Felix Cove as an Indigenous site of survivance embodying history, culture, science, and community.”
Together we will create a place of healing, beauty, and creativity where Indigenous and all peoples can deepen their relationship to Mother Earth in a sustainable way.