“Our Elders had a vision. They would create a place in Yosemite Valley, our ancestral homelands, where our people could come to honor the ancestors’ while living and sharing our cultural heritage. This place would be for all the people to come for education and healing.”
Wahhoga Village rests quietly at the western end of Yosemite Valley’s core. This place is an educational and cultural center as well as a place of healing. The restoration of Wahhoga Village was founded and led by the American Indian Council of Mariposa County (AICMC), which is a non-profit organization associated with the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation (SSMN). The village is now stewarded by the Wahhoga Committee, an organization designated by the SSMN/AICMC Tribal Council who carry on the mission of the founders. As such, the story of Wahhoga is not one for Yosemite National Park to tell, but one we encourage curious visitors to learn about from Native voices. SSMN/AICMC has written extensively about Wahhoga. Yosemite Conservancy, the park's partner organization, also sells some materials about the site. This page serves as an acknowledgment of the importance of Wahhoga and its history. 
BackgroundWahhoga is located on the site of an ancient Native village. This historical site was called Wa-ha'-ka. Archeological evidence suggests this location had been used as early as the Late Prehistoric 1 Period, between 1200 BCE to 650 BCE, or over 3000 years ago. Firsthand European American accounts describe this Native village in the late 19th to early 20th centuries. After this period, American soldiers drove the Native people out of the valley.Most Native people were forcibly removed from Yosemite Valley in the early 1900s, but some remained, and others made their way back to their homelands and found jobs working for Yosemite National Park. Some of the Native people who were employed in the park were permitted to live in the valley again, in a location known as the Old Village. The Old Village was established on the site of an ancient village called Yó-watch-ke near today’s Yosemite Valley Clinic. In 1930, the park relocated the Native people living in the Old Village to the New Village, which was constructed on the site of the ancient village of Wa-ha'-ka. Families lived in the New Village for over 30 years—until the park decided to disband the village. As people left, all but one of their homes were burned by the park. 
The People“Wahhoga Village will be a place where the Indian people conduct traditional ceremonies and cultural activities crucial to the survival of our culture, the healing of the land, and the people.”
filler- Vernett “Sis” Calhoun, Tribal Elder The advocacy of the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation/American Indian Council of Mariposa County and its people and elders are the entire reason Wahhoga exists today. Les James, Jay Johnson, Sis Calhoun, Bill Tucker, and Rollie Fillmore are just a few people the park worked with to bring the shared dream of an Indian Cultural Center into being. Members of the Wahhoga Committee today, such as Dino Brochini and Deborah Tucker, continue to work to achieve this mission. Ultimately, Wahhoga is envisioned as a place for all Native people. 
Left image
Right image
AccomplishmentsMuch progress has been made on Wahhoga since 1980. The list below summarizes some of the achievements since 2018, with the primary actor(s) listed in parentheses.Past Projects
Present and Future Goals
Additional ResourcesPlease look through these links to learn more about Wahhoga.
|
Last updated: October 6, 2026