Yosemite to revisit tribal ties to park

Yosemite National Park will review its visitor brochures, information booths and historical archives to ensure that local tribes’ ancestral ties to the treasured landscape are accurately reflected.

Acting Supt. Dave Uberuaga last month requested the sweeping reexamination of the park’s tribal relations program, including an oft-visited American Indian replica village built near Yosemite’s falls.

National Park Service officials say no other park has undertaken such a broad review of its storytelling about the sometimes brutal confrontations that helped create the country’s cherished preserves.

The effort comes after criticism from the Mono Lake Paiutes, some of whom dispute how Yosemite’s history has been portrayed.

A handful of vocal members say they were the park’s first stewards and that the Southern Sierra Miwok -- highlighted in many of the visitor exhibits -- have played down the Paiute role in the area.

For three years, Paiute activist David Andrews has scoured archives at UC Berkeley, pored over photos of Yosemite Indians and petitioned park rangers to change what he terms are historical wrongs in the park’s displays.

“Before, they would tell us to go away and that we shouldn’t ask questions,” Andrews said. “Now we see we have a democratic society where we can access government records and request change. This looks like hope to me.”