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The historic Shingle Springs Mewuk of El Dorado County, operating as the Wopumnes Nisenan and Mewuk Heritage Presevation Society nonprofit tax ID 83-2671897 is posting this information for educational purposes.

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WOPUMNES NISENAN AND MEWUK HERITAGE PRESERVATION SOCIETY 

415 Placerville Drive, Ste. B-1247

Placerville, California 95667

(530) 350-9191 | info@wopumnes.com

 

Date: Nov. 4, 2025

 

To:

El Dorado County Board of Supervisors

330 Fair Lane

Placerville, California 95667

 

 

Subject: Formal Demand for Tribal Consultation — Pursuant to CEQA §21080.3.1 and Government Code §65352.3

 

Honorable Supervisors:

 

The Wopumnes Nisenan and Mewuk Heritage Preservation Society represents the direct lineal descendants of the Nisenan and Miwok families enrolled under the California Indian Jurisdiction Act of 1928 (45 Stat. 602) and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1935, whose voters formed the governing body historically associated with the Shingle Springs Indian Reservation.

 

Our organization is the cultural and historical steward of the ancestral Cosumnes River Treaty of 1852 territory and the federally lineal Nisenan and Miwok peoples whose lands include much of present-day El Dorado County. We therefore submit this formal demand for Tribal consultation with the County on all projects proposed, approved, or acted upon between January 1, 2020 and the present, where consultation may have been improperly conducted or substituted by non-lineal parties.

 

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1. Identification of Outside Group

 

We specifically identify as an unauthorized outside group the Regina Cuellar administration and members self-identified as the “Sacramento-Verona Band,” who have unlawfully represented themselves as the “Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians.”

 

No historical, anthropological, or federal record identifies the Sacramento-Verona group as “Miwok.” Their own documents and public statements demonstrate descent from Kanaka (Hawaiian) lineage and Sutter County, not from the Nisenan or Miwok families enrolled in the 1928 or 1935 federal rolls belonging to the ancestral lands of El Dorado County.

 

Accordingly, any tribal consultation conducted by the County with the Sacramento-Verona Band or its representatives does not satisfy State or Federal tribal consultation obligations under CEQA §21080.3.1–3.2, Government Code §65352.3, or Public Resources Code §5097.94.

 

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2. Demand for Corrective Consultation

 

We hereby demand that El Dorado County:

 

1. Suspend and review all projects approved or processed since January 1, 2021 where consultation was conducted with the Sacramento-Verona/Regina Cuellar group;

 

2. Initiate formal government-to-government consultation with the Wopumnes Nisenan and Mewuk Heritage Preservation Society through our Executive Director or authorized representatives;

 

3. Provide a complete list of County projects within the specified period that included tribal consultation or reference to tribal concurrence; and

 

4. Update County tribal contact lists and cultural resource protocols to correctly identify the Wopumnes Nisenan and Mewuk Heritage Preservation Society as the appropriate tribal consultation authority for Nisenan and Miwok heritage lands in El Dorado County.

 

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3. Legal Basis

 

This demand is made pursuant to the following authorities:

 

California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Public Resources Code §§21080.3.1–21080.3.2 (mandating consultation upon written request by a California Native American tribe);

 

Government Code §65352.3 (requiring tribal consultation in general plan and land-use decisions);

 

Public Resources Code §5097.94(a)–(c) (Native American Heritage Commission oversight of tribal consultation); and

 

Executive Order B-10-11 (State of California policy affirming government-to-government relationships with Native tribes).

 

 

Failure to comply with these laws constitutes both procedural and substantive violations subject to administrative and judicial remedy.

 

 

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4. Requested Response

 

Please provide written acknowledgment of this letter and a plan to initiate formal consultation within 30 days of receipt.

 

All correspondence and requests for verification may be directed to:

 

Louie Lawrence Smith, III

Chairman

And

Lisa Perdichizzi

Executive Director / CEO

Wopumnes Nisenan and Mewuk Heritage Preservation Society

415 Placerville Drive, Ste. B-1247

Placerville, California 95667

Email: info@Wopumnes.com

Phone: (530) 350-9191

 

 

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Respectfully submitted,

 

Louie Lawrence Smith, III

Chairman

Wopumnes Nisenan and Mewuk Heritage Preservation Society

 

Cc. Bureau Indian Affairs, Ryan Hunter