In the late 1990s our cultural preservation association received an Administration for Native Americans (ANA) grant (~$480,000) to partner with Mono County to build a community center in Lee Vining, CA called the Mono Lake Indian and Lee Vining Community Center. The building opened in 2000 with conference rooms, offices and a daycare. The building also serves temporarily as a refuge for people displaced by storms and wildfire. The smoky skies from wildfires are seen in the background are a growing reality for our small community.
In 2023, the Tribe, in partnership with Eastern Sierra Land Trust, applied for and received roughly $2,000,000 for the purchase of 160 acres of ancestral land for tribal land return. The story is beautifully captured in a story map https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7067be0264f44c6d80e3a1b092627750
In 2024, the Tribe received $81,000 for a tribal research grant from the California Governor’s Office of Land Conservation and Climate Innovation to study the effect of indigenous lifeways on fuels reduction within pinyon pine forests.
In 2024, the Tribe was awarded $100,000 from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy’s (SNC) Tribal Capacity Building grant to hire a grants writer trainee. Three tribal members, including the grants trainee administer aspects of the project.
In 2025, the Tribe was awarded an additional $100,000 from the SNC to work on developing a tribal stewardship project. The grants trainee who will transition to a grants manager will assume primary responsibility for the project with assistance from tribal members as needed.
In 2025, the Tribe was awarded $116,000 for a joint venture with three other Native American tribes to create a tribal alliance dedicated to work with federal agencies in joint stewardship and protection of shared tribal heritage in the Bodie Hills of California and Nevada. The tribal grants manager and tribal chair will administer this grant.
In 2025, the Tribe received $350,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco for the purchase of 8 acres of land in Lee Vining, CA with the goal of building affordable tribal housing.
