Tribal History
The "Sheep Ranch Tribe" is a federally recognized, California Indian tribe that was established in 1915 by a land acquisition act of the U.S. government for homeless Indians. Of the original 12 individuals who were identified as members, Peter Hodge was listed as "the leading member of this little band ....".
Over the decades, various Indians (individuals and families) came and went to and from the "Rancheria" reservation, with the Hodge family being the primary residents through Mable Hodge Dixie and her son, Yakima Kenneth Dixie. Also, in 1936, Jeff Davis is recorded as having voted for the Indian Reorganization Act. In 1996, Mable Hodge Dixie was identified by the government as the sole authority for the Tribe. By Miwok tradition, upon her death in 1971, the Chieftainship passed to her eldest son, Richard Dixie; and upon his death in 1975, the Chieftainship passed to the second eldest son, Yakima Dixie, who continues in that position today.
In 1998, upon the recommendations of the BIA, Mr. Dixie gave tribal status to Silvia Burley, who is a distant relative, so that she might obtain medical and educational benefits for herself and her daughters that accrue to Indians through government programs. In return, Ms. Burley was supposed to help Mr. Dixie organize the Tribe. Instead, she had the authority for the Tribe conveyed to herself and redirected huge sums of money to herself and her family - disenfranchising Mr. Dixie and all other rightful members of the Tribe.
In 1999, Mr. Dixie accidentally discovered his substitution; and the rightful authority for the Tribe has been in dispute since then. In February 2005, the BIA in Washington, D.C. determined that the issue of authority should be resolved by the formal organization the Tribe and that this process be supervised under the auspices of the BIA. On November 6 2006, the local Agency of the Bureau issued a that the organization would proceed; and that is where the matter stands at this time. Ms. Burley appealed that Notice and it is now being resolved within the Interior Board of Indian Appeals.
For a review of the history and legal status of the tribe, see a recent letter to the Attorney General of the State of California from the Solicitor's Office of the Department of Interior.