Project overview: Continue work to implement the Wahhoga Indian Cultural Site vision. Complete construction of the roundhouse, explore utility connections, and update site plans and signage.

How your support helps: Wahhoga, or the Indian Cultural Center, is considered by the seven affiliated Tribes of Yosemite to be the spiritual center of the park. It’s a place for Tribal ceremony and, eventually, public education.

The goal to create an Indian Cultural Center in Yosemite Valley was included in Yosemite’s 1980 management plan, and for decades, Tribal members have worked to realize the vision. Years later, construction finally began on a roundhouse at the Wahhoga site west of Camp 4, where the last American Indian village in the Valley was dismantled in 1969. Tribal community members are building the roundhouse using traditional materials and techniques.

Conservancy donors have supported the Wahhoga project through multiple grants, including funds for site planning and roundhouse construction. Ultimately, the Wahhoga site will include multiple structures and will serve as a cultural, spiritual, and gathering space for Yosemite’s Tribes, as well as an educational center for park visitors.

This year: Conservancy funding for 2022 will help clear the path toward completion of Wahhoga, including updating site plans and signage, installation of utilities, and completing construction of the roundhouse.

Project partners: Yosemite National Park and the Wahhoga Committee 

Liz Williams

Cultural Anthropologist/Tribal Liaison, Yosemite National Park

Project Notes

"Wahhoga, or the Indian Cultural Center, is the place in Yosemite designated to let the world know that Yosemite tribes are still here.”