Santa Rosa Rancheria is the reservation of the Santa Rosa Indian Community of the Santa Rosa Rancheria. It is located 4.5mile southeast of Lemoore, California. Established in 1934 on about 40acre, the Santa Rosa Rancheria belongs to the federally recognized Tachi Yokuts tribe. It is the site of the Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino. The population was 517 at the time of the 2000 United States Census and had increased to 652 by the 2010 United States Census. In 2010, 288 residents (44.2% of the total) were under 18 and 29 (4.4%) were 65 and over.Ruben Barrios was elected as the Tribal Chairman in 2009. The previous Tribal Chairman, Clarence Atwell Jr., served in that position for 42 years and died in 2013.The Santa Rosa Rancheria expanded in size over the years to 643acre by the beginning of 2008. On May 28, 2008, then–Tribal Chairman Clarence Atwell Jr. and Dale Morris, Pacific Region Director of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, signed documents that added 1163acre of trust land, thus enlarging the Rancheria to 1806acre.Tachi HistoryThe Santa Rosa Rancheria belongs to the federally recognized Tachi-Yokut Tribe. The Indians of the San Joaquin Valley were known as Yokuts. The word "Yokuts" means people. By the end of the 19th century, the Tachi Yokut Tribe was split across the central and southern parts of California. The Yokuts were divided into tribes with each having a name, a language, and a territory. They are called the seed-gatherers because they did no farming at all in the days before Columbus. Their main food was acorns. The Yokuts also ate wild plants, roots, and berries. They hunted deer, rabbits, prairie dogs, and other small mammals and birds. They made simple clothing out of bark and grass. Their jewelry and headbands were made of seeds and feathers.
