Keeping the Beat of Our Ancestors’ Hearts

WHO WE ARE

The Alliance for Felix Cove advocates for the protection and restoration of the only remaining 19th century Tomalko (Coast Miwok Tomales Bay)-built home at Point Reyes National Seashore.

The Alliance aims to re-indigenize the ancestral homelands of the Felix Family—the last Tomalko family to live on the western shores of Tomales Bay at Felix Cove known as Laird’s Landing.

Indigenous Youth Kayak Program 2023

Bringing back the vitality of Indigenous pathways as practiced by our ancestors, the spirit of living with Mother Earth, is at the center of our work. That process unfolds in this beautiful video on our Indigenous Youth Kayak Program.

Video production by Hewitt Visuals

The Spirit of Living with Mother Earth

Reawakening Indigenous Lifeways for Future Generations

It’s been well over two centuries since the waters of Tamal-liwa, now known as Tomales Bay, were dotted with tule canoes traditionally made by Támal-ko people. But last fall, a brand new tule canoe set out on Tamal-liwa–one made entirely by a group of young people learning the ancestral practices of the Támal-ko.

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Two men backs to viewer standing on ancestral lands in hills outside Nicasio.

flowers and shells laid out in the shape of a heart on the port of the felix family home

Support the restoring of Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko history

As the movement to return Indigenous lands into Indigenous hands continues to grow, in Northern California, the Alliance for Felix Cove is fighting to protect, restore and rematriate the ancestral homelands of the Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko Felix Family.

Donate today in support of restoring Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko history and to save the Felix Family home and ancestral land so that future generations can walk in the footsteps of our Tamal-ko ancestors at Tamal-liwa. Wali ka molis.

Donate

The Power of Indigenous Women’s Leadership

What does it mean to be Indigenous-women led?

Hear it directly from the Strawberry Sisters Leadership Circle – the group of powerful, dynamic Indigenous women whose experiences, wisdom, and fortitude have shaped the Alliance’s vision for rematriation from the very beginning.

Strawberry Sister Leadership Circle members (two missing) and esteemed guests at our annual retreat. April 2024.

Indigenous youth sitting inside a tule canoe on the water at white house pool

Celebrating the Return of Indigenous Land to Indigenous Hands Across Northern California

The return of Indigenous land into Indigenous hands is always a significant and powerful step toward justice. And we are overjoyed that Indigenous people and communities across Northern California are now successfully reclaiming access to their traditional homelands – to protect for future generations.

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Sister Reflections

Coming Home to the Cove

A Story of Family, Memory, and Stolen Land

an Emergence Magazine Production

Episode 3 of 3

Spanish missions, boarding schools, and ranching empires drove many Coast Miwok people from their ancestral land in Northern California, targeting the erasure of their history and identity. As the Point Reyes National Seashore deliberates the fate of the last standing Coast Miwok structures on Tomales Bay, on a homestead built by Theresa Harlan’s family, she continues her grassroots efforts to involve the wider community in protecting them.

Listen to the Series

OUR FOCUS

Share the Story

At least four generations of the Tomalko (Coast Miwok Tomales Bay) Felix Family are known to have lived at Felix Cove. We want to share that story with the world.
Photographs courtesy © Jocelyn Knight
Connect

We have a passion for gathering Indigenous peoples together who work to re-Indigenize ancestral lands held as public and private lands.
Community

We are building strategic alliances with Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) organizations, environmental and climate justice organizations.
Grow the Cause

We aim to be a catalyst for the creation of the Felix Family Historical District, a Felix Family living history center and Indigenous plant garden at Point Reyes National Seashore.