The Amah Mutsun are not a federally recognized tribe, due to the vagaries of history. They have no land, no sovereignty and no access to funds, health care and education that other tribes receive.

Present-day Amah Mutsun trace their lineage back to two tribes of Central Coast natives, the San Benito-Santa Clara Valley Mutsun and the Santa Cruz Awaswas. After two-and-a-half centuries of Spanish, Mexican and American rule, only 600 enrolled members remain. Most, like Val and Sonya, are unable to live in their ancestral home.

Mutsun elders applied for federal recognition through the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) in 1990. They've waited ever since.