About Us

We, the Mbabaram Traditional Owners of the Watsonville area have initiated this Plan to document our concerns, strategies and actions regarding the use, management and governance of our traditional lands.

We have agreed to use the word Mbabaram to refer toourselves and for the purposes of the Plan. We use the same term to refer to our larger tribal grouping. We have also been referred to as the Watsonville Mbabaram or the Watsonville mob.We and other Mbabaram people identify the area around Watsonville as our clan Country.

This is how our old people told us to identify to Country.

We claim our connection and custodial responsibility for our clan Country through our two old grannies, Kitty and Rose Congoo. The descendents of these old grannies are today made up of members of the following families: the Turpin, Rosas, Whetherall, Weare, Fagan, Douras, Walker, Minniecon, Wallace, Sore, Wason, Fewings, Barley, Motlap and Toombs families.

We are anxious about upholding our responsibilities to Mbabaram Law passed on to us by our ancestors. Our Country contains many important cultural landscapes and special places and a great diversity of animals, plants and natural places that we want to protect and manage. We continue to visit our Country, we still hunt and fish our Country, we use the natural resources of our Country, we protect our cultural heritage and we continue to teach our children about Mbabaram language and culture. All of these things come together as part of our culture and identity as Mbabaram.