Memoranda of understanding (MOUs), environmental governance, and co-stewardship for non-federally recognized tribes in California

California is home to over 80 Native American tribes who do not have federal recognition, meaning they are not recognized as formal social and political entities by the US Bureau of Indian Affairs and do not qualify for governmental social services, legal protections, and land-based programs. This status (or lack thereof) has been particularly challenging for tribes interested in rights-based conservation initiatives because non-federally recognized tribes do not have any legal grounds to make formal claims to land or marine resources. In the face of these challenges, a small number of California tribes have relied on voluntary, non-legally binding tools such as Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) in partnerships with important conservation actors to strategically gain access to various resources that are key to the revitalization and maintenance of their cultural ways of life. Drawing on long-term research engagements with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of California and their involvement in five regional MOUs, we examine the motivations which compel both Indigenous communities and non-Indigenous conservation actors to establish MOUs for costewardship purposes, along with the advantages and disadvantages of such arrangements. Our paper contributes to the nascent work on conservation partnerships with non-federally recognized tribes, Indigenous geographies and the land back movement and argues that MOUs are imperfect yet powerful tools which can enhance land and resource access for tribes without formally acknowledged sovereignty. The paper concludes that MOUs are a co-stewardship tool that can accommodate Indigenous knowledges, affirm tribal identity, and strengthen relationships between private and public natural resource management organizations and Indigenous communities.