Northern California Esselen tribe regains ancestral land after 250 years

The tribe purchased the 1,200 acre ranch near Big Sur as part of a $4.5m deal and will use it for educational and cultural purposes

Two-hundred and fifty years after they were stripped of their ancestral homeland, the Esselen tribe of northern California is landless no more.

This week, the Esselen tribe finalized the purchase of a 1,200-acre ranch near Big Sur, along California's north central coast, as part of a $4.5m acquisition that involved the state and an Oregon-based environmental group.