Clarence Atwell Jr.

Clarence Atwell Jr. (November 30, 1945 – February 28, 2013) was an American Tachi Yokut tribal leader and politician. Atwell served as the Chairman of the Tachi Yokut of Santa Rosa Rancheria from 1967 until 2009. Atwell has been widely credited with improving the standard of living on the Santa Rosa Rancheria reservation during his forty-two year tenure as Chairman of the Tachi Yokut.

Atwell was born on Tachi Yokut land, under a tree, on November 30, 1945. His father was a medicine man. He was raised by his grandmother, who only spoke the Tachi language. She taught Atwell indigenous Tachi Yokut traditions and hunting techniques. Clarence Atwell would later become a medicine man like his father. As an adult, Clarence Atwell Jr. held bear dances and sweat lodge throughout California.

Clarence Atwell died from cancer at Adventist Medical Center in Hanford, California, on February 28, 2013, at the age of 67. His first wife, Audrey, died in 2000. He was survived by his second wife, Jeanette, whom he married in 2002. He had two children from his first marriage: Kaya Atwell, and Rufus Atwell.

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