An Ancient Indigenous Culture of the Sierra Nevada
The Martis people were one of the earliest known Indigenous cultures to live in the Sierra Nevada, thriving in this region from approximately 2000 BC to 500 AD. Their presence is etched into the granite outcrops, river canyons, and high mountain ridges of the northern Sierra, where they left behind ancestral markings, stone tools, hunting sites, and seasonal camps that continue to speak across millennia.
Although their direct descendants are not definitively identified today, the Martis people are part of the deep Indigenous history of the Sierra Nevada a history woven through the lands of the Nisenan, Washoe, Maidu, Miwok, Paiute, and other tribal nations who have lived here since time immemorial.
Life in the Sierra Nevada
Archaeological evidence shows that the Martis people were:
Skilled hunters and gatherers, moving seasonally between high elevations in summer and protected valleys in winter
Expert stoneworkers, crafting tools, grinding features, and projectile points with remarkable precision
Travelers and stewards, navigating river systems, ridgelines, and ancient trails
Cultural and spiritual practitioners, whose ancestral expressions remain carved into the landscape
Their petroglyphs often abstract circles, lines, bear tracks, grid patterns, and occasionally simple human or animal figures — reflect a worldview connected deeply to land, memory, and spirit.
Cultural Importance of Their Petroglyphs
What archaeologists once called “rock art” are now understood to be ancestral markings, created with intention, purpose, and cultural meaning. Many Native communities today rightly prefer not to use the term “rock art,” as it can diminish the spiritual and ceremonial significance of these expressions.
The markings left by the Martis people are:
Cultural
Spiritual
Historical
Sacred
They represent a living connection to people who inhabited the Sierra thousands of years ago.
A Legacy That Continues
Although the Martis culture existed in an earlier era, their presence remains woven into today’s Indigenous landscape. Later tribal communities inhabited many of the same places, followed the same river systems, and built cultural traditions upon land shaped by generations before them.
Their legacy lives on in:
The petroglyphs carved into granite
The sites they inhabited
The trails they traveled
The spiritual significance carried forward by Native people today
Our Respect and Gratitude
Friends of Sierra Rock Art honors the Martis people as foundational to the cultural heritage of the Sierra Nevada. These ancestral sites remind us of:
The depth of Indigenous history in this region
The spiritual relationship between people and place
The responsibility we share to protect and respect these fragile cultural resources
We are grateful to be caretakers of landscapes shaped by the lives, stories, and wisdom of the Martis people and all Indigenous peoples who have called these mountains home. We hope you are as inspired as we are when seeing these petroglyphs.
WE HOPE YOU ENJOY THESE AMAZING PHOTOS BELOW THAT SPAN MANY MANY YEARS.
