Their traditional lands are along the Mattole and Bear Rivers near Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California.

The Mattole lived in the area for a few centuries, but carbon dating revealed that many native tribes have inhabited the land for over 6000 years.

[6] Aboriginal Bear River villages included Tcalko', Chilsheck, Chilenche, Selsche'ech, Tlanko, Estakana, and Sehtla.

[9] From the beginning of the tribe’s 16th-century arrival in what is now Humboldt County, Mattole villages were essentially collective groups of families settling in close proximity over winter months.

[6] For the most part however, the Mattole people would travel in single family bands where necessary according to food abundance and better climate conditions,[6] an easy feat with California’s many microclimates.

[6] As James Roscoe observed, "the simple family was by far the single most important social unit in Mattole society.

[6] When the white settlers began establishing their homes in the Mattole valley in 1857, there was much conflict among the Indian tribes.

[11] Sherburne F. Cook estimated the combined populations of the Mattole, Whilkut, Nongatl, Sinkyone, Lassik, and Kato at 4,700, at least 50% higher than Kroeber's figure for the same groups.

[13] The Mattole federal reservation, the Rohnerville Rancheria, located south of Eureka, reported a population of 29 in the 2000 census.

[16] The Bear River Band is governed by a Tribal Council, composed of seven members elected to four year terms.

They also have given emphasis to the importance of protecting 'traditional cultural properties,' places that are eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places because of their association with cultural practices and beliefs that are: (1) rooted in the history of the community; and, (2) are important to maintaining the continuity of that community's traditional beliefs and practices”.