Research on Native American interactions with colonial institutions increasingly stresses the persistence of indigenous places and identities despite the challenges wrought by missionary, mercantile, and settler colonialism. This article expands on the theme of persistence through a case study investigating the various ways indigenous people, including Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo individuals, worked against and within colonial systems to maintain residency and autonomy in their ancestral homelands in central California. Focusing on the Tomales Bay area in what is now western Marin County as a refuge, the article examines the ethnohistorical evidence for long-term histories of indigenous persistence and strategic engagement with colonial peoples and processes.