Alameda Native History Project

Category: Alameda Native History Project

  • Alameda’s Racist History: If You Won’t Share Ours, Give Back Our Artifacts

    “Alameda Museum: / If you won’t share our history, give our artifacts back / Celebrate the First Alamedans just / as much as your Colonizer Heroes. / Alameda’s Racist History” Title art for @AlamedaNativeHistoryProject on Instagram.com.

    Alameda is a model colonial city. Their Victorian houses, and expansive gardens have been written about for hundreds of years. Regular Alameda Garden Tours, and Alameda Legacy Home Tours extoll the virtues of Alameda’s First Colonizers.

    These historical celebrations routinely leave out facts, such as,

    “This garden was fertilized by using human remains found in one of Alameda’s three shellmounds.”

    Or,

    “This sidewalk was constructed using one of the over 350 Native American bodies found in the ‘Sather’s Mound’.”

    The Alameda Museum is exclusively devoted to commemorating and memorializing Alameda’s White History, while simultaneously ignoring and minimizing the existence and contributions of people of color; and the atrocities committed by those who are purported to be such heroic goliaths of Alameda History, today.

    This is all done in the shadows of people like Rasheed Shabazz, someone who had to trace his own Alameda Legacy to bring us Black Alameda History, which was never touched upon, or even considered by an all-white museum staff, and curation team. [

    Sure, the Alameda Museum invites us to search their archives. But the word “search” belies the onerous nature of digging through files and card catalogs which aren’t actually indexed or organized in any useful way.

    People always offer us the chance to do their work for them, like it’s a favor to us.

    But let’s be clear: an archive that isn’t indexed or organized is trash.

    The real issue here, is that the Alameda Museum has existed for so long without ever: (a) indexing their holdings; (b) focusing on anything other than Alameda’s White History; or (c) ever asking for permission to possess the Native American Funerary Objects, and Grave Goods in their possession….

    The issue of Alameda Museum’s possession of Native American Grave Goods and Funerary Objects is especially salient considering their absolute lack of respectful handling of the Historical Events Surrounding the Sather’s Mound, and the Destruction and Morbid Uses for Alameda’s Shellmounds.

    Simply put;

    Alameda Museum, if you’re not going to engage the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, ask for permission to possess their artifacts, and present respectful, and responsible, information regarding the First Alamedans: then you don’t deserve to possess their artifacts.

    Stay tuned for more.

  • You Don’t Know Jack About Native America

    “You Don’t Know Jack About Native America / Stop giving money to organizations and ’causes’ you know nothing about. / Research your Land Acknowledgment before you profess it.” Title art for @AlamedaNativeHistoryProject on Instagram.com.

    Stop giving money to organizations and “causes” you know nothing about.

    Non-profit organizations cannot be tribal governments. (The exercise of Tribal Sovereignty is not a charitable purpose.)

    Organizations, like Sogorea Te “Land Trust” claim to be devoted to returning native land to native hands….

    But which tribes are these organizations actually associated with?

    Real Tribal Governments:
    1. Will be able to break down their history with facts, and evidence;
    2. Are recognized in Treaty–even if the government won’t recognize their own treaties. (And they have a documented reason for why they are not mentioned in Treaties. [e.g. Tribal Warfare, Government Favoritism of One Tribe Over Another, etc.])
    3. Hold elections.

    The last point is super important. You can’t call yourself a Tribal Chairperson if there was never a vote. And, especially, if your Tribal Government is really just a corporation.

    If the “Tribal Government” you’re working with has never petitioned for Federal Recognition from the Department of the Interior; that’s a red flag.

    If the California Tribal Government you’re working with claims to be a California “State-Recognized Tribe“; that’s blatantly false.

    California does not have a Tribal Recognition Process.

    The California Native American Heritage Commission does not have the authority to recognize tribes. Only the Bureau of Indian Affairs can do that. [Absent certification as a Tribe by the BIA, no action to protect tribal lands may be maintained, United States v. 43.47 Acres of Land, 855 F. Supp. 549, 551 (D. Conn. 1994)]

    Research your Land Acknowledgment before you profess it.

  • In Defense of Native America: The People versus David Van Horn

    “In Defense of Native America: The People Versus David Van Horn” cover art for @AlamedaNativeHistoryProject on Instagram.com

    An archaeologist is sued by the California Attorney General, and the Native American Heritage Commission for the return of stolen Native American Artifacts.

    Santa Cruz Sentinel; Nov. 09, 1990

    People v. Van Horn (1990)

    The only “published” case in California where any entity is being sued by “The People”.

    In this case: the State of California is suing David Van Horn, and Archaeological Associates, Ltd. (a company owned by him and his wife, Ruth) for the return of Native American artifacts and remains in his, and his wife’s, possession without Native American consent.

    David Van Horn, an archaeologist hired by a City to examine land The City intended to use as an industrial park, found two burials, and related funerary items and goods. Also present, and a party to this action, is Horn’s assistant, Robert White. Tribes weren’t aware of the discovery until the Oceanside Blade-Tribune reported it, and hinted that Van Horn, and his archaeological consulting company were trying to conceal the existence of the discovery.

    Once tribes found out, they grouped together, engaged Kern County, City governments, and demanded that the remains and everything be returned to the tribes.

    This lead to a meeting, where David Van Horn agreed to return the remains to tribes. But, in a later meeting, he refused to return metates that were buried somehow on top of the remains; arguing that objects placed on top of buried remains were not “funerary objects”, or grave-related goods; he asserts his “expert opinion” that the metates were simply put there to “weigh” the body down.

    Van Horn publicly showed contempt for NAGPRA, and claimed he was being unfairly persecuted for doing legitimate, scientific, work. He even went as far as to throw doubt that the representatives of several Native American tribes demanding return of these objects were even related to the bodies discovered.

    This was the ultimate in sleazy denials. I bet the demurrer was fantabulous. Because, Van Horn threw out everything he could in his defense. Archaeological Associates, Ltd., claimed ignorance, and pointed to David Van Horn as the party ultimately responsible for breaking the law.

    A year into the dispute, the California Attorney General, and Native American Heritage Commission filed suit to compel the return of the objects.

    The statutes were clear that it is against the law to posses Native American Artifacts without Native American consent. Summary judgment was granted against David Van Horn. Van Horn, and Archaeological Associates, Ltd. were ordered to return the Native American artifacts, and repatriate Native American remains, to their Tribal Nation.

    In the end, it didn’t matter how much David Van Horn tried to fight culpability for his actions, and continued possession of Native American artifacts, without Native American Consent. It didn’t matter because he never argued whether or not it was against the law to possess those objects.

    And so…

    the issue of fact becomes one of law and loses its triable character if the undisputed facts leave no room for a reasonable difference of opinion.

    (Reid v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. (1985) 173 Cal.App.3d 557.)
    The California Attorney General published an opinion on this case:
    2007 Cal. AG LEXIS 23, 90 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 89
    Santa Cruz Sentinel; Nov. 23, 1990

    There were also criminal charges filed against David Van Horn, and his assistant, for knowingly desecrating Native American graves. The case was ultimately dismissed.

    However, the criminal case against Van Horn is notably “the first use of a 1988 state law that makes Native American grave robbery a felony.”

    Stay tuned for more.

  • New Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC. parts ways with Corrina Gould

    The Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC. has changed from a mutual benefit corporation, to a Public Benefit Corporation dedicated to “relief of poverty in urban rez (sf bay area), mutual aid admin.”

    This is a change from the tribal government Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC was purporting itself to be.

    The original Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC operated in obscurity.

    In the “Tribal Consulting Industry“, the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC, was known for having a propensity for burning bridges with industry experts and professionals who came to actually help Corrina Gould, and her family. As well as interfering with, and “hijacking” the land and struggles of other Native American tribes. Corrina, herself, is known for attacking and bullying people behind the scenes.

    As soon as I reported my experiences with Corrina Gould, and started showing you my research, I was contacted by other people who had bad experiences with the Gould’s, and Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC.

    They told me that this is typical behavior by Corrina Gould; and that they, too, had experienced bullying, betrayal, or some other type of harassment/mistreatment by Gould, her family, and followers.

    My sources gave me their own stories, and more than one honestly suggested that it’s not worth my time to cover this topic; expressed concern over being harassed by Gould’s “followers”. Told me that they could be dangerous. But it’s difficult not to talk about this. Because people ask me about this subject pretty frequently.

    I’m not the only person to take a look at how Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC., and Sogorea Te Land Trust were set-up, and see red flags. But no one wanted to report on this subject because they’re afraid of being called racist, misogynist, being cancelled, or just harassed by Gould, her family, and followers.

    You don’t know about this, because–up until now–Corrina Gould has managed to bully people who question her into silence; or discredit anyone who disagrees with her by calling them, “colonizers” or “karens”.

    This all describes efforts by Corrina Gould to avoid the question. To deflect scrutiny back on to her “attacker”.

    Corrina Gould’s supporters enable this, by blindly believing everything she says, without thinking critically about the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, and how come Corrina Gould isn’t enrolled in the tribe that she’s from; the real Ohlone tribe in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    Instead of being led by pure emotion, and zero analytical thought: how about read a book or something?

    Actually look at the court records, and all of these other documents which are public, and available to you.
    If you’re woke-woke, you do your own research, right?

    You question authority and find out for yourself, right?

    Maybe not.

    I also wanted to believe the narrative that Corrina Gould has created, because it’s so powerful, and attractive, and righteous.

    But her narrative only lends more obfuscation to the situation; and levies the ignorance and confusion surrounding Bay Area Native History, Land Trusts, and what a Tribal Government really is.

    There’s supposed to be a segue here, but I can’t think of one to say I want to look at these two things:

    Corrina Gould’s failed negotiations at West Berkeley; and the lie of Glen Cove.

    These events are important, because:

    • They are well-known;
    • What I’m about to say is easy to verify; and,
    • This topic hasn’t been critically addressed, until now.

    “West Berkeley Shellmound”

    The most important thing you need to know is: CVL was offered a cultural center, outdoor park, and money for use of the land in West Berkeley, until it was to be completely turned over to Ohlone people in 99 years or something–which is a lot of rent money. (This article, from Berkeleyside mentions the cultural education center.)

    But Gould refused this offer, out-right, and continued to make unreasonable demands, and unrealistic counter-offers, all the while telling the public that Native American people were being ignored.

    In reality, Corrina Gould walked away from the sweetest deal for urban land back that I’ve never found an equivalent to.

    In fact: it was because Tribal Consultation had occurred in West Berkeley–using Andrew Galvan’s archeological company–that we know the Spenger’s Parking Lot in Berkeley is not a shellmound.

    The City of Berkeley’s “West Berkeley Shellmound” historical district was purposely created in a space larger than the footprint of the actual shellmound because the people who planned and created the district didn’t know where the shellmound actually was. These details all came out in the litigation over the West Berkeley Shellmound, and is public record.

    From the perspective of everyone involved in West Berkeley, except for Corrina Gould: the parties attempting to negotiate with Corrina delayed the project, made extraordinary good faith concessions in negotiations. The City and Property Owners (Ruegg & Ellsworth) did everything they could, short of stopping construction of housing during a housing crisis.

    The planning process had already taken place; the Environmental Impact Report was finished; and, Tribal Consultation and Scoping was completed with the West Berkeley Shellmound’s Most Likely Descendant (as determined by the Native American Heritage Commision), Andrew Galvan.

    The bulk of Corrina’s legal battles have been fought behind the auspices of the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC.

    But claiming to have “fought battles” in court, when you’ve barely been allowed to file as an intervenor is a stretch. The most that Corrina Gould managed to do during the ensuing litigation was delay the inevitable, and make things extremely expensive for everyone, except her, and CVL (Sogorea Te Land Trust paid for the attorneys.)

    The City of Berkeley knew its hands were tied, that it would be improper to deny Ruegg & Ellsworth’s permit, and contrary to law. But, Corrina Gould wanted the development stopped, at all costs….

    Even though it was too late in the process. Even though tribal consultation had already taken place. Even though Corrina Gould didn’t have the tribal authority to sue for an injunction; because the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC is not a Tribal Government.

    So what did Corrina Gould do?

    Gould threatened to sue the City of Berkeley (May 2018), if Berkeley didn’t deny Ruegg & Ellsworth’s project permit.

    Even though the City of Berkeley knew it was improper to deny the permit; and contrary to existing law (SB 35.)

    Even though Tribal Consultation, and two archeological studies had been conducted; and concluded the parking lot wasn’t where the shellmound was; and the “overspread”, “remnants” of the shellmound underneath the lot certainly was not a “structure” by any of today’s standards. It was probably moved from a different location, where the mound actually was. [Perhaps for road building, or agriculture.]

    The City of Berkeley knew that they could be sued by Ruegg & Ellsworth; which would cost tens of thousands of dollars, and likely end in defeat.
    But the City still denied the project permit. And it did end in defeat….

    Ruegg & Ellsworth filed for a writ of mandate to compel Berkeley to comply with SB 35.

    First, The Alameda County Superior Court ruled in favor of the City of Berkeley denying the permit.

    Then, Ruegg & Ellsworth appealed the ruling of the Superior Court, and was ultimately awarded judgment, and granted a mandate to compel the City of Berkeley’s compliance with California law.

    From the perspective of CVL, and Sogorea Te, this story ends abruptly; with the filing of an appeal to the California Supreme Court. There was a lot of hype about “taking the fight to the supreme court”.

    Fundraising and Social Media Campaigns went into high gear.

    Balance of the “Shellmound Defense Fund” is $77,633 as of Jan. 24, 2022. [shellmound.org]

    But we never heard about the outcome.…

    The California Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal on the West Berkeley Shellmound.

    Even that article makes the mistake of not recognizing Confederated Villages of the Lisjan as a Corporation, versus the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, which is actually comprised of, and represents the real, bona fide, Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.

    We’re talking about thousands of people legitimately enrolled in a tribe, versus, a brand-new corporation (from 2017) that claims to have “over 85 members”, and has been around “since time immemorial.”

    Corrina Gould argues that “her” tribe is unrecognized. That they are being treated unfairly, and ignored. Gould has also said she shares a common ancestor with Muwekma, in Jose Guzman–but that they are not the same tribe, somehow.

    When you look at their websites: CVL never mentions Muwekma. Sogorea Te Land Trust never mentions Muwekma, either.

    But, somehow, their “historical background” seems to mirror perfectly the real story of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.

    Both corporations (CVL and Sogorea Te Land Trust) made their mission to advocate for Ohlone people, and put native land, into native hands. But neither organization has dedicated their assets to any specific Native American tribe that is State or Federally recognized, or even proven their connection to Jose Guzman past the barest allegation.

    The lie of Glen Cove (“Sogorea Te”)

    We know that Corrina Gould managed to procure an easement at Glen Cove.

    Gould claimed this was a victory because “Native voices were heard.”

    But was this a victory?

    The actual story of the negotiations, and real struggle happening concurrently with the very visible occupation of Glen Cove is much different than what’s been covered in the news.

    What you don’t know is that this easement came at a great cost to the local bands of Wintu, and Patwin tribes. That the “Memorandum of Understanding and Settlement Agreement” at Glen Cove (“Sogorea Te”) would cost tribes $100,000 dollars.

    At both Glen Cove and West Berkeley, Corrina Gould claimed that Tribal Consultation had never taken place.

    This is absolutely incorrect.

    Tribes at both Glen Cove, and West Berkeley accepted the invitation for consultation and scoping at the very beginning of the development process; and had conducted, and concluded business with the respective developers and responsible parties long before a decision was made to issue the permits for construction.

    Consider this quote from Kesner Flores, in an East Bay Times Article by Tony Burchyns, May 19, 2011, Legal options examined in Vallejo’s Glen Cove park development dispute :

    District officials have been in almost daily contact with Kesner Flores, a member of the Cortina Indian Rancheria band of Patwin Indians. He is acting as an intermediary between the district and three Patwin tribes.

    The Colusa, [Cortinas] and Yocha Dehe bands support the project, Flores said, because it would cap, with a foot of soil, vulnerable archaeological resources supposedly belonging to the tribes.

    “There is one thing that a tribe does not do — take another tribe’s territory,” said Flores, referring to the protesters, who he considers a “community group” with no tribal authority.

    Flores was only quoted once telling us that Glen Cove Park was Patwin land.

    No other news coverage mentions the fact that Corrina Gould, and other protestors, are interlopers on another tribe’s territory.

    Flores didn’t directly say that Corrina Gould was interfering with other tribes’ business. Or that Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC didn’t belong there. Because, Native Americans largely try to avoid direct confrontation where they can.

    (At this time: Sogorea Te Land Trust wasn’t even born yet; but the corporation has no representation from the Native American tribal groups/bands associated with Glen Cove, to this day.)

    Ignoring the objections of Kesner Flores–who was the Most Likely Descendant of the Glen Cove Shellmound, and represented 3 different bands of Patwin people–was exactly how not to “come correct“, and truly contrary to the Native American Tribal Protocols, which Corrina Gould tries so hard to champion.

    According to the [Native American Heritage Commission], the Glen Cove Water Park (GCWP) site is Patwin Territory, and the most likely descendant is Patwin member Kesner Flores.”

    Draft Environmental Impact Report Glen Cove Waterfront Park Project, State Clearinghouse No. 2001092044

    The truth is: Tribal Consultation Occurred…
    without Corrina Gould

    Neither of these consultations included included the Confederated Villages of Lisjan, INC, nor Corrina Gould, because:

    CEQA Flowchart. The Public Review Period is marked towards the middle of the page.
    1. Glen Cove is Wintu & Patwin land (not Miwok), and, regardless of whether or not Karkin people shared, owned it–or whether or not the area was actually community property–it doesn’t matter, because CVL is from Oakland.
    2. Kesner Flores was determined to be the Glen Cove Shellmound’s “Most Likely Descendant” by the Native American Heritage Commission.
    3. West Berkeley was consulted by the one-and-only Andrew Galvan, the Most Likely Descendant of the West Berkeley Shellmound. Galvan is a well-known, direct descendant of Dolores Marine Galvan. He is the docent of Mission Dolores, and directly affiliated with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.
    4. Glen Cove park was consulted by several Tribal Representatives, including, Kesner Flores, who NAHC determined is the Most Likely Descendant of the Glen Cove Shellmound remains.
    5. Legally, Corrina Gould has no standing; she’s not Patwin; and CVL is not a Tribal Government, nor the Most Likely Descendant of a shellmound in Vallejo, California.
    6. Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC has only been allowed to file as an intervenor in ongoing matters in the past; and Corrina Gould’s lack of standing–even as the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC.–has been laid out clearly by the judges of every court case they’ve ever been involved in.

    Corrina Gould’s connection to Muwekma

    The present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is comprised of all of the known surviving American Indian lineages aboriginal to the San Francisco Bay region who trace their ancestry through the Missions Dolores, Santa Clara, and San Jose; and who were also members of the historic Federally Recognized Verona Band of Alameda County.

    muwekma.org

    Why does nothing in the Muwekma literature–including the Department of Interior petitions for Muwekma Federal Re-Recognition, which contain hundreds of pages of ancestry information & expert analysis–ever mention Corrina Gould, or her mother, Joann Tucker?

    Every enrolled/disenrolled/or potential Muwekma Ohlone Tribe enrollee can trace their ancestry straight back to their full-blooded ancestor.

    That’s how this works. For every tribe.

    In the case of Muwekma: this ancestry is readily available. Gould’s mother, at the very least, should appear in the records. But her name does not. None of the records I found contained any concrete link between Corrina Gould and Jose Guzman.

    However, I’ve been told that there could be a link. But, the bottom line is, no one has found it. And Corrina Gould has stayed deathly silent on this subject.

    The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area has been researched extensively by the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Muwekma tribal members and scholars (, such as Alan Leventhal,) have accomplished so much more of their own research into their history, ancestry, heritage, culture, and traditions, that the link between Corrina Gould and Jose Guzman should be clear and convincing.

    That information should be right there. The entire tribal rolls are listed in the Muwekma Petition for Federal Recognition.

    I’m not kidding. About any of this.

    We, as Native Americans, descendants, have to know who our nearest, full-blooded “Indian Relative” is. We need to be able to prove it to become enrolled in a tribe, or receive a tribal descendant ID card.

    Did you know: If Corrina Gould really is related to Andrew Galvan, “seven great-grandmas back”, then she could be as Native American as Elizabeth Warren is. However, if her Great-Great-Grandfather were Jose Guzman, she could be as Indian as I am.

    It’s a fallacy to believe something is true unless proven otherwise. How does one prove non-existence? How can you say that you believe in something like miracles, or gods, until someone can prove that they don’t exist? You can’t even prove they exist in the first place.

    Believing Corrina Gould’s claims does not make them true.

    You can’t believe harder than you think.

    You’re not “woke” if you do that. Being woke means thinking critically, and asking questions, especially to authority; working actively to sabotage, destroy, and deconstruct the systems of misogyny and enslavement that we are all caught in.

    However:

    Truth is not an opinion. Truth is a verifiable fact.

    Instantly refusing to ask the question, refusing to entertain the thought, or have the discussion about this subject is really detrimental to the true struggles of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, for Federal Re-Recognition.

    This is the problem with the current assumption that Corrina Gould is a legitimate “Tribal Chairperson”, just because she says she is.

    That the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC is some tribe that we’ve never even heard of, that was here the whole time.

    It’s not true.

    No one asked why all the officers of the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC had the same last name. Or which Villages were a part of the Confederation. (How come we never heard from them–the other villages in the Confederation?)

    If Sogorea Te Land Trust is trying to return native land to native hands, why is “Muwekma” completely absent from their website? Do they simply intend to grant land to Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC?

    Up until now, Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, Inc. was a mutual benefit corporation, which is different than what we think a nonprofit corporation is.

    In a true nonprofit, its assets would be dedicated to a charitable purpose, such as to an Indian Tribal Government. This “dedication of assets” should appear as a clause on the organization’s Articles of Incorporation. It does not appear in CVL, or Sogorea Te Land Trust’s articles of incorporation.

    So, which tribe(s) are Sogorea Te Land Trust, and Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC associated with?

    Because it’s not Muwekma, or Colusa, or Cortina, or Yocha Dehe.

    There is a black-out on this subject which needs to stop.

    Native American tribes are not corporations.

    Beware of corporations which pose as Tribal Governments.

    Native American Tribes cannot be 501(c)3 tax-exempt organizations, because the exercise of sovereign powers is not a charitable purpose.

    Every tribe must exercise its sovereign powers to administer tribal governance. The struggle of every tribe is for sovereignty. Sovereignty over self, over land use, over water rights, and more.

    Even though the IRS uses the term “federally recognized tribe” in their documentation, the “exercise of sovereign power” is the operative phrase.

    What is the excersize of sovereign power?

    “Rev. Rul. 60-384, 1960-2 C.B. 172, provides that even though a wholly owned state or municipal organization may be separately organized, it is not eligible for IRC 501(c)(3) exemption if it has substantial regulatory or enforcement powers in the public interest. These powers traditionally are referred to as sovereign powers.

    The three generally acknowledged sovereign powers are:

    • Power to levy and collect tax on its behalf
    • Power of eminent domain
    • Police power”

    From: IRS Reference Guide for Exempt Organizations Closely Affiliated with Indian Tribal Governments

    Hint: this is probably why there’s a clever distinction to remind you “Shuumi” means gift (a.k.a., “donation”.) Because Land Tax is an example of regulatory/sovereign power.

    So, this means: Gould’s purported position as “Tribal Chairperson” of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan, INC was only stating her position as CEO, and President of The Board of that corporation.

    Even though a Board of Directors is a “council”; a Board of Directors is not a “Tribal Council”.

    And there was no way Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC was representative of a “confederation” of villages, because the chief officers, were all principally related to one another.

    There was no visible representation from any Ohlone Village, specifically. The former Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC only stated they were in occupied name-of-territory-here; but they never alleged that they were from or a representative of any village, specifically.

    Despite the prohibition against nonprofit corporations wielding sovereign power: CVL seemed to exist primarily to fight eminent domain battles in court, using questionable legal theories to back frivolous lawsuits which they had no legitimate standing for; because suing corporations over something you state is “your land” is an exercise of sovereign power.

    The recognition of Corporations as “akin”, or equal to, real Native American Tribal Bands, and Tribal Governments is an error.

    Without correction, this error will result in Real Tribes losing even more land, rights, and recompense for the terror and genocide they survived; and for which the Federal Government entered into treaties granting tribes–like the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area–a landbase; and lots of other things which the Federal Government doesn’t honor today.

    The refusal to cover this issue has created a lot of ignorance.

    And the lack of answers to basic questions people have about East Bay Tribal Culture has created even more confusion.

    But organizations, like Sogorea Te Land Trust, and the former Confederated Villages of the Lisjan, INC are basically using the ignorance of the general public to divert attention and funds away from the legitimate struggles for Land Back and Federal Re-Recognition of the true descendants of enslaved “Mission Indians” of the San Francisco Bay Area: the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.

    Underneath all of this was the pallor of Corrina Gould’s prior conviction for fraud,

    which I found referenced in a civil “Confession of Judgment”, during a summary search of the Alameda County Superior Court Records. The Criminal Case File itself was destroyed, but the Alameda County Superior Court Criminal Records still had something indexed, which included information about Corrina Gould’s conviction, offense, et cetera.

    I could make this really long. And try to explain to you in excruciating detail, “Why you shouldn’t give money to someone who’s been convicted of fraud.“

    I could tell you about Bernie Madoff, Rachel Dolezal, or Yolanda Saldivar…..

    But, honestly, if you got this far down, and you still need another reason to pay attention to the red flags surrounding Corrina Gould….

    I’ve got some great beans I really think you’d be interested in!!!

    Save shellmounds, not parking lots.

    Links:

    Docs:

  • The Side Effects of Institutional Gatekeeping of Tribal Knowledge & Native American Sacred Sites and Cultural Assets

    From the beginning of my life, I never had the opportunity to learn about my culture, or where I was from. For the first 12 years of my life, I never even saw another Paiute person.

    This was because I was adopted at birth. I knew that I was Native American. That I should be on a reservation somewhere in Central California. But, instead, I found myself in Alameda; trying to navigate the expectations and life plans set by my new, white, parents.

    This kind of estrangement is common.

    It comes in many different forms, for many different reasons. Boarding schools are pointed to, most often. But cultural estrangement started in California with the Mission System. It continued on through Mexican Occupation, when the missions were secularized, and “Spanish” land was granted to Mexican citizens, and select Indigenous People, who were associated with the Missions as ranchers and herders, or were deeded land in some other way. This was actually the first Native American “buy-in” that occurred in California.

    When the American government came in, their imperative was to destroy or pacify people who they viewed as “savage”, and sub-human. Giving land to these people who Americans found so hard to wipe off the face of the planet was unheard of. All land, property, and wealth held by the First Californians were immediately seized, destroyed, or transferred to white interlopers.

    Some Native Americans went into hiding. Claimed to be Spanish. (They already spoke Spanish.) …Leaned into their baptismal names.

    This was the second estrangement.

    American Occupation came with a number of different attempts to destroy, pacify, and ultimately assimilate and “breed out the savage”. Each of these attempts divided (and sub-divided) tribal groups; moved us farther and farther away from our homelands, each other, and purposely tried to destroy everything linking us to the old ways. This was a sophisticated attempt at genocide, and population control; and people need to stop minimizing effects of this recent history on Indigenous People in America, today.

    Native American People have been forced to live as Prisoners of War since the 17th Century. For more than three centuries, Indian Children and Infants were taken from their families, and placed into Missions, Orphanages, Boarding Schools, and worse. For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was legal for White Women to take Indian Children away from their families, and keep them as “wards”. [Like in the series “Them”.]

    So it’s not uncommon for a Native American Person to be so estranged from their family and culture. To have such a conflicted self-image of what it means to be Native American, and what Native American really is. For Spanglish to be spoken on the rez out here, in California. For former “Mission Indians” to be so heavily involved in the Catholic Church, and the veneration of the Missions.

    But what if a Native American Descendant from California doesn’t want to go to the Catholic or Mormon church to find out about their own people?

    What if they’re tired of listening to a narrative from white people’s perspective? From the Eastern U.S. perspective of tribes like Dine, Lakota, Sioux? From the perspective of people who view Native America as a homogeneous group?

    Where does someone go to find the stories of their specific tribe? The songs of the place they come from? Pictures of their ancestors? The history of their reservation? Where their ancestors lived before that?

    Where do you go when your only sources are generic, pan-Indian narratives, and single-page, one-sentence mentions of your tribe?

    I decided to search historic newspapers, museums, government, and institutional records.

    Historic Newspapers are hard to locate. And even harder to read for free. Many of these newspapers were taken out of circulation, and stored on microfilm. Even more are locked behind Ancestry.com (and affiliate) pay gates, specifically. It is interesting to note that “Ancestry” is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, though.

    Museums store items by the Date Received; not by Keyword, or Subject–which shows that Museums have historically been about accounting and fundraising more than they were about collecting items which they intend to reference, much less curate. This makes the situation even more problematic, because researchers are expected to do the work of tracking something down, and often times creating a new library information system in the process. [Basically, re-cataloging every single object to find the two or three that were actually being sought after.]

    The amount of free labor some museums get on the backs of unpaid researchers is very disproportionate to the amount of useful information researchers actually find when laboring for said museums.

    Government Records only had to be stored for a certain period of time. Certainly, anything more than 100 years old was more likely to be destroyed, than it was preserved. Much of the City of Alameda records were converted to microfilm; combined with transcriptions of the Official Alameda Newspaper of Record, then simply labeled “Historic Rolls”.

    Much of these rolls contained little to no useful information, and was simply a transcribed duplicate of several newspaper reels, which were also available. Still, missing records stymied my search. It almost seemed as if things were intentionally removed from the City of Alameda Historical Record between 1910, and 1960.

    Other cities which were consulted, like Pleasanton, San Leandro, and Hayward, do not have historic newspapers from before the early 1900’s. These inquiries were usually passed on to local museums. Then on to local genealogical and historic societies–where the inquiry usually died. This is to say that there are no contrasting reports available from other historical newspapers (yet.)

    Governmental Chain of Custody

    Furthermore, because of the changeover from Spanish, to Mexican, to American hands: the chain of custody of important documents was broken each time the land changed hands. The U.S. Government was not interested in keeping prior records[; which also explains the fundamental lack of understanding of tribal cultures American anthropologists still experience to this day.]

    This is why the “California Land Grants” case happened, in 1851. Because rich Mexicans (and Spanish ex-pats) were getting jilted out of their land they had old titles to, by white people, who claimed their American land deed superseded any other. (I mean, this is consistent with the U.S. policy of west-ward expansion during the late 1800’s, to test Mexico’s control over ‘The West’, and eventually gain control of California–among other territories.)

    Mission/Spanish/Mexican records are still somewhat of a mystery and records were basically abandoned “as the vine withered”.

    This is because many of the missions and forts Spain installed in California were actually remote forward operating bases.

    Paperwork flowed back through California, to Mexico, and over the Atlantic Ocean, to Spain–when everything was working as planned. This organization was already broken down by “Corporate Office”, “Regional Managers”, “District Managers”, “Store Managers”, “Shift Managers”, and Baristas.

    So, when the Spanish were sent back to Spain, those documents stayed here, were hastily mailed out, or were destroyed.

    When the Missions were secularized, those documents were abandoned, taken by cardinals (or whoever), or destroyed.

    Anything that wasn’t specifically removed and preserved was probably destroyed in the [totally righteous] fires that destroyed many of the the San Francisco Bay Area Catholic Missions the first time.

    So, when it comes time to track down the records of these organizations; it’s necessary to chase them all the way back to the original departments and agencies which created them. This search almost always leads to institutions like the University of California, at Berkeley.

    Why? Because, it turns out, the University of Berkeley Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and the U.C. Berkeley Library has the largest collection of relevant materials within 50 miles.

    Institutional Records and Academic Studies

    Academic Institutions, like The Smithsonian, and the University of California, made their names on robbing the graves of Native American and Indigenous People all around the world.

    Thousands upon thousands of bones, and cultural artifacts are in the custody of these institutions, waiting to be returned to their descendants, and laid to rest in the manner of each of their hundreds of individual tribes. More than half of the remains are “tribally unaffiliated”; and stay in limbo, because they have no living descendant to receive them, and no ancestral land to be laid to rest in.

    The “researchers” who did this physically separated people from their final resting places, mixed and miss-matched parts of other people’s bodies together, failed to properly label our ancestors, and now have what amounts to a “spare parts bin” of archaeological malfeasance.

    As much as Archaeologists and Anthropologists would like you to believe the opposite, these bones were found by systematically cutting open cemeteries, and removing rows of bodies under the guise of “legitimate scientific research”.

    They did this all the while wondering, “Where did these people disappear to?”

    Knowing full well that Indian Wars were raging nearby.

    Conflicts such as:

    Sioux Wars – 1854-1891 in the Great Plains
    Ute Wars – 1850-1923 in Utah
    Apache Wars – 1854-1924 in the South-West

    They wondered…

    Even with the knowledge that an Indian Reservation or Indian Town existed within 100 miles of any place mentioned in any anthropological or archaeological study/survey from 1860-1920.

    These “ethnologists”, anthropologists and archaeologists were living through the California Land Grant Cases.

    Anybody in the business of “antiquity” should well know the whereabouts and disposition of any of the Indigenous People whose graves, bones, and property they were “studying”, or auctioning off to private collectors.

    Especially when the battles were making front page news daily.

    There is no answer for this willful ignorance, and unethical exclusion of important facts and datum. The narrative of Native American History, as told by colonizers, is full of these types of falsities, and lies by omission. And things like this really call to question the accuracy, and reliability of any of these works.

    If you can even get access to them.

    Institutional Gatekeeping of Tribally Affiliated Knowledge/Artifacts

    Because Universities, Museums, and other Grave Robbers (“hunters of antiquities”, “tomb raiders”, etc.)–as well as Ethnologists, Linguists, and Archaeologists–stole bodies; sacred, ceremonial, and cultural artifacts; caused the damage and loss of cultural land and sites; and attributed Native American intellectual property to themselves, instead of to the Native American creators of said property;

    And,

    Because of the sustained and forceful objections to the theft and kidnapping of Native American Bodies and Culture by Native Americans, and The Public; as well as demands for the return of Native American Remains and Items & Artifacts:

    The Native American Graves Repatriation Act was enacted Federally, and by the State of California to protect the Graves, Remains, Cultural Sites, Artifacts, and Other Native American Objects within the State; as well as to create a framework for the repatriation of Native American remains in the possession of Universities and Institutions.

    The Native American Heritage Commission was created in California to directly administer these efforts. In 1982, the Commission was authorized to make a determination of “Most Likely Descendant” when Native American remains are found. Most Likely Descendants are people or tribal groups who have documented ties to the land where Native American Graves were disturbed, and Native American bodies have been found. The Native American Heritage Commission is charged with assisting Tribal Notification, and the process of Tribal Consultation by the Most Likely Descendants.

    The tribal consultation process only offers two ways to “mitigate” the damage to Native American Graves, Remains, Landmarks, Objects, and/or other Funerary Things:

    1. Re-bury the remains in a place where they will not be disturbed;
    2. Remove the remains, and return them to the Most Likely Descendant for proper burial.

    The process of notification goes something like this:

    1. Human remains found, notification to Coroner.
    2. Coroner determines remains are Native American, and therefore under the jurisdiction of the California Native American Heritage Commission (CalNAHC).
    3. CalNAHC provides a notification list to property owner. This list contains the contact information for Tribal Groups who are Most Likely Descendant(s) of the Native American body found.
    4. Tribal Group is notified and only has a certain amount of time to make a response as to how the Native American remains should be treated, or how a project can avoid disturbing cultural resources.

    If the Tribe does not respond within 30 days of notice, the developer or property owner will be able to continue work, unencumbered by the Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act. And, in the case of housing development, the building process will be allowed to be streamlined, via AB 831, an act relating to housing, and declaring the urgency thereof.

    But, if the Most Likely Descendant and Property Owner are not able to reach a compromise….

    Say the MLD wants absolutely no more development of the land; and the property owner (CalTrans, Ruegg & Ellsworth, San Rafael Rock Quarry, etc.) is unable to reach a compromise, the desecration will be allowed to continue if the developer simply alleges they tried their best. The construction just won’t be “streamlined”, and will have to go through the normal Environmental Assessment procedure; and will likely still result in the destruction or desecration of Tribal Cultural Resources.

    The aforementioned refers to situations where Native American Graves and/or Remains (funerary objects, etc.) have been found.

    CalNAHC also plays a role when Public Entities, like Caltrans, Amtrak, Los Angeles Public Works, East Bay Municipal Utility District, East Bay Recreation and Parks Department, the City of Menlo Park, etc., want to develop anything on what’s considered “public land” or subsidized by public funds.

    We’re talking: Public Works Projects, Improvement Projects…. Things which translate into freeway on or off-ramps, giant rain water caches underneath Glen Cove Park (in Vallejo, California), water pumps in Alameda, Treasure Island, San Francisco… BART stations, Water Treatment Plants… And more.

    All of these places around us started as project proposals.

    And each proposal needs to comply with local, state, and federal law. Each facility, site, or subject property–after being built–needs to operate in compliance with local state, and federal law.

    Namely: CEQA. The California Environmental Quality Act.

    CEQA was one of the first set of laws that recognized Native American Graves, Objects, etc., as being valuable, and worth saving.

    Because of CEQA, when these proposed public works projects, projects on public land, or projects using public money, are submitted, they are also required to perform an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

    You’ve probably seen the Public Notice of Hearing(s) that are posted on the front of buildings, or on the fences outside of where buildings once stood.

    These are Required Notices to The Public. You. These hearings decide the very fate of the sacred places which have, up to this point, become Shopping Malls, and Subdivisions with Waterside Parks.

    These Notices tell you when a Water Treatment Plant, Waste Management Facility, Shooting Range, or Quarrying Operation has an upcoming Permit Hearing.

    In fact, multi-year operations, like the San Rafael Rock Quarry, are required to resubmit an Environmental Impact Report periodically, and submit to a public hearing (to the County Board of Supervisors, in this case), to keep their permits, and continue operating.

    These EIA’s are often very long (more than 40 pages,) and contain a multitude of very technical information regarding the current state of the land intended to be “used”, and the speculative impact of the operations intended upon said land (e.g. pollution, destruction of natural habitat, etc.) The specifics change with every project. However, the demands of the Environmental Impact Assessment remain constant.

    Recently, the passage of Assembly Bill 52 (Chapter 532, Statutes 2014) codified the inclusion of a single question regarding “Tribal Cultural Resources”:

    Would the project cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a tribal cultural resource, defined in Public Resources Code section 21074 as either a site, feature, place, cultural landscape that is geographically defined in terms of the size and scope of the landscape, sacred place, or object with cultural value to a California Native American tribe, and that is:

    a) Listed or eligible for listing in the California Register of Historical Resources, or in a local register of historical resources as defined in Public Resources Code section 5020.1(k), or

    b) A resource determined by the lead agency, in its discretion and supported by substantial evidence, to be significant pursuant to criteria set forth in subdivision (c) of Public Resources Code Section 5024.1. In applying the criteria set forth in subdivision (c) of Public Resources Code Section 5024.1, the lead agency shall consider the significance of the resource to a California Native American tribe.”

    Because of this, the California Native American Heritage Commission is charged with yet another duty: maintaining a Tribal Contact List for CEQA Purposes, per AB 52 (CA PRC §21080.3.1…); and when Cities and Municipalities create their General Plan [among other things], per SB 18 (CA GOV §65352.3).

    The California Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act, and the authoritative statutes empowering the California Native American Heritage Commission, specifically state the importance of the “confidentiality of information regarding specific identity, location, character, and use of those [Native American] places, features, and objects.”

    In the courts, this has often played out as the misreading of statute from “confidential” to “secret”. However, statutes surrounding the confidentiality of Native American (Tribal) Cultural Resources simply state that NAHC is “not required” to disclose certain records, or information specifically enumerated in the California Government, and Health & Safety Codes.

    The statutory scheme, as it stands:

    requires Tribal Cultural Assets to be listed (in a confidential appendix) in Environmental Impact Assessments. The specific information regarding the Tribal Cultural Resource is hidden. But general, non-confidential information regarding the Existence Of A Tribal Cultural Resource that could be significantly effected by a proposed project should be published and made available to the general public. [PRC §21082.3(f)]

    These public sections of the Proposed Environment Impact Report, or Proposed Negative Impact (“Declaration”), which mentions “Tribal Cultural Resources”, will be small. Maybe the heading won’t even catch your eye. And the “general information” presented on the document will minimize the existence of Tribal Cultural Resources, even though the report is supposed to clarify how significantly the Tribal Cultural Resource will be affected.

    In fact, the EIR, or Negative Impact Declaration, is supposed to tell you how damage to Tribal Cultural Resources could have been mitigated, or the circumstances behind why the destruction of Tribal Cultural Resources was “unavoidable”. It should say whether or not Tribal Consultation (or “Scoping Activities”) were conducted or concluded, or if an agreement was reached with the direct Lineal, or Most Likely Descendants of the Tribal Cultural Resource.

    The EIR, or Negative Impact Declaration should make it clear whether or not the tribe even responded to invitations for consultation. That information should be in bold. But it’s not. And, who actually knows how to read an Environmental Impact Report?

    At some point, we have to realize that our ignorance is being taken advantage of every day.

    The fact that we are distracted every single waking second is an advantage that is being leveraged against us in the long wars of attrition against corporations and governments who want nothing more than to exploit our land, and tear the bodies of our ancestors out of the ground to build condos that cost $1.5-2M, each.

    This is why property owners refuse to register Native American Historical Sites. Because this land is worth more money than many of the people who live on it will see in our entire lives. This land is worth more than us. And erasing us, or creating a statutory scheme that makes it easy to disregard Native American objections to the desecration and theft of our land, also makes money for themselves while they do it.

    This is a Billion dollar industry that Native American “Consultants” are sucking the dew off of in only the most parasitic, “bottom-feeder” kind of way. The disrespect to the bodies of our elders. Our great grandparents…. It’s all just for the zero’s.

    No matter how the statute is written. No matter how much commitment legislators and politicians can claim to have, the easy-out that Developers and Governmental Agencies has hinges upon the responsibility of a Tribal Organization to respond to these “invitations” for tribal “scoping” and “consultation”.

    The statute presupposes that Government Agencies and Developers are law-abiding. But, when it comes to the required “consultation” with Native American Tribes, Lineal, or Most Likely Descendants… all of the exceptions hinge upon the “nonparticipation” of Native Americans.

    (d) In addition to other provisions of this division, the lead agency may certify an environmental impact report or adopt a mitigated negative declaration for a project with a significant impact on an identified tribal cultural resource only if one of the following occurs:

    (1) The consultation process between the California Native American tribe and the lead agency has occurred as provided in Sections 21080.3.1 and 21080.3.2 and concluded [in an agreement with Tribal Consultants.]

    (2) The California Native American tribe has requested consultation pursuant to Section 21080.3.1 and has failed to provide comments to the lead agency, or otherwise failed to engage, in the consultation process.

    (3) The lead agency has complied with subdivision (d) of Section 21080.3.1 and the California Native American tribe has failed to request consultation within 30 days.

    Assembly Bill 52

    According to Assembly Bill 831, housing projects meeting the above criteria would still be “streamlined”, removing most of the public response and permit hurdles necessary for quick development.

    The problem is that Native American Graves, Cemeteries, Cultural Sites, and Sacred Lands are still being given the green-light for demolition.

    They are being rubber-stamped for desecration by a function of law that simply added Notification, and “Due Process” instead of actual Justice, and Accountability.

    There must be a way to advocate for Native American Tribal Cultural Resources, like Graves, Cemeteries, and Sacred Places, when Lead Agencies and Private Developers receive no response through the Tribal Contact List.

    Either the Native American Heritage Commission must step up for all of these places, or they need to devise an apparatus that will allow true conservation work (the very basis of NAHC’s Mission) to take place without them.

    Stay tuned for more.

  • Who are the people who inhabited the area now known as the City of Alameda?

    A Frequently Asked Question about Ohlone People, the First Alamedans, and the Tribe Fighting for Federal Re-Recognition.

    This is one such reply.

    (more…)

  • What Does “Save Shellmounds, Not Parking Lots” Even Mean?

    It’s not just a salty catch-phrase. It’s a plea for reason, and a plan to move forward in realizing the protection and return of sacred Native American sites in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    The only way to protect sacred sites, like Shellmounds, and Petroglyphs, is by actively protecting them.

    This means:

    • Recognizing the difference between corporations who claim to be tribal governments, and actual Tribal Governments.
    • Empowering Tribal Law Enforcement with the Authority to Arrest and Prosecute Non-Indians Within Their Sovereign Borders
    • Adding Sacred Sites not protected by Tribal Law Enforcement to the “Beat” of the Law Enforcement branches of the Bureau of Land Management, USDA Dept. of Forestry, Cal. Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, etc.
    • Utilizing modern surveillance technology to serve as witness to crimes like vandalism, theft, and dumping.

    By concealing these heritage sites, we begin to make them taboo. They become places we don’t go to anymore. Places that we could lose our connection to, ironically, because we wanted to protect them.

    (more…)

  • Milliken 2009, “A Time of Little Choice”, Has Just Been Liberated

    Anthropology, Archaeology, and Ethnology have always been competitive fields. In the East Bay, Native American Graves Consulting is a booming, and exclusive business.

    And, the documented existence of the Ohlone people, who have occupied the East Bay continuously, for thousands of years, hinges upon the information locked away behind paygates; only being referenced by Developers, and City Attorneys.

    The exclusivity of this information has been exploited for money. And used to bolster false claims of sovereignty.

    • Cover
    • Page 28
    • Page 180
    • Page 252
    • Page 279
    But, let me be clear:
    The only reason you have this information is because you robbed our ancestors’ graves.

    On a very basic level–without being reductive–these academic papers; all of the information; tangible and non-tangible things that have been developed, derived, or created from the desecration of our ancestors….

    All of that still belongs to us.

    ” A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769-1810″

    Randal Milliken, 2009

    Milliken 2009 A Time of Little ChoiceDownload

  • “Towards a Theory of Digital Necropolitics” Next-Gen Look at Representations of the Dead, Dying, Disappeared, and Wounded Body

    Towards a Theory of Digital Necropolitics

    Link: https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1059d63h

    A dissertation written by Francesca A. Romeo, in 2021; and submitted for partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Film and Digital Media, at UC Santa Cruz.

    This dissertation examines the intersections of technology, human rights, and “testimony through representations of the dead, dying, disappeared or wounded body.“

    It starts with an examination of the testimony through intimation, like Facebook Live Streams of police murders of black men.

    Includes the examples how images of the murders of Oscar Grant, Stephon Clark, Eric Garner, (and too many more) stood as an intimate testimony that galvanized a community of people who are still being brutalized, and executed, by the police. And these images also served as a counter-narrative to the lies Police, City and other Officials would have told us about why these black men died.

    The power of these images, and videos, the way that these people documented their lives: let the audience experience what it was really like to be the “other”, at the hands of injustice and inequity.

    These testimonies are powerful tools that can be used to help communities mourn, and harness the outrage, and energy behind social movements, and changes in policy.

    This dissertation has three chapters. All of which are eminently relevant today.

    1. Networked Testimony as Necroresistance: Social Media and the Shifting Spectacle of Lynching in America
    2. Digital Decolonialism: Mapping the Personal and Collective Necropolitics of MMIW
    3. Open Source Investigations as Practice: The Forensic Aesthetics of Post-Human Testimony
    Whether or not they are read in order, or even all together, this is definitely a Next-Gen Document for anyone who’s working in the Social Media BLM, MMIW, Anti-Racist, and other Social and Political Movement Spheres.

    Read the article, for free, on eScholarship.org, https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1059d63h

  • Is Corrina Gould Really Related to Jose Guzman? How come she isn’t enrolled in Muwekma? (And other nosy questions, because Rachel Dolezal, and Elizabeth Warren)

    It’s rude to question someone’s pedigree, generally.

    But it’s a necessary challenge in Native America that every single one of us faces multiple times in our lives.

    We want to know who someone is related to when they say they’re Paiute, or Karkin–’cause they’re probably related to us somehow, or we know some of the same people. It’s a small world. We keep track of our own, and each other’s blood quantum. Because it’s important.

    But we also want to make sure that people aren’t coming in and faking. Collecting money for a cause, but really keeping it for themselves. Taking our benefits because the American Government did all these terrible things to us. (It’s a well established fact that the U.S. Government just said **** the treaties.)

    Claiming Native American Heritage when you don’t have any, is like wearing a Purple Heart you didn’t earn. Just like with wearing a medal you didn’t give a piece of yourself in the defense of this country to earn; owning and displaying eagle feathers is super illegal if you’re not Native American.

    But most of time there is no legitimate consequence for being a “fake indian”. There are so many cheap knock-off’s, and bad copies, I’m not surprised you can’t tell the difference.

    For example: Elizabeth Warren is a classic caricature of the “cherokee princess” scenario. And, apparently Ward Churchill was our Rachel Dolezal before she ever decided to put on black face. But, you know what? There are a lot of fake shaman and medicine men out there, feeding the world this mainstream, kumbaya B.S. about the colors of the wind or something; and collecting your money for some sus ceremony with a raggy owl wing.

    This is why we have a problem with Instragram Accounts like “NativeAmericanLovess”, or “NativeAmericanSpiritLoves”… They are fronts for stores that sell art that does nothing but fetishize real Native Americans; and make owning, wearing, and using our sacred ceremonial items a game.

    These people are making money off of our likeness, our trauma, and our pain. They are making cheap knock-offs of our culture, and identity. And White America is just eating it up. Shelling out bills to go to “Hiawatha” ceremonies. Paying to play Indian.

    And it’s the people who sell these images. The ones who say their grandma, six great-grandmas ago was Cherokee. Who went to one of those ceremonies, and smoked some tobacco with some other herbs out of a “peace pipe”, contacted their animal guide, and is now some kind of “ordained” “Native American Church” spiritual guru leader shaman chief medicine man.

    These are the people we want to stay away from us. The people we don’t want to share our knowledge and beliefs with. Because, these people, will appropriate it all, and try to find a way to make money off it.

    This might be an explanation of why we don’t want to talk about this stuff under the White Gaze. Because it’s “Indian Stuff”. But we can’t stand interlopers. This is why pedigree is important.

    But just because the person who made the argument is invalid, the argument itself is not necessarily invalid.

    As much as we hate to admit it, these people who made us look like fools also contributed greatly to their respective causes. And the organizations they were associated with ultimately survived the scandal. But neither Ward Churchill, nor Rachel Dolezal were who they said they were.

    And it wasn’t until years after they started their charades, that they were finally exposed. Up until then, people had been too afraid to ask, to timid to confront, past attempts had failed. It’s much easier to attack the person making the argument, than the argument itself.

    And people honestly want to believe the lie. It’s better than admitting to themselves they’ve been lied to this whole time. Better not to risk being wrong. Not be rude, or mean. Or look racist.

    But, let me be clear:

    Pedigree is necessary for Tribal Enrollment, and to receive State, and Federal Benefits. It’s a racist system, based in eugenics. It’s even more distasteful than it sounds, when you are subjected to it. [Yes, I have been subjected to this same test. Same level of scrutiny that every other person who claims to be Native American is subjected to.]

    We are turned into “subjects”.

    Equated with Hermann J. Muller’s radioactive flies.

    Maybe that’s too obscure….

    But it’s normal for us to ask each other who our grandmothers are, and how much Indian we are. It’s a standard test.

    So don’t act shook that I took the time to look into Corrina Gould’s genealogy. Maybe the “White Gaze” is afraid to ask. But, after Ward Churchill, and Rachel Dolezal…. And the discovery of Corrina Gould’s 1997 conviction for fraud…. I think it’s important to ask.

    Who are these people?

    Flora Freda Munoz, and Jose Guzman are two very well-known and important family members associated with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, and the Verona Band Proxy–which is the historical name for this group of inter-related Native American people, who used to live in the Alisal Rancheria (near the Verona train station, Pleasanton area), Niles, San Leandro… It’s a specific list because the BIA documents–mentioned below–stick to Indian Censuses, including one of a place called “Indian Town”, near pleasanton, in the late 1920’s. Researchers think this may be the Alisal Rancheria.

    Much of the information about the Muwekma Family Tree that I gathered was pieced together from the Proposed Finding, and Final Determination Upon The Criterion re: Federal Recognition of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, in 2011.

    Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Family Tree,
    using BIA Proposed Find and Final Determination re: Petition for Federal Recognition

    However, I later found the public Galvan Stenstrom Family Tree on Ancestry.com, and found that to be the most authoritative reference to the descendants of the Verona Band. Even so, I still compared it with the information in the BIA documents, as you will see later.

    The public Galvan Stenstrom Family Tree is massive. It has hundreds of individuals; was created, and contributed to by Muwekma Family members, as well as the Ancestry.com people… Who are based in Utah, by the way. It’s really amazing the amount of research that went into the families comprising the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. It’s truly crowd-sourced.

    To research Corrina Gould, I used Public Records, Newspapers, various statements and interviews of Corrina Gould, and litany of databases at Ancestry.com. I also found the “Gould Family Tree”. (More about that later.) In all cases, I began searching for the individual first, and didn’t discover or access the family trees until I wanted to check/challenge my work.

    Corrina Gould, “On the Record”

    In 2014, Corrina Gould contributed an autobiographical oral history to “Ohlone Elders & Youth Speak: Restoring a California Legacy”. In her contribution, Gould revealed her grandmother was “Flora Munoz”, and that her great grandfather was “Jose Guzman”.

    In 2015, in an interview regarding the canonization of Junipero Serra, Gould volunteered an explanation of how she was related to Andrew Galvan:

    “I’m actually related to Andy Galvan…” Gould explained Andrew Galvan is the docent at Mission Dolores, in San Francisco. She continued, “Our relation is that our grandmothers, six great-grandmothers back were sisters.”

    Corrina Gould, Episode 58 of “Iconocast”, recorded 09/23/2015.

    A more recent article, from May 25, 2021, states that Corrina Gould’s mother was taken to Chemawa Indian School, in Salem, Oregon.

    Oddly, it seems that Corrina Gould hasn’t mentioned her own mother by name. So, that was where I started.

    Statements about Corrina Gould’s family. (Mostly made by Gould herself.)

    I was able to find the Gould Family Tree, on Ancestry.com, after I had failed at finding any links to Flora Munoz or Jose Guzman in numerous Public Records searches.

    But I was able to find Gould’s late husband, Paul Gould Jr., and her late brother, Anthony Tucker. (Both died in the first half of 2021.) And her children, and children’s families. So, from public records, I was able to find Corrina Gould, her immediate family and brothers. I was not able to find any ancestry information.

    However, the information I found in public records helped me verify the Gould Family Tree, to a certain extent. On Ancestry.com, living people are masked. So the living descendants of Fred Edward Tucker, Paul Gould Sr., and Jesse L. Aceves were mostly hidden.

    There were hints, though. Like links to individuals who weren’t masked, who were already known. It didn’t take too much time to verify that I was looking at the family trees of Corrina Gould, and her, and her mother’s, first husbands.

    Don’t worry. I made charts.

    Excerpt from the “Gould Family Tree”. Problematic for obvious reasons.

    So, I found the Gould Family tree (excerpt above). But I also found it critically lacking in verifiable information. The birth and death date for “John Munoz” and “Victoria Marin” do not appear, for instance. [And John Munoz’s death date?! That says six years before Corrina’s mother was even born! WTFITS?!]…

    Flora Munoz–Corrina’s grandmother–isn’t refered to as “Flora Freda Munoz”, which is the true name of the Muwekma Family Member, who was the daughter of Victoria Marine.

    This is not an attempt at being facetious. Middle names matter. Try going to a bank with a court order to access your grandma’s safe deposit box, and being turned away because the judge didn’t include her middle name.

    It also matters because, on its face, the birth and death dates are already different. There’s a divergence between what Corrina Gould has said about her ancestry, and what bears out in the facts and evidence.

    Genealogy Logic Bomb

    This is where I started getting confused. There were at least two logic-bombs here; and I didn’t want to be misled by something that was probably put together really quickly, with the intention to correct later.

    I made a timeline of Joanne Guzman’s life, according to her daughter, Corrina Gould; so I could address one of Corrina Gould’s other claims, that Joanne Guzman had been taken to Chemawa Indian School.

    Joanne Guzman Timeline

    According to the established timeline of the Muwekma Tribe/Verona Band, the children of Flora Freda Munoz, and John “Jack” Guzman–John Jr. and Rayna–were sent to boarding school, twice. The first time in 1928, when Flora was sick. And the second was from 1944-1947 at the Chemawa Indian Highschool, when Corrina Gould’s mom, Joanne Guzman, was only 4.

    This means–according to this Ancestry.com thing: Corrina’s Uncle, John, would have been 8 in 1944. And her aunt, Rayna, would have been 6. None of Corrina Gould’s mom’s siblings were highschool age in the years between 1944, and 1947, when the Muwekma Family member John Guzman Jr., was determined to be 5/8 indian, and allowed to enroll in Chemawa–with his sister, Rayna, following a year later.

    Although, a typographical error in the 1940 US Census marks Joanne Guzman as “2” or “0”, the Birth Certificate for “Joan” Guzman, dated Jan-7-1940 helps add clarity; when the Father and Mother’s names are taken into full account.

    Examination of “Joanne Guzman’s” Family
    Informational Copy of Joanne Guzman’s Birth Certificate
    1940 US Census of Washington Township, Alameda County

    It wasn’t until I pulled the hard copies of both Corrina (Tucker) Gould, and Joanne Guzman’s birth certificates, that I was really able to illustrate the differences between the two families.

    Once that was done, I pulled together all of the dates, and sources, and put them back into another chart, so I could compare the information side-by-side.

    From this comparison, it appears that these are two different family trees. And, while the names of Joanne Guzman’s family, match those of Flora Freda Munoz, and John Guzman’s: they are not the same.

    But let’s look closer at Joan Guzman’s birth certificate:

    Guzman, Joan (Birth Certificate)Official Muwekma Records
    Mother: 22 (1918)Flora Freda Munoz: 1917
    Father: 37 (1903)John Paul “Jack” Guzman: 1902
    These dates match within a year. Only one “Joan Guzman” was born in Alameda County between 1940, and 1944.

    After reviewing this information, and comparing it to the Ancestry.com “Gould Family Tree”, it looks like the Gould Family tree is super wrong… But Joanne Guzman might really be the unknown daughter of the Jose Guzman and Flora Freda Munoz!

    There is still the issue of the Guzman Family in the 1940 US Census…

    Name, Relation to Head, Gender, Race, Age, [Approx. Birth Year]
    Guzman John, Head, M, W, 37, [1903]
    Flora, Wife, F, W, 23, [1917]
    John “Jr.”, Son, M, W, 4, [1936]
    Rayna, Daughter, F, W, 2, [1938]
    Joanne [check mark], Daughter, F, W, [two crossed out] 0, [1940]

    Wait….

    Before we solve this… I need to remind you that John Guzman Jr., and Rayna Guzman were both “Highschool Age” (13 or 14), in 1944, and 1945 respectively–when they were sent to Chemawa Indian School, which was a highschool since 1927.

    This means John Guzman Jr. was born sometime around 1931/32; Rayna Guzman around 1933/34.

    Or, just counting back four years from 1944, John Guzman Jr. would be about 10, making Rayna about 9.

    Joanne’s
    Birth Certificate    		Official Muwekma1940 US Census
    John Guzman361902 (38)37
    Flora Munoz221917 (23)23
    John Guzman Jr.null[10]4
    Rayna Guzmannull[9]2
    Joanne Guzman0null0
    [Discussed above.] Joanne’s birth cert. only has parental info.
    No official Muwekma Documents mention Joanne Guzman.

    So, First Actions On:

    1. Downgrade “Gould Family Tree” to “Unreliable”. (Even though the birth info for Joanne Guzman was legit.)
    2. Marvel at how similar these two families really are (in name only.)
    3. Note the age differences between the ages of Flora Freda Munoz’ family, and Flora Munoz’ family.
    4. Joanne Guzman is still not listed in any official Muwekma Records.
    5. Joanne Guzman is found in the 1940 U.S. Census, in a family bearing almost the exact same names as Flora Fred Munoz’ family.
    6. Decide whether it’s more likely that Corrina Gould’s mother is the long lost daughter of John Paul “Jack” Guzman, and Flora Freda Munoz; or the exact match Joanne Guzman, born in 1940, to a family with principally the same names as the aforementioned.

    Given the age differences between Joanne’s siblings, to the established ages of John Guzman Jr., and Rayna Guzman in 1944, it seems unlikely that Corrina Gould’s mother–Joanne Guzman–is related to Flora Freda Munoz, or John Paul “Jack” Guzman.

    This would also suggest Corrina Gould is not related to Andrew Galvan.

    While it is true that Corrina Gould’s grandmother really is “Flora Munoz”; and that her mother’s family, closely resembles a well known Muwekma family:

    No direct evidence was found that ties Corrina Gould to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, or the Verona Band.

    However:

    [Update added on May-29-2023]

    Alan Leventhal—Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Ethno-Historian and Archeologist–confirmed at the December 6, 2022 Indigenous Listening Session of the Alameda City Council, that Corrina Gould is related to the tribe.

    The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, has recently confirmed that Corrina Gould is a recognized descendant of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.

    It’s also true that Corrina Gould could be enrolled in the Muwekma Tribe.

    It would be great to see Corrina drop the façade and actually fight for, and help contribute to her real tribe; because, right now, she’s managed to take all the attention and support away from the people she actually belongs to.