This was created as a direct response to our community’s need for restorative justice–making things right.
You likely feel a personal connection to Indigenous People. You want to contribute to the well-being and sustainability of First Peoples locally, and around the world. (Especially Ohlone people who are the first inhabitants of the San Francisco Bay Area.)
We wanted to help guide you towards contributing to reputable, accountable, and transparent organizations making measurable positive impacts in the local Indigenous and Native American communities.
We wanted to re-frame “decolonization,” “landback,” and “rematriation” (all centered around returning ancestral lands to their original Indigenous caretakers) into locally actionable concepts that celebrate the plurality and diversity of our local community organizations, and the work they do to:
Uplift our voices. Empower and Advocate.
Cultivate wellness, vitality and expression.
Preserve and celebrate our Heritage and Traditions.
Benefitting the local Native American and Indigenous Communities of the San Francisco Bay Area means looking at the big picture.
Our diversity is our strength. Understanding the inter-tribal nature of the Bay Area, as well as being able to recognize true Tribal Governments, and Indigenous Organizations is essential for your role in supporting Indigenous Liberation.
By presenting you with local Indigenous organizations making a positive, measurable impact in the community, we are re-focusing attention on community driven initiatives with a proven track-record of success and accountability.
We acknowledge that the Bay Area is an Inter-tribal Urban Reservation. That the continued un-recognition of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area has resulted in political erasure and loss of Muwekma’s hereditary homelands in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Jose, and parts of Napa, Santa Cruz, Solano, and San Joaquin counties.
We occupy Muwekma Ohlone Land. And we should do what we can to honor the first people of the Bay Area.
You deserve to know that your contributions are being used to benefit Ohlone People and the greater Native American Community. This is why it’s essential to contribute only to organizations which are transparent, accountable, and provide a measurable positive impact to Ohlone People and local Indigenous Communities.
Dedicated to preserving Ohlone culture, language, and traditional practices, this foundation supports the direct needs of Ohlone people in the Bay Area. Contributions fund cultural revitalization, education, and ancestral territory preservation efforts, promoting Ohlone self-determination and community well-being.
(Pronounced “courage”) seeks to unlock the leadership of young people to “dream beyond bars.” From their website: “We look to young people to lead the way in transforming our communities by investing in their healing, aspirations, and activism.”
Promotes Community Wellness, Provides direct Medical Care, Celebrates the rich Culture and Heritage of All Nations through diverse programming and events, including the Indigenous Red Market, and Annual NAHC Powwow.
Provides wellness and rehabilitative services to Native American People from all over the Nation. Many tribes send their members to the SF Friendship house for care. [As of writing, the website is down. Best way to reach them is to call. (415) 865-0964 Ask for Finance, or: Lena Ma ext. 4021, or Pinky Huree ext. 4012]
Intertribal Friendship House
Legit Native American community center in Oakland. A small place with a big impact. From their website: “Intertribal Friendship House (IFH), located in Oakland, CA, was founded in 1955 and is one of the first urban American Indian community centers in the nation… For urban Native people, IFH serves as a vital “Urban Reservation” and cultural homeland, providing a crucial space to stay connected to their heritage and traditions.”
Our community deserves better than empty promises and appropriation.
By supporting transparent, accountable organizations that truly benefit Ohlone people and local Indigenous communities, we can create meaningful change.
Let’s reclaim our responsibility to honor the first people of this land and work towards a future where Indigenous voices are amplified, not erased.
Together, we can make a difference – let this be a starting point for positive action.
Nothing about this is an act of charity, or legitimate “return” of native land. The fact that the property being purchased is a 2.2 acre parking lot–instead of a real shellmound–is kind of embarrassing; especially because these headlines are so wrong.
Just because the City of Berkeley City Council voted on an agenda item with the title:
Adopt first reading of an Ordinance authorizing the City to acquire the portion of the West Berkeley Shellmound located at 1900 Fourth Street and also authorizing the City to transfer that property to the Sogorea Te Land Trust, thereby returning the land to the Ohlone people.
Does not mean that land is actually being returned to Ohlone people.
It’s a conclusory statement based on the bandwagon fallacy: that donating money, creating cultural easements, and transferring property to the Sogorea Te Land Trust benefits Ohlone people.
And this false equivocation between a non-Ohlone organization, and “The Ohlone People” is dangerously close to the impersonation of a tribe. Especially when the transfer of money, property and benefits meant for the enjoyment of an Ohlone Tribe goes to an organization which is neither a Tribe, nor Ohlone.
2. The City of Berkeley did not Buy the West Berkeley Shellmound
The City of Berkeley only chipped in about $1.5 Million worth of City Money. That’s less than 10% of the total purchase cost of the West Berkeley Parking Lot–which is $27 Million Dollars.
I just want to note that the Valuation for the land at 1900 4th Street, which are two parcels [57-2101-1-3, and 57-2101-5], is currently $9,690,000.00 (or $9.69M).
…And also let you know that the valuation for this property jumped between 2022, and 2023; from a combined (Land + Improvements) value of $1,306,140, to its current, $9,690,000. That’s a difference of $8,383,860 in value, in just one year. I’m not sure if this has to do with $60K worth of delinquent property taxes being paid in December 2023. But there hasn’t been any obvious change on the ground which would indicate a higher valuation.
All of this is to say that a purchase cost of $27 Million Dollars is way more than what the land is worth.
So, there’s actually a really good chance the inflated cost of the property includes legal fees and losses involved in the decade long struggle of the property.
And, if that’s true, this is much more of a win for the developers than it is for anyone else. Like, $18 Million Dollars more.
3. Sogorea Te Land Trust is Not An Ohlone Tribe or Organization
Sogorea Te is not even an Ohlone word. Sogorea Te is a place name for Glen Cove, in Vallejo, which is currently Wintun and Patwin Territory.
Sogorea Te Land Trust is a non-profit Land Trust that’s supposedly gathering money to purchase [Ohlone] land to return to indigenous people; support “rematriation”; and create urban gardens, and community centers.
However….
None of the money Sogorea Te Land Trust has raised, has benefited any actual Bay Area Tribe.
The only group benefitting from the Sogorea Te Land Trust’s work seems to be a corporation posing as a Tribal Government, the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC.
But the fact that:
Sogorea Te Land Trust is so often being confused with an Ohlone Tribe, or representing an Ohlone Tribe; and the fact that,
Sogorea Te is now accepting land on behalf of “the Ohlone people”; and the fact that,
Sogorea Te Land Trust is not correcting this misidentification, false equivocation, or,
Making it clear that the Sogorea Te Land Trust is not an Ohlone tribe, and does not speak for one…
Means that the Sogorea Te Land is getting closer and closer to impersonating a tribe, or at least benefitting from the false impression that the Land Trust is an Ohlone Tribe or Ohlone Tribal Organization–which it is not.
4. The West Berkeley Shellmound is not “endangered”
It’s destroyed.…
But it’s easier for people to believe they are helping to “undo”, or “right centuries of wrong” by allowing a Land Trust to purchase an insignificant piece of what’s left of the West Berkeley Shellmound.
Wallace, W.; Lathrap, D. (1975) Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility, Vol. 29, “West Berkeley (CA-Ala-307): A Culturally Stratified Shellmound on the East Shore of San Francisco Bay” https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4616g044
I would argue: the only reason the West Berkeley Shellmound has received so much attention is because it’s a flat, empty space which is easy to fit a hundred protestors on top of. [Other shellmounds are behind fences, and protected by Oil, Quarry and Other Industries’ Private Security Companies.]
But, as a sacred site that needs protecting, the West Berkeley Shellmound is at the bottom of the list–mostly because it’s already 👏🏽 been 👏🏽 destroyed 👏🏽; and, also, because the Spenger’s Parking Lot is not where the shellmound used to be.
Map of West Berkeley showing CA-Ala-307 (West Berkeley Shellmound)
The historic location of the West Berkeley Shellmound is on the other side of the train tracks, under what’s now mostly a Truitt & White Lumber Yard.
5. Lisjan has never been the name of any Ohlone Tribe
Lisjan (or “lisyan”) does not appear in any historic mission records–or anywhere else–until 1921: when a Muwekma Ohlone ancestor (Jose Guzman) said “Yo soy lisjanes“, to define himself as someone from the Bernal, and Alisal Rancherias, in what’s known as Pleasanton today.
Aside from the fact that “Lisjan” appears in an interview of Muwekma ancestor Jose Guzman, which occurred about 87 years after the secularization of the Missions in California: there is nothing to prove that an Ohlone village named Lisjan ever existed. In fact, the only thing passages referring to “Lisjan” prove is that “Lisjan” is the place name for Pleasanton, California; not East Oakland–where Corrina Gould claims the “Lisjan” homeland is.
To dive in deeper to the references of “Lisjan” in the 1921 interview of Jose Guzman: Guzman was busy discussing how his family came from the North–which was Nisenan territory, where the word “Lisjan” came from–to Pleasanton. In this passage, Guzman talked about his family’s history, and of his grandfather speaking Russian.
But, let’s be clear: Lisjan is not an Ohlone word at all.
So a woman calling herself the chairperson of an Ohlone “tribe” (which is supposedly a “confederation” of Ohlone villages) named after Pleasanton, but based in East Oakland, should be considered extremely suspect. 🚩🚩🚩
But Corporations are not Tribal Governments, because Tribal Governments are Sovereign Nations which exist outside of the normal U.S. Corporate Structure.
7. Corrina Gould isn’t a tribal chairperson.
There are a number of different reasons why Corrina Gould is not a Tribal Chairperson. The fact that the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. is not a tribe is the strongest. And it’s evidenced on the faces of everyone you see in every picture of CVL’s “tribal members”.
Real Tribal Leaders are actually voted for by Tribal Members who represent all the different families which make up a Tribe.
Look at the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area:
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe was federally recognized; they have a documented 10,000 year history continuous habitation in the San Francisco Bay Area; not just Federal Documentation, but family trees, and DNA documentation directly linked to archaeological sites.
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is comprised of all the remaining known Indian lineages who survived the California Missions. They have over 614 enrolled tribal members.
The reason why the Muwekma Ohlone tribe seems like it’s “The San Jose Tribe”, or is only in Santa Clara is because Mission San Jose was down in Fremont. That’s where all the “Indians” got let out from when the Mission systems closed down. So that’s why the Governor issued an order re: squatters on Mission Lands; and why the present-day Muwekma population is distributed the way it is. [That is a completely different historical topic for another day.]
“But we have members all over the Bay Area,” Muwekma Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh told me. This includes places outside of San Jose, like Castro Valley, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco–and even in Manteca, and Sacramento, and beyond.
But this is an argument about Traditional, Hereditary Muwekma Territory. And that territory includes Berkeley, and Oakland, and Alameda, and Albany. This whole area is Muwekma Ohlone Territory. The only reason they’re not here is because they haven’t got their land back.
When you look closer, the “tribe” Corrina Gould purports to represent is comprised only of her own immediate family members.
Official Portraits of the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, Inc. have never shown many (if any) members of the tribe Corrina Gould purports to be the Chairwoman of.
Take this into consideration when you compare the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. to real tribes, like the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area–which has 600+ members from many different families, who have well-documented, hereditary links to their land and ancestors.
If Corrina Gould were really trying to educate the public, she would have told you the truth a long time ago, and actually stepped aside to let the real tribe she came from benefit from the work she purports to do “for Ohlone people”–instead of doing it for her personal benefit, and the benefit of her immediate family members.
It’s up to you to educate yourself before you give money, land, or support to Native People.
We get it, you feel guilty about what your ancestors did Native Americans.
But your desperation to absolve yourself of your White Guilt, and the Sins of Colonization lead you into problematic “fixes”, following straw man causes which end up contributing to the erasure of the very people you’re trying to help.
Wondering which Native American organizations you should give to on Giving Tuesday?
Hopefully, when you read this, you already know that Shuumi Land Tax doesn’t really go to all Ohlone people. (But we don’t want to discourage your well-meaning intent and your need to help Indigenous people in anyway you can.)
If you really want to help the Native American People in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve compiled a list of organizations where your generous donation and goodwill have a measurable impact.
This is the real Ohlone tribe you probably thought you were donating money to when you considered paying Shuumi “Land Tax”.
With over 10,000 years of continuous habitation of this place now known as the San Francisco Bay Area, your donation directly to this tribe of over 600 enrolled members will be felt immediately; and put to use as Muwekma reawaken their Chochenyo language, remember dances, and revitalize their culture.
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is a bonafide native American Tribe, which has been recognized over and over again by The Courts, but still struggles for recognition with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Muwekma is set to begin their Trail of Truth in their epic battle for justice; in the form of a Tribal Homeland, Education, Housing, Medical Services, and–last but not least: Sovereignty.
If you want to help Ohlone people in the San Francisco Bay Area (and beyond):
Go to Muwekma.org to educate yourself and your friends about the Indigenous People of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Established in 1955 as one of the first urban American Indian community centers in the nation.
It was founded by the American Friends Service Committee to serve the needs of American Indian people relocated from reservations to the San Francisco Bay Area.
Friendship House SF provides a girth of wellness services for Native American People in the SF urban rez.
One of the most important services the Friendship House SF provides is treatment and recovery services for Native Americans. Lots of tribes will send their members to the Friendship House SF for their treatment and recovery services.
The Friendship House SF also provides meeting space for other organizations to hold their events and retreats. Very thankful to the Friendship House SF for giving me and organizations I’ve been a part space for so many years.
Provides primary care, mental health, and dental services primarily. Also organizes and hold the Indigenous Red Market, contributes to Powwows, and other Native American Events and Programs throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Contributing to this organization will also support a wider range of programs and services in the Bay Area.
Since 1968, the purpose of the American Indian Center has been to create a community space based on Native American values, culture, programming, traditional foods, and community support.
Contributing to this organization will help sustain AICC’s mission to improve and promote the well-being of the American Indian community and to increase the visibility of American Indian cultures in an urban setting in order to cultivate awareness, understanding and respect.
The American Indian Child Resource Center is a non-profit social services and educational community-based organization serving American Indian community members from across the greater Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area and surrounding counties.
The American Indian Child Resource Center is a COA Accredited Organization.
Economic Development Corporation which invests in and creates innovative institutions and models that strengthen asset control (land stewardship is one example) and support economic development (through grants and programs) for American Indian people and their communities.
First Nations Development Institute is another solid choice because you know your money will be well invested, and you can read the reports on how it was used.
Which Native American Organizations Should You Donate To?
Hopefully, this helps you decide where to invest for Giving Tuesday in the year 2023!
By now there should be no doubt that most museums, which display or hold Native American artifacts, directly benefit from grave robbing, or the often racist, prejudiced language and ignorant beliefs regarding Native Americans first uttered by now dead anthropologists [like Alfred Kroeber], and perpetuated by the ailing volunteers and aging septuagenarians responsible for interpreting and curating these artifacts today.
Many of these museums do no care to get the information or facts straight, and continue to present California Native Americans as “extinct”, “disappeared”, and brush off or dismiss any mention of actual living Native people as someone trying to raise trouble.
Advocates for the truthful portrayal, accurate naming, and return of tribal objects and remains are often called “hostile”, dismissed as rabble rousers, and subjected to projection by the very people who should have read White Fragility.
Even more infuriating is the belief consulting with any Native American individual on any subject–whether or not it’s related to the stolen Tribal Grave Goods or Ceremonial Objects in these Museum’s possession–is used as cover for the Museum to continue to disregard the wishes of the very real, and still living Native American people who have a lawful claim, and a legal right to demand the return and repatriation of these Native American Tribal Resources and Cultural Objects.
In fact, many of the people museums choose to consult with regarding Native American artifacts are not Native Americans at all.
Truthfully, Native American people are consistently shut out of events, exhibitions and lectures about their own culture and identity.
A lot of apologists will say “it’s not like this anymore”; or dismiss the Standard Operating Procedures museums as a thing of the past…. But these conditions till persist.
Native American People continue to be discounted, ignored; and their history, culture and contributions continue to be minimized and ignored.
But the truth remains: The artifacts and objects on display in most museums have been stolen from Native American People, their graves, and do not belong to the museums who refuse to return them.
There are three main reasons why Museums refuse to return Tribal Cultural Objects.
The first is that there is no Federally Recognized Tribe which claims these objects to return them to. This is especially true for the Repatriation of Native American Remains.
It’s a shame that these institutions are unwilling to do the research and work necessary to properly identify Tribal Cultural Objects and Native American Remains to repatriate the same way they did the research to identify and prepare the same goods and burials for exhibition.
It’s despicable the way Museums claim such helplessness and ignorance when it comes time to give stolen objects back, even though the exact same objects are the she subjects of fundraising events and lectures proudly given by white anthropologists, and non-native experts, even today.
Charlene Nijmeh, the Chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, talks about how the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe was removed from the rolls of Native American Tribes simply for the purpose of denying Ohlone people in the San Francisco Bay Area their right to a tribal land base; because land in the Bay Area is so valuable.
In this same way, institutions like the University of California Berkeley (which holds the remains of thousands of Native Americans) are incentivized to claim an inability to identify which tribes the bodies in their crypt belong to.
So, too, are Museums incentivized to weaponize their incompetence in order to keep their pilfered goods.
This is a completely reprehensible argument that bears no merit, as far as I’m concerned. Simply because these same people would not agree that their family members are more valuable being dug up, defiled in the name of science, and put on display without so much of a whisper of their name or life’s story.
It’s worth saying, “If you’re not okay with your grandma being dug up and put on display, why are you doing it to mine?”
The blatant disrespect of Native American Graves as things which can be dug up, broken, moved to a landfill, reburied, and used as overspread is something which has been enabled by the statements of people like Alfred Kroeber, who explicitly declared entire tribes of Native Americans (like Ohlone people) “extinct”.
It s because these remains are considered “ancient”, or attributed to a time before our modern history where no living descendants exist–“pre-historic” for all intents and purposes–that oil companies, city, state and federal governments have dug up the bodies of our ancestors with impunity. And why money is still being given to universities to study our ancestors’ remains, even today.
But this is a fallacy, because Native American people are not extinct; they have not disappeared. We are still here, today. And we do not want anyone digging up our relatives to build pipelines, parking lots… or “for science”. Period!
(How come laws against the abuse of a corpse apply to every body except for Native American bodies?)
The third, and final, reason why institutions refuse to even consider returning stolen Native American artifacts to tribes is an extension of the preceding “more valuable for science” reasoning.
However, the very basis of some museums’ refusal to return tribal objects is clearly rooted in the scarcity mindset.
Museum Fallacy #3:
“If we give away all of our artifacts, we won’t have any left!”
“If we give away all of our artifacts, we won’t have any left!” This was actually said to me by a volunteer at the Alameda Museum.
This is dissonant because many museum’s holdings are made of stolen property. Repatriation is the only correct course of action; anything less is a travesty.
This standing also presumes the only thing of value the museum has to offer is the exhibition of original artifacts, no matter how broken or uninteresting those artifacts are; and, in spite of the fact that curators and museum staff and volunteers have no […] clue how those objects are used, where they actually came, or what the history of their use and development is.
In all of this, there is not even a hint of concern about whether or not the museum has a duty to investigate/research, find, and try to contact the tribe associated with the Native American objects and artifacts in their possession.
Consideration of actual Native American People is so far removed from the discussion, it’s a little ridiculous.
Representation of average museum volunteer docents. (AI-generated.)
The idea that there aren’t enough artifacts is a fallacy based upon a false sense of ownership and authority magically imbued by the mere possession of these stolen grave goods.
The implied scarcity mindsight that the only thing which gives museums like the Alameda Museum any value is a handful of broken pieces of bones and tools–which no one knows the use for (or even the names of)–is laughable in its appeal to ignorance.
The fact that Alameda Museum is not, and has never been, the place to see Native American artifacts belies this mindset as a straw man argument for the lack of interest or determination of the museum to change or do any better. But, in the end, it’s the museum which must do the work.
So let’s get down to brass tax here:
Museums need to get real about the fact that no one cares whether or not they exhibit real artifacts if their exhibits are trash and don’t actually provide any education value; especially if Museum Staff & Volunteers don’t know anything about them. [There’s no value here.]
Returning Native American Grave Goods is the right thing to do. (It’s probably illegal for museums to possess them.) And Museums owe money, and other restitution, to Tribes for their illegal conversion of Tribal Property.
Contacting Tribes to begin the repatriation process is necessary.
Museums need to seriously consider purchasing replicas made by Native American artisans in exchanging for the return of Grave Good and Ceremonial Objects.
Museums are required to pay Indigenous People for their time and consultation at a rate commensurate with like professionals in the same or similar industries–regardless of whether or not those Indigenous Consultants have any academic credentials.
Indigenous Peoples’ lived experiences and actual subject matter expertise are more valuable than any degree.
Indigenous science is valid.
Indigenous science is a distinct, time-tested, and methodological knowledge system that can enhance and complement western science. Indigenous science is about the knowledge of the environment and knowledge of the ecosystem that Indigenous Peoples have. It is the knowledge of survival since time immemorial and includes multiple systems of knowledge(s) such as the knowledge of plants, the weather, animal behavior and patterns, birds, and water among others.
Indigenous people are experts.
Museums will do well to remember these facts when treating Indigenous People with the reverence and respect they deserve.
This article will introduce you to where Lisjan is; who “Lisjan Ohlone” are, what what “Viva Lisjanes” means.
Where is Lisjan?
Lisjan is the big valley that spans the area from Pleasanton, to the Altamont Range (Amador and Livermore Valleys) which were also rancherias Alisal, Bernal, Del Mocho, and more.
Lisjan homeland of Jose Guzman, who is a Muwekma Ohlone Ancestor and Captain of the Verona Band of Indians of Alameda County.
Lisjan is a Nisenan (Maidu) name for the area now known as Pleasanton, California.
Why does it seem like Ohlone people are only in the South Bay?
Because the Spanish Missions in the Bay Area were in San Francisco and the South Bay.
Mission San Jose is in Fremont
Mission Santa Clara is in San Jose
Mission Delores is in San Francisco
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.
Secularization and Mission Abandonment
When the Missions were abandoned, secularized (in 1833), or destroyed, indigenous people continued to live on Mission Land, in what was most definitely their tribal homeland.
They were simply continuing to live and survive on their land, through the rise and fall of the California Mission System—which only lasted 64 year, yet had a profound and cataclysmic effect on all Indigenous people within their spheres of influence.
Many indigenous people stayed in this area, and blended in with Spanish, and Mexican work forces to avoid the American treatment of Indigenous People–which was well-known by the mid-1850’s to be sadistic and unpredictable. It was in the interest of survival that people blended in, and kept a low profile.
Verona Band of Alameda County
The “Verona Band” was an administrative name used to refer to a group of indigenous people who lived around the area where a train station named “Verona” was built by William Hearst in 1901. This is the Niles Canyon/Sunol Region of the Bay Area. Relatively close to the Mission San Jose.
Yo Soy Lisjanes
In 1921, a linguist interviewed a member of the Verona Band known as Jose Guzman. Guzman was considered an “Indian captain” and shared much of his language and life stories with John P. Harrington—the linguist. (Jose Guzman was not the only person Harrington interviewed.)
So where/who is Lisjan?
One of the things Jose Guzman said was, “Yo soy Lisjanes.”
As in: I’m Lisjanes, I am from Lisjan.
He was saying he’s from the area North of Verona: valleys now known as Amador and Livermore–but which had been split into many different rancherias by Spanish and Mexican colonizers, including Alisal, Bernal, and Del Mocho, among others.
One of the reasons that Guzman may have referred to the area around present-day Pleasanton by its Nisenan name could be that Jose Guzman’s parents were both from Maidu Territory, farther north, in a region where people spoke Nisenan.
Indigenous people are polyglottal by nature.
What does Chochenyo Mean?
Jose Guzman was the last fluent Chochenyo Speaker. Chochenyo is an Ohlone Language spoken in the East Bay.
On the morning of Friday, August 4th, 2023, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc, their supporters, members of the press, and San Jose government officials (and their designees.) Gathered at the site where a statue of Captain Thomas Fallon was “immortalized” in bronze to commemorate the moment when Fallon rose American Flag for the first time, in San Jose, 1846; and which symbolized the second time this land was stolen.
However, the statue was no longer there, at the intersection of Julian and St. James, in what’s no known as San Jose, California. The statue was removed on April 25, 2023.
This meeting was to cleanse the land beneath the concrete and roadways of this area. (The place where the Guadalupe River flowed. Where the Muwekma Ohlone ancestors lived for thousands of years.)
Charlene Nijmeh speaking at site of former Holiday Inn, where her mother Rosemary Cambra, fought to protect Muwekma ancestral remains unearthed by archeologists right here.
Charlene Nijmeh, Muwekma Chairwoman said we gathered at the former site of a symbol of oppression and genocide, “To give prayers to our ancestors; and also to give them hope.”
And, to show that Ohlone people are still here, and that their voices will not be silenced.
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is trying to break the silence on their fight for Federal Recognition, Sovereign Rights, and Land Grants that the tribe rightfully deserves. Things which are granted to Federally Recognized Tribes as a matter of law.
They want all of these things without the concessions Bay Area Congressional Representative want them to make. Concessions like money for education, and limits on rights affecting the tribe’s long term development and survival.
San Jose City Council voted unanimously to remove the Fallon Statue on November 9, 2021.
San Jose Councilmember Peter Ortiz–who led the movement to remove the Christopher Colombus statue from San Jose’s City Hall– recognized the Fallon statue as another reference to the culture of colonialism. He said it sends the wrong message; that we need healing from the violence of the past.
“The monument symbolized, unfortunately, oppression, it symbolized injustice,” San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres said, “I’m just glad that it’s gone.”
Peter Ortiz’, and Omar Torres’ pledge to co-write, and introduce a resolution fully recognizing the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area as a “Tribe”, could be the start of the silence surrounding Muwekma’s efforts finally ending.
Today’s events would start with a cleansing at the former site of the statue, followed by a procession around downtown San Jose to show people historic places which are important to Indigenous and Latinx Communities.
Left to Right: Miwok Elder Razzle, Charlene Nijmeh (Facing), Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc (Back to camera), Joey Torres, Muwekma Tribal Members and Supporters Surrounding.
Controversial from the beginning…
The early history of the fight to remove the Fallon statue. As told to me by Kathy Chávez Napoli, a Mountain Maidu Elder, and core member of the original group fighting the statue, along with Javier Salazar (who started it), and Felix Arcano. With help from Yolanda Reynolds, and more. I was honored to have met one of the people who fought the installation of the statue from its commission in 1988, and to receive this oral history.
Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc Rep. (Left), Kathy Chavez Napoli (right) being recognized during celebrations at St. James Park.
About the Controversy
The controversy around the statue stemmed from the fact that it blatantly romanticized American colonization; was a symbol of land theft (the annexation of Mexican land), oppression, and the dark and violent nature of the creation of America literally on top of the bones of Indigenous people.
There were also serious questions about whether or not Thomas Fallon even deserved to have a statue erected in his honor. Fallon gave himself the rank of captain; it wasn’t actually awarded to him in any official manner. And, John D. Sloat was the one who was ordered to land on Alta California and raise the American flag. Sloat simply gave the flag to Fallon.
Mayor McEnery’s Book About Fallon Was Fiction
Aside from those cultural and subject matter objections to the statue, there was also the fact that Tom McEnery wrote a book about Captain Thomas Fallon which was supposed to be based on Thomas Fallon’s journals. And the “historical facts” gleaned from these journal were used to bolster the Mayor McEnery’s argument for commissioning and installing the statue.
It was later revealed that Thomas Fallon kept no such journal, and the entire book itself was historical (fan) fiction written by Tom McEnery, himself.
Mayor Tom McEnery, meanwhile, was able to personally commission this art project (in 1988)–with a budget of $250k–which ended up costing $800k; and would require another $500K for installation and infrastructure. (Which is about $1.9M in 2023 dollars for the statue, and about $1.1M for installation and infrastructure.)
But, where did the money even come from? How did the Mayor Manage to amass the money to pay for the statue? And how did he intend to pay for the installation and infrastructure on top of that?
This was the fact that moved so many people to action.
Outcry Over Lack of Accountability Exclusion of Public Input
Kathy Chávez Napoli remembers the reaction to this sudden, and extreme expenditure: “Wait a minute, we don’t even have stop lights at certain places and you want to spend $800 thousand dollars on a person that you wrote a book about?!“
Tom McEnery (the Mayor at that time) had leveraged an alarming amount of public funds from the city to pay for it. This was possible because of the passage of Measure “G” which gave the mayor of San Jose more power to act without certain checks and balances (like City Council or Committee Approval/Review).
“Tom McEnery, at the time, was the most powerful mayor that San Jose had ever had.” Kathy Chávez Napoli told me, “They passed Measure G; it gave him a lot more power than the mayor had ever had, prior. And he had never been challenged. And so, when we challenged him, that was his first defeat.”
The Fallon protestors had managed to make their points heard, and break through the noise with verifiable facts, in black and white, on paper. An advisory committee was created.
“Because of that we were able to get a lot more support and they formed the Historic Art Council. I was appointed, Javiar was appointed. And we voted to destroy it, but we were out-voted.”
However: the statue was never installed in its intended place, or anywhere else. For a decade the statue sat in storage, somewhere in Oakland, California….
“We never knew how much it cost to be in storage, in Oakland, for ten years.” Kathy said, “They never would tell us. They never would tell us where the location was.”
Referring to Mayor Gonzalez’ decision to reinstall the offensive statue, “… we said, ‘When it goes up, it’s gonna get vandalized.’ And ever since it’s gone up, it’s always getting vandalized. Always.”
“It should never have been there. It should never have even been created.” Kathy told me, “And that’s how we were able to bring so many people in the community together to oppose it.”
Commenting on how long it took for the statue to finally be removed, Kathy Chavez turned to me and said:
All of our work, all of the work of all the community has been vindicated. And it doesn’t always happen right when you hope it does. But it happens! What better win?
Kathy Chávez Napoli
As I listened to the presentations from Muwekma Tribal Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh, Muwekma Tribal Member Joey Torres, Muwekma Youth Ambassador, Muwekma Tribal Members, Miwok Elder Razzle, SCU Prof. Lee Panich, SJSU Anthropologist & Archeologist Gustavo Flores, and the Speaker for Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc–who described some of the horrors of the mission system….
Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc Presenting at Plaza De Cesar Chavez
It became more apparent how the removal of public art dedicated to the symbols of oppression, land theft, and white supremacy can open up pathways to healing wounds that we can’t always see.
That the removal of these blocks can also open up our eyes to see other places where we could do better. New opportunities to create pathways for healing on a community level. Something which is needed more often than not in area where wide disparities exist.
George Floyd’s murder (May 25, 2020) by police is what sparked the unanimous urgency behind the the deaccession and removal ordinance passed by the San Jose City Council on November 9, 2021.
The ensuing protests, and the birth of the Black Lives Matter, Defund Police Movement, Me Too, Missing Murdered Indigenous Movement, and more, reignited the struggle for civil rights which had remained dormant until then. It let loose our collective energy, which had been pent up and held back not just by our collective oppression, but our repression, and our silence.
All of these events helped people wake up and realize that there is a gap in the way people are treated in our society.
That the economic, justice, and welfare systems in American society were created to exclude nonwhite society members; or, include them in a predatory, exploitive way, which made the cost of inclusion too great a price to bear.
Because our eyes were open to the injustices and injuries visited upon other people by an unjust system created to oppress and subjugate them….
Because we were able to empathize with the pain and struggles of someone else who did not look like us….
Because we, as a society, started practicing restorative justice instead of making proclamations to do so, we have been able to move forward, and imagine a future which includes everyone.
“This is a we thing.” Miwok Elder Razzle told us, inviting us to share and participate in the cleansing ceremony, directly, as several people shared songs.
The removal of the Fallon Statue, and the introduction of a resolution fully recognizing Muwekma as a “Tribe” are the first steps in the journey towards the official recognition of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Muwekma Tribal Member Joey Torres talked about how our ancestors got use ready for this moment, how we are reawakening and searching for knowledge stored deep inside.
Miwok Elder Razzle talked about the seventh generation, and said this would not have been possible if the youth and young adults of today hadn’t spoken up and taken the lead on a battle that started so long ago.
We are at an interesting moment in time when the Seventh Generation is now beginning to take the lead as our elders begin to transition. Let’s do them proud and make sure we leave something good for the next seven generations.
You can also encourage your local leaders and politicians to acknowledge the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe with a formal Land Acknowledgement.
Not Sure If You’re In Muwekma Territory?
The aboriginal homeland of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe includes the following counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, most of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and portions of Napa, Santa Cruz, Solano and San Joaquin
From Muwekma.org
What about the “Chochenyo Ohlone”, and the “Lisjan Ohlone”?
Chochenyo is a dialect of the Ohlone language, spoken in parts of the East Bay. Jose Guzman, a famous Ohlone leader, who referred to himself as “Lisjanes”. [“Yo soy Lisjan.”]
Jose Guzman was thought to be “the last Chochenyo speaker” until the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe began speaking and learning their language again. He was a member of the Federally Recognized Verona Band of Alameda County.
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.
So, every time you recognize the “Chochenyo Ohlone“, or the “Lisjan Ohlone“, or Lisjanikma, you’re recognizing the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. “Muwekma” means la gente.
Both are fronted by Corrina Gould, an Ohlone woman, who has managed to command the attention and monies from thousands of people in the San Francisco Bay Area, and beyond.
Corrina Gould has been lauded for her fundraising to establish urban gardens; create ad-hoc Ohlone language programs; and even negotiate for a cultural easement at a well-known park, in the City of Oakland, California.
But Corrina Gould’s work has been done without the inclusion, consultation, or participation of her own tribe.
And the victories that Gould has managed to score, however shallow—and in the name of “all Ohlone people”—do not actually benefit all Ohlone people. In fact, Corrina Gould is actively diverting money and support away from her own tribe.
Shuumi Land Tax, (fundraising donations) collected by the Sogorea Te Land Trust, does not go to all Ohlone People.
“Shuumi” stays within the Sogorea Te Land Trust, and is only disbursed to Corrina Gould’s personal corporation: the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC.–which, in turn, only benefits Gould’s immediate family.
[For reference, Corrina Gould’s immediate family are:
(1) herself, (2) Cheyenne Gould, (3) Deja Gould, and (4) Chatah Gould.
For all intents and purposes, these are the only members of what Corrina Gould alleges is a “confederation of villages”.]
And…. While Corrina Gould claims that her non-profit corporation is a Tribal Government, it is not. And, despite Corrina Gould’s claims that she is a Tribal Chairwoman, she is not.
Tribal Chairpersons are voted for by the enrolled members of a tribe, in a democratic process which all legitimate Native American tribes are required to employ, per the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Not only do enrolled tribal members vote for the Tribal Chairpersons; they vote for Tribal Council Members; and vote for or against the laws, regulations and actions taken by their Tribe.
At most, Gould was “elected” as CEO by the Board of Directors of her corporation.
But, in reality, Corrina Gould is the self-appointed Chief Executive Officer of a corporation she formed to affect the illusion of legitimacy; a shell corporation she could use not just for her own personal monetary gain, but also satisfy her narcissistic need to be the only indian in the room—the end-all, be-all expert on Ohlone “indianness”.
Gabriel Duncan
The fact that the three officers of the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC.are:Corrina Gould, Deja Gouldand “Chayenne Zepeda” (AKA, “Cheyenne Gould”), should be a red flag regarding the legitimacy of the corporation as a “tribal government”, and “confederation of villages”.
The name of Gould’s corporation itself; a so-called “confederation of villages” forming a “nation” would imply the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. is a large group of people—presumably, Ohlone people—who represent a number of different Ohlone villages in the San Francisco Bay Area.
If this were true: one would expect to see a roll or roster of villages; articles of confederationsigned by representatives of all the villages in the confederation.
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is composed of all surviving lineages of Missions San Jose, Delores, and Santa Clara.
Muwekma boasts over 700 enrolled tribal members; and a proven, documentedcontiguous history of living in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 10,000 years.
Muwekma is a Chochenyo word which means la gente (“the people”.) This is a commonality, for tribes’ names to literally mean “us”, or “the people”. The reason why is mostly philosophical, and only a teensy bit linguistic; but this is true for the majority of groups of people when asked “what do you call yourselves?” [Indigenous People have the right to name themselves, and be referred to by the name they choose. UN Resolution 61/295; adopted Sept-13-2007.]
Alisal was the Land Grant Rancheria Muwekma people lived and worked on after the secularization of the missions, as vaqueros.
Much of this land was later bought by the Bernal family (which became Pleasanton), and a southern portion was purchased by Randolph Hearst.
Muwekma people have called themselves by a few names: Lisjannes, Muwekma, the Mission San Jose Band of Indians, and Ohlone.
However, Ohlone people have never called themselves “Chochenyo”, or “The Chochenyo”, because Chochenyo is an Ohlone Language, not a tribal group.
And Muwekma people have never referred to themselves as the “Verona Band of Alameda County”; this was a name used to identify Muwekma people by the U.S. Government, used in their own internal BIA/Department of Interior documents.
Aside from the fact that:
“Lisjan” is a Chochenyo and Nisenan name for Pleasanton, California; that,
Corrina Gould’s corporation is not a confederation of Ohlone villages, or a Tribal Government; and that,
Shuumi Land Tax doesn’t actually go to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area…
There is the very real and (largely) unreported pattern of hostility and contempt that Corrina Gould harbors for any person who tries to advocate for, or even dares to mention the name “Muwekma”.
In the four years the Alameda Native History Project has been operating, I have come into contact with countless indigenous people who have (tried to) work with Corrina Gould in various professional and academic capacities. These credible people, experts in their fields, sought me out, to tell me about their experiences with Corrina Gould, after I publicly withdrew my support, and admitted my own mistake in ever co-signing the narrative that Gould had appropriated (almost word-for-word) from the history of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.
This project completely, and uncompromisingly protects, and will continue to protectthe anonymity of our sources; because, some of these sources are afraid of being subjected to even more harassment and possibly violence from Corrina Gould’s supporters than they have already experienced. [However, we are not afraid. And, this topic–and the subjects within this essay–need to be discussed and brought to the general public; because they are newsworthy and important.]
This public mis-understanding is especially problematic because it means that Corrina Gould is diverting money and support away from the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Franciso Bay Area; the tribe from which Corrina Gould is a recognized descendant. [Alameda City Council, “Listening Session and Partnership Opportunities with Local Indigenous People and Ohlone Tribes“, Dec-6-2022]
So, while people generously donate to a corporation, which they believe will help all Ohlone people….
While the Sogorea Te Land Trust, and Corrina Gould, continue to profit from the public’s belief their donations fund programs which benefit a much larger group of Ohlone people than they actually do….
Ohlone people will continue to suffer harms from colonization and political erasure–not just from the United States, and Spanish Governments’ policies of eradication and assimilation–but also, from misinformation and diversion by someone who would rather exploit their own indigenous identity (, and the public’s genuine good will and support for Ohlone people) for personal gain.
These are the top two priorities of the indigenous people of the San Francisco Bay Area. Once known as “Costanoans” because they, Muwekma Ohlone people, are among the First Peoples of the California Coast.
Let them know that the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area has been in the Bay Area for over 10,000 years; and they deserve a land base on their own tribal homeland.
Muwekma deserves reaffirmation of their status as a Federally Recognized Tribe. Muwekma has the right to have a land base on their ancestral homeland, in a region where they are in danger of being gentrified and priced out of.
The following is an email sent to John Keenan, volunteer at the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, in reply to his request for topics for Zoom Lectures at the museum:
Land Acknowledgement is an important step in naming and acknowledging the people who actually belong to this land. It’s a proclamation that has no legal implications, as far as I can tell. But it is the first step in naming the people whose land you are on, and acknowledging the circumstances which forced them off of it, and into obscurity. It is an attempt to undo the continuing erasure (or omission) of the history of our people, and one way to begin the process of inviting Native American people to be a part of the planning process; as well as to make space for the representation of the actual lived experiences of Native American people.
By acknowledging this land is Ohlone territory, you are honoring Ohlone people by referring to them by the name that they chose for themselves. And you are helping to correct the inaccurate representations of who has been here (“since time immemorial”–but at least for [7,000] years.)
Many times, historical societies, and museums refuse to acknowledge, or take seriously the factual (historical) background of this place. But it only takes the introduction and study of archeological, ethnographic, and direct statements by Native People, in the last 50 years for one to realize, and determine that this is indeed Ohlone Territory.
For instance, the last recorded tribal group in your area was the Verona Band of Indians, they appeared in at least two Indian Censuses, J.P. Harrington’s Research, and most recently in Randall Milliken’s detailed and thorough analysis of Mission Records. The Verona Band of Indians was recognized as a tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and is known today as the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, which claims the entire San Ramon Valley area as their homeland. Furthermore, overtures made to the existence of groups in places like “Lisjan”, are direct references to places where Ohlone people lived and worked on ranches in the post-Mission Period–as “Lisjan” is a Maidu place name for Pleasanton, California.
Inline attachment: image showing Muwekma Tribal Territory, “Some of the Direct Muwekma Ohlone Lineal Descendant Tribal Districts and Villages”
In spite of this, museums and historical societies, such as the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, continue to insist that the tribal groups of your area were Miwok; when, in fact, they were Miwok-speaking Ohlone People. And the only reason Ohlone people were misidentified was because of the blind reliance on the languages spoken by the Native People here as the sole identifying indicator of a tribe’s identity. This, of course, is a result of the fact Miwok was the primary language spoken in California Missions. (However, Jose Guzman, pictured below, spoke Chochenyo, which is an Ohlone language.)
By continuing to misidentify Ohlone people–who are alive and well today–and refusing to acknowledge their lives, and contributions to this area, is continuing to omit large portions of a rich and interesting history, some of which can only be presented by Ohlone People, themselves. This is aside from the reliance upon, and repetition of, what’s widely seen as explicitly racist, antiquated, and offensive language and references to Native American People, often still seen in museums, and historical societies, today.
[Inline attachments: 1. picture of Ohlone ancestor, Jose (“Joe”) Guzman, seated in a chair, holding a cane, on a ranch in Niles, California–unidentified woman standing behind him, perhaps one of his daughters;(2.) Jose Guzman’s son, and grand-children, also in Niles, California. Both pictures were taken in 1934.]
It is for these reasons, among many others, that Land Acknowledgement is an important facet to honoring the people of this area. But it is also a step forward in presenting accurate historical information, and respectful representation, of the people whose land you are on, and benefit from.
It is also for these reasons (among many others) I would be unable to present information about Native People in the San Ramon Valley area under the guise that they are “Miwok”. Because I know this is a false representation of the facts.
Please find the attached “Muwekma Greeting”, an official document published by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is extremely thorough and detailed; the most pertinent facts have been verified and augmented by the Bureau of Indian Affair’s own Research and Acknowledgement Division.
I hope this will help you as you consider which topics and information the Museum of the San Ramon Valley chooses to present to the public. I am copying this email to the museum’s main email address, as well.
Introduced by Senator Cortese (Coauthor: Senator Wieckowski) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Kalra, Lee, and Low)
March 07, 2022
Relative to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
SJR 13, as amended, Cortese. Muwekma Ohlone Tribe: federal recognition.
This measure would urge the United States Congress and the Department of the Interior and its Bureau of Indian Affairs to reaffirm and restore the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe as a federally recognized Indian tribe and include the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe in the Federal Register as a recognized tribe.
Fiscal Committee: NO
WHEREAS, The United States Federal District Court of the District of Columbia recognized in Muwekma Tribe v. Babbitt (2000) 133 F.Supp.2d 30 that “The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is a tribe of Ohlone Indians indigenous to the present-day San Francisco Bay Area. In the early part of the Twentieth Century, the Department of the Interior recognized the Muwekma Tribe as an Indian tribe under the jurisdiction of the United States. In more recent times, however, and despite its steadfast efforts, the Muwekma Tribe has been unable to obtain federal recognition, a status vital for the Tribe and its members.”; and
WHEREAS, The United States Federal District Court of the District of Columbia recognized in Muwekma Ohlone Tribe v. Kempthorne (D.D.C. 2006) 452 F.Supp.2d 105 that “The following facts are not in dispute. Muwekma is a group of American Indians indigenous to the San Francisco Bay area, the members of which are direct descendants of the historical Mission San Jose Tribe, also known as the Pleasanton or Verona Band of Alameda County (the “Verona Band”). From 1914 to 1927, the Verona Band was recognized by the federal government as an Indian tribe. Neither the United States Congress nor any executive agency ever formally withdrew federal recognition of the Verona Band.”; and
WHEREAS, The Muwekma Ohlone people, who never left their aboriginal land and were once pronounced extinct by anthropologists, have retained their culture and social identity for the past 230 years; and
WHEREAS, The Muwekma Ohlone people have left a record of approximately 13,000 years of human history; and
WHEREAS, The United States government maintained a “trust” relationship with three Costanoan tribal groups, including the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, historically identified as the Verona Band, by the Bureau of Indian Affairs from 1906 to 1927; and
WHEREAS, The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe was wrongly removed from the Federal Register in 1927 despite its “trust” relationship and its previous efforts to foster and secure federal recognition as an Indian tribe; and
WHEREAS, The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe enrolled with and was approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs during the years between 1928 and 1933, inclusive, 1948 and 1957, inclusive, and 1968 and 1971, inclusive, under the 1928 California Jurisdictional Act, attended Indian boarding schools between 1930 and 1950, inclusive, and have since organized according to the Bureau’s directives, but still have no right to be legally considered an Indian tribe without first obtaining reaffirmation and formal acknowledgment by the Secretary of the Interior; and
WHEREAS, There are over 600 individual descendants of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe in the San Francisco Bay Area who have been identified by the Bureau of Indian Affairs; and
WHEREAS, European migration led to the near decimation of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and the lack of formal recognition after 1927 by the Department of the Interior suggests a disregard for the cultural diversity and historical presence that the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe has offered to our state, including service in the United States Armed Services in previous wars and military conflicts spanning from World War I through the present day; and
WHEREAS, Several California counties and elected officials have officially supported the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe in its efforts for recognition through legislation commending their efforts and historical and social accomplishments, supporting requests for historical claim by the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, and urging the federal government to reaffirm and restore the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe as a federally recognized tribe; and
WHEREAS, It is imperative that the Department of the Interior and the federal government officially recognize the historical and social history of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe through its efforts to attain federal recognition; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate and the Assembly of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature does hereby urge the United States Congress and the Department of the Interior and its Bureau of Indian Affairs to reaffirm and restore the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe as a federally recognized tribe and include the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe in the Federal Register as a recognized tribe; and be it further
Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Secretary of the Interior, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the Senate, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the United States Congress.
This text of the Senate Joint Resolution Number 13 was taken directly from the California Legislative Information website. You can find more information about the Senate Joint Resolution for Federal Recognition of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe–as well as read the current text of the resolution–on the official CA Legislative Information website, at:
On Monday, Amy Wooldridge (Director of Alameda Parks & Recreation Department) replied to our open letter concerning the possibility of Sogorea Te Land Trust being given a portion of Linear Park, in Alameda–at the corner of Main Street and Singleton Avenue.
In our preliminary email, asking whether or not this was true, Wooldridge told us: “The Recreation and Parks Department is working with the Sogorea Té Land Trust and Confederated Villages of Lisjan to develop an agreement regarding a section of tule plants in the Main Street Linear Park between Singleton and Stargell streets…. Sogorea Té Land Trust will take responsibility for maintenance of this area which includes removing weeds and invasive plants…. They will also then have the opportunity to cultivate the tule plants that they use for ceremonial dress, boats, roofing, and baskets.”
Our primary objections were two-fold:
The Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, Inc. is not a tribal government; the City of Alameda is Muwekma Ohlone Territory.
Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC.
Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area
Less than 5 years old.
Documented existence before 1890. (aka “Time Immemorial”)
Represents 1 family.
Thousands of enrolled tribal members.
Corporation
Federally Recognized as a Tribal Nation*
*The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area is currently fighting to restore their Federal Recognition as a Tribe. Find out how you can help.
The site proposed for management by Sogorea Te Land Trust has been subject to soil and groundwater pollution which was never properly cleaned.
2 x 6,000 gallon gasoline tanks removed in
1 x 550 waste oil tank.
These tanks were leaking gasoline and waste oil into the soil at Main Street, and Singleton Avenue, specifically.
Contaminated soil around tanks were used to back-fill holes made from tank removal.
Contaminated groundwater sprayed on contaminated soil for dust suppression during the entire project.
Existence of Toxic Marsh Crust 4-18 below ground surface.
Water table at 3 feet BGS, drainage ditch at least 4 feet deep.
2021 Groundwater Ambient Monitoring and Assessment report finds Benzene, Naphthalene, and other contaminants in ground water at one of the 26 underground storage tanks within 1,000 feet of proposed land management area.
Specific guidance from Alameda County Healthcare Services requiring review of sufficiency of corrective actions before Land Use may be changed.
It was our impression that the City of Alameda had reached out to Sogorea Te Land Trust in another performative display of “restorative justice” to give indigenous people [toxic] land back.
We found out that this was not the case. Sogorea Te Land Trust was not being given land by the City of Alameda.
“This was simply intended as a short, one-year maintenance agreement that also included and allowed for the Sogorea Te Land Trust to cultivate the plants for non-edible purposes.” Amy Wooldridge told us; adding, “They had reached out to me directly with this interest and since this park is in need of more maintenance, it seemed like a good fit.”
However, after being told about the dubious nature of Sogorea Te Land Trust’s intentions to convey trust land to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, and being given credible information regarding the suspected contamination of Linear Park, Amy Wooldridge has told us she intends to “pause” plans for collaboration with Sogorea Te Land Trust, “and will keep the Muwekma [Ohlone] Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area apprised of anything connected with Indigenous People that I’m involved with here in Alameda.”
This news is a victory for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, because the City of Alameda falls within traditional Muwekma Ohlone territory.
