Alameda Native History Project

Tag: indigenous land

  • Fallon Statue Removal in San Jose Cause For Hope & Celebration

    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….

    Until it was installed by Mayor Ron Gonzalez. At what’s now a bare median, at Julian & St. James, in downtown San Jose.

    Storage Costs and Locations Still A Mystery

    “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.

    Muwekma Tribal Dancers and Singers
    Muwekma Dancers wearing Regalia
    Muwekma Dancers wearing Regalia

    You can help support this journey, too, by helping to support your local tribe and indigenous community.

    You can help the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s fight for re-affirmation of their status as a Federally Recognized tribe. Find out more on the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area’s website.

    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.

  • ‘A Land Defender’s Guide To Making the Exploitation of Land Expensive & Unappealing To Would-Be Colonizers

    “A Land Defender’s Guide to: Making the Exploitation of Land Expensive & Unappealing To Would-Be Corporate Colonizers” has just dropped–published by guerilla printer Lonely Ocean Press.

    The 36 page booklet “Volume I: Work-Site Blues” offers a plethora of information about the heavy equipment used to desecrate sacred land, as well as a selection of basic tools which can be used to access, operate, and “service” most heavy equipment.

    The Land Defender’s Guide has been referred to as, “revolution on a budget of $200 or less”–because the tools required are fairly common, cheap, and can sometimes be found on the work-site itself.

    Included in the Appendix are 31 extremely detailed illustrations of the mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical workings of:

    • Skid-Loaders
    • Dozers
    • Mining Trucks
    • Backhoe Loaders
    • Mini Loaders
    • Excavators
    • And more…
    Excerpt from the Guide:

    Introduction:

    This is written in the spirit of such other publications as Steal This Book, Steal This Computer Book, The Anarchist Cookbook, and other such banned and questionable literature provided to, by, and for, The Resistance.

    While this booklet may present the principles of hydraulics, electrical engineering, thermodynamics, and other physical considerations for the efficiency of the methods of colonization, and the development of stolen land….

    One should take note that violence against individuals, or even groups of individuals is absolutely unacceptable.

    While this text can be seen as a collection of techniques to respond to the violence of colonization, and the brutalization of those who stand against the exploitation of stolen land. Injury or death to another person or living creature is neither encouraged, condoned, nor inferred, as an acceptable means to decolonization.

    This volume is a thought experiment to imagine the costs associated with work stoppages, and prolonged periods of repair to the expensive, and sometimes complex, equipment associated with all aspects of construction, pipe-laying, excavation, and mining.

    Disclaimers: These images are for illustration, only. Each year, make, and model of the type of equipment illustrated can vary widely over each model, and even within variations of the same model. No one’s saying you should actually do any of the things mentioned in this work.

    Emphasis Added; from: A Land Defender’s Guide to: Making the Exploitation of Land Expensive & Unappealing To Would-Be Corporate Colonizers, Volume I: Work-Site Blues

    The Guide is offered for free; and has also been made available as a PDF.

    For information about ordering copies of the booklet by mail, send an email to defendersguide [at] proton (dot) me.

    Otherwise, the PDF file can be downloaded from a Proton Drive here.

    Please note: The Land Defender’s Guide is only offered through Proton Mail and Drive, to preserve the privacy of everyone involved with the Defender’s Guides [a series]. To learn more about the privacy and security offered by Proton, check out their About Us page.

  • One More Reason Why Land Acknowledgment is Important: Letter to Museum of San Ramon Valley

    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.

    Very truly yours,

    Gabriel Duncan

    Attachment: “Muwekma Greeting”

    Muwekma-Greeting-City-of-Oakland-and-Alameda-Native-ArtDownload

  • Unceded Indigenous Territories in the Contiguous United States

    My History Is American History

    Honor the Treaties

    Indigenous Land Back

    More views:

    Northwest
    Southwest
    East Coast
    Texas Area
    Great Lakes Area

    Unceded Indigenous Territories in the Contiguous U.S.

  • Indigenous-Led Research Project Creates Restoration of Historical Landmarks (Shellmounds) in the San Francisco Bay Area

    The Alameda Native History Project project presents a map of the three Alameda Shellmounds, as seen by N.C. Nelson in 1907, restored and presented in the present-day landscape.

    For the first time ever, the Shellmounds of Alameda are being visualized, and presented as a physical, tangible land feature.

    The purpose of this map is to:

    1. Acknowledge that Alameda was a place were local Ohlone communities came to bury their loved ones;
    2. Illustrate the large size and scale of shellmounds, in general;
    3. Visualize a theoretical landscape where the Alameda Shellmounds were preserved;
    4. Fill the gaps made by Alameda Museum’s lack of accurate or meaningful information about the First Alamedans: Ohlone People.
    Alameda Shellmounds Webmodel

    https://nativehistoryproject.org/geo/alameda-shellmounds-webmodel/

    These restored historical land features, and this 3D map represent a milestone in the Alameda Native History Project’s research.

    But this is just a small piece of a larger story developing at the Alameda Native History Project. There’s more.

    Stay tuned.

  • Bay Area Shellmound Map

    Alameda Native History Project’s map of the Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Area is available now.

    This map is based on N.C. Nelson’s “Map of the San Francisco Bay Region Showing Distribution of Shellheaps”, which was published in 1909. This map, represents the first-hand observations of shellmounds during N.C. Nelson’s survey of the San Francisco Bay Area. taken between 1907-1908.

    Excerpt of map, emphasis on map legend, showing “Present”, “Partial”, and “Destroyed” shellmounds. These symbols are more prevalent in the North Bay.

    Each marker on the SF Bay Area Shellmound Map represents a shellmound which Nelson marked as “present”. These mounds appear as solid dots in his map. Nelson also noted mounds which were partially present, as well as shellmounds he was told used to exist in the past.

    It’s important to note that–in Nelson’s paper, “Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region”, and similarly in many other publications of the time–archaeologists were engaged in what they considered “Salvage Archaeology“.

    During the time that these scientists were ignoring the California Genocide, and Indian Wars, archaeologist, anthropologists, linguists, and ethnologists all decided that Native Americans were extinct; and that graves and other Native American Cultural Resources should effectively be raided, before they were destroyed by the encroaching colonizers, or gluttony of their civilization.

    Notable shellmounds, like the Emeryville Shellmounds, Alameda Shellmounds (near Mound Street), and the Drake’s Bay Shellmounds were being studied during their destruction.

    Schenck wrote the “final” report on the Emeryville Shellmound. These are two pictures from that paper.

    The Bay Area had over 425 shellmounds. Though many of them were already gone by the time Nelson conducted his survey of the SF Bay Area.

    The Alameda Native History Project’s “Map of the Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region” features 315 shellmounds, and unparalleled specificity within 100 feet.

    This map is offered to the public in an effort to:

    • Educate the public about the prevalence of shellmounds in the San Francisco Bay Area;
    • Present “Native Land”, and “Indigenous Land” as something tangible, and literally all around us;
    • Help illustrate colonization’s impact on Indigenous Landscapes, and Native American Cultural Resources, such as Sacred Sites, and Shellmounds–which are actually cemeteries;

    Most of all, this map is made available to provide actionable information which the public can use to help “Save the Shellmounds”, and advocate for Sacred Lands which have been shrouded in secrecy since the passage of NAGPRA.

    The Native American Graves Protection Repatriation Act was supposed to help protect land, by providing a Notification and Consultation process to Tribal Nations.

    But the law effectively prevents the public from being told about the true scope, nature, and importance of Tribal Cultural Resources.

    NAGPRA also allows development to continue under any circumstances, as long as a mitigation plan is presented and approved, according to the CEQA process.

    However, when one actually reads the CEQA filings related to projects on Sacred Lands, you can’t help but notice the majority of these projects are approved without any input from Tribal Nations, at all.

    Because there is no legal avenue for protecting land if you are not the Most Likely Descendant, as determined by the California Native American Heritage Commission….

    And, because the public is barred from learning about the Nature, Scope, Location, Use, or any other information regarding Tribal Cultural Sites, Items, Graves, etc. it is virtually impossible for the public to advocate for the conservation, and preservation of Sacred Lands. Much less learn why these sacred sites are important, and should be preserved.

    The blackout on this information also affects the ability of cities to participate in goodwill building, like re-zoning areas for open space to be returned to Tribes; or educating their citizens about the first inhabitants of this area, and the importance of preserving these heritage sites.

    The Map of the Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region is just one tool in the Land Back Toolbox.

    [mapsmarker map=”47″]

    Full-screen Map of the SHellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region