Tag: lisjan ohlone

  • Sogorea Te Land Trust Controversy

    An Investigative Report by the Alameda Native History Project

    Preserving Accurate Ohlone History and Culture

    The Alameda Native History Project is dedicated to preserving the accurate history and culture of the Ohlone people. As part of this effort, we have conducted research on Sogorea Te Land Trust, a non-profit organization [501(c)(3)], and its claims of representing the Ohlone people.

    Why We Investigated

    We followed this story because it was newsworthy and of significant public interest. Moreover, we believe that people have the right to know where their money is going, particularly when it comes to donations intended to support Native American communities–in this case: Ohlone people, the First Alamedans.

    Concerns and Findings

    Our research has raised several concerns about Sogorea Te Land Trust’s claims and actions:

    Furthermore, we have found that donations to Sogorea Te Land Trust, known as “Shuumi”, do not benefit the Ohlone people.

    Our Efforts to Seek Clarification

    Over the past three years, the Alameda Native History Project has reached out to Sogorea Te Land Trust multiple times seeking clarification on these issues, but they have not provided any substantive responses.

    Call to Action

    We encourage everyone to seek out multiple sources and consult with Ohlone elders and experts before supporting or promoting initiatives related to Ohlone history and culture. Specifically, we recommend reaching out to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area and other Ohlone leaders who may have valuable insights and perspectives on the issues raised in this report. By engaging in open and respectful dialogue, we can work together to ensure the accurate representation and well-being of the Ohlone people.

  • I Found Bones In My Backyard, What Do I do?

    You are on Native Land.

    Alameda is hallowed ground.

    The site of no less than four “Ancient Indian Burial Mounds.” (We call them Shellmounds now.) The resting place of Ohlone ancestors.

    It sounds so distant when people use the word “ancestors”. Because it’s so safe; and sterilized by a false sense of temporal distance.

    Even though those shellmounds contained the Great-Great-Grandparents of Muwekma (the word for “Ohlone People“, in their language, Chochenyo) who are alive and well today.

    But the bodies didn’t stay buried.

    Bones from shellmounds were used to fertilize the fields, gardens, and flower beds which became iconic as soon as Mark Twain called Alameda the “Garden of California”.

    The remains of hundreds of Native Americans were used to pave Bay Farm Road. Twice.

    The bodies of thousands of Ohlone people were crushed, and pulverized, to make concrete for sidewalks, and foundations for houses. Their graves pushed over to fill marshland, and level out the numerous railways running through the island we now call “Alameda”.

    So it’s no wonder you found someone in your backyard.

    Native American Graves are being Still Being Uncovered in Alameda Today

    The story goes: a contractor working on a new deck, or a foundation crew digging around the cribs will find some bones. Human bones.

    You’re supposed to stop work, supposed to call the Police Department and report the discover of a burial. Because it could a crime scene. Or it could be a Native American Grave.

    If the bones look old enough, some contractors will turn a blind eye, and toss them back into the ground for some other guy to dig up.

    But that’s not how you should do it.


    Here are the 5 Steps to Honoring Native American Graves on the Stolen Land You Now Occupy

    Step 1:

    Don’t call the Museum!

    If you find bones in Alameda while digging, do not call the Alameda Museum.

    The Alameda Museum has no one on staff, or on call, who is qualified to identify or store Native American artifacts.

    Since 1948 the Alameda Museum had mis-identified Ohlone people as “Miwok”, instead of “Costanoan” which is what Ohlone people in the Bay Area were known as until about the 1970’s. This mis-identification ended abruptly when the Alameda Native History Project interceded in the miss-identification of the First Alamedans (Muwekma) and mis-attribution of their stolen property.

    So don’t call them. They don’t know what they’re doing.

    Step 2:

    Let the ancestors rest!

    Stop work.

    Don’t touch a damn thing.

    🤬 around and catch a curse. Or a case.

    [CA HSC §7050.5(a) : Every person who knowingly mutilates or disinters, wantonly disturbs, or willfully removes any human remains in or from any location other than a dedicated cemetery without authority of law is guilty of a misdemeanor….]

    I know it sucks: but pay the crew for the rest of the day and send them home.

    You’re done for the day.

    Step 3:

    Report the discovery to the police!

    Who honestly knows if this is an ancient burial? Your contractor isn’t an expert either. It doesn’t matter what they say.

    Stop work and call the police immediately.

    The sooner you call, the sooner this gets settled.

    [Also, this is not a real skeleton. All of these images were made with AI because using real skeletons would be disrespectful.]

    Step 4:

    Wait for the Coroner

    While you’re waiting, check out California Health and Safety Code Section 7050.5

    The Coroner is the only person who has the authority to identify whether or not the remains are Native American.

    “[I]f the coroner recognizes the human remains to be those of a Native American, or has reason to believe that they are those of a Native American” he or she will contact the Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) within 24 hours.

    NAHC will send for a Tribal Consultant from the Tribal Groups affiliated with the area where the discovery was made, and whomever NAHC also determines is the Most Likely Descendant.

    Step 5:

    Step back. Tribal Consultants will handle the rest.

    Consultation is private. Anyone who isn’t directly involved, won’t be.

    At the end of consultation, you will generally be presented with two options:

    1. Re-Inter (or Re-Bury) the ancestor(s) in a place on the property where they will not be disturbed again.
    2. Tribal Consultants will remove their ancestor(s) and repatriate them at their Tribal Cemetery.

    That’s it!

    You just helped protect Native American Graves, and reunited someone’s ancestor with their family!

    Encourage your neighbors to do the same.

    Encourage the Alameda Museum to do the right thing, and give their collection of stolen artifacts back to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.

  • Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Marches on California Capitol

    August 8, 2024 – Sacramento, California

    It’s morning at the Muwekma horse camp in West Sacramento, on the other side of the river from the California Capitol Building.

    Riders are beginning to saddle up.

    Charlene Nijmeh, Chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, looks pensively at her phone, while her husband, Kennedy, checks in with everyone, as we prepare to march on the California State Capitol.

    Miwok Nation, and La Raza, brought their low-riders to escort Muwekma to the Capitol Building.

    The night before, the Muwekma Tribe had been invited to take part in a bear dance and blessing for Muwekma’s protection and strength, as they travel on the Trail of Truth, to Washington, D.C..

    The Miwok tribe has been a great ally to Muwekma. And an integral part of Muwekma’s efforts to re-awaken and breathe life into their language and traditions.

    Today, [August 8th, 2024,] the tribe plans to march to the steps of the California Capitol Building, to make an address; and then head a block away, to California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, to deliver Muwekma’s list of demands.

    The California Highway Patrol; West Sacramento, and Sacramento Police Departments would shut down the streets, as the tribe marched over the Tower Bridge, and down Capitol Mall, to the California State Capitol Building.

    See the livestream of the march on our Instagram account, @AlamedaNativeHistoryProject, below:

    The Muwekma Chairwoman speaks on the steps of the California State Capitol

    On the steps of the Capitol Building, in 100 degree (Fahrenheit) heat, Chairwoman Nijmeh, and tribal member (and culture bearer) Joey Torres, spoke to a crowd of supporters, tourists, on-lookers; while the horses, and many others listened from under the shade of the trees.

    Chairwoman Nijmeh spoke about the impacts of being a formerly recognized tribe, asking other tribes for permission to bury their own ancestors and relatives–because Muwekma no longer has the standing (federal recognition) required to receive the bodies of their own ancestors.

    About how the University of California system won’t return the bodies of thousands of Ohlone people University archaeologists stolen from Native American Graves because Muwekma is no longer federally recognized.

    The Chairwoman told us how tribal members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe are missing out on healthcare, and a college education, because the federal government won’t recognize its trust responsibility to the tribe. Which is made up of all the known surviving Ohlone lineages in the Bay Area, according to the government’s own records.

    Joey Torres spoke about the solidarity of so many many tribal members and nations, like the Miwok Nation, Oglala Nation, and Calpulli Tonalehqueh and the spiritual and historic journey Muwekma is on: the Trail of Truth.

    See an excerpt of the speeches given by the Muwekma Ohone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, on the steps of the California State Capitol:

    After a short break to hydrate and regroup, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, followed by their supporters in person and online, began their march to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, to deliver the tribe’s list of demands.

    Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh leads the procession to the California State Governor’s Office.

    California Governor Gavin Newsom did not meet with Muwekma;

    Instead a representative of the governor’s office came to meet the crowd at the door.

    Chairwoman Nijmeh read the tribe’s statement and personally served Gavin Newsom’s representative with a copy of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s Demand for Tribal Rights.

    The Chairwoman told the man that the tribe expects a response. That silence on the matter of the tribal rights–not just of Muwekma, but all the California Tribes who were erroneously removed from the Tribal Rolls–would no longer stand.

    “We’re going to be loud!” Chairwoman Nijmeh vowed, “And we’re not going to go away.”

    August 8, 2024 was the first time a Native American Tribe marched to the California State Capitol to demand their rights and support for federal recognition. It was a monumentally historic day for all California Natives, and for members of unrecognized tribes everywhere.

    Stay tuned for more about the Trail of Truth, and more about this issue.

    Follow the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area on their Trail of Truth at Muwekma.org, and on their various social media accounts.

  • Alameda Shellmounds Web Map v2 Released

    Fully updated, featuring new historic wetlands, shorelines, and more.

    Available exclusively at the Alameda Native History Project.

    Find it on our website:

    NativeHistoryProject.org > Maps > Alameda Shellmounds Web Map

  • Sogorea Te Land Trust is Not an Ohlone Organization

    Here’s a breakdown of how these articles are misleading, and what the truth is behind Ohlone Land Back:

    1. The “West Berkeley Shellmound” is Not Being Given Back

    The Parking Lot was bought for ~$27 Million Dollars.

    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.

    City Council Special Meeting eAgenda March 12, 2024

    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.

    For comparison, Sogorea Te Land Trust kicked in about $5M along with the $20M donation the trust recently received from the Katalay Foundation. So, the Katalay Foundation is the primary underwriter for this purchase.

    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.

    Not the Yocha Dehe Wintun Tribe, Wintu Tribe of Northern California, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco, or the Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe, just to name a few.

    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

    The West Berkeley Shellmound has been declared “one of the most endangered historic places” in the U.S. But it’s a parking lot.

    Out of the over 425 historic shellmounds in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Berkeley Shellmound doesn’t even make the list of “endangered places” when you compare it to the shellmounds actively being quarried in San Rafael and Richmond.

    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

    It’s not even an Ohlone word.

    It’s actually a Nisenan place name for “Pleasanton”.

    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. 🚩🚩🚩

    6. Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. is a Corporation, Not a Tribe.

    Corporations Are Not Tribes.

    Corporations can never be tribes.

    Especially non-profit corporations.

    The exercise of sovereignty is not a charitable purpose.

    Real tribal governments are tax exempt because they’re actually a sovereign nation under a Constitution. A lot of Corporations claim to be Tribal Governments, but they are lying. It’s fraud, straight out.

    Tribes can create corporations through State Law (State-Chartered Corporation), through Tribal Law (Tribally Chartered Corporation), or through Section 17 of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

    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:

    Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Members pose for a picture in San Jose, California during a ceremony to commemorate the removal of the racist Fallon statue.

    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.

    The pictures of the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. usually have 5 or 6 actual Ohlone descendants, and the rest of the crew is comprised of Gould’s non-indigenous (“white”) supporters–who are no more Tribal Members than Ward Churchill or Elizabeth Hoover.

    Corrina Gould capitalizes on the public’s confusion about who Ohlone people are and what a tribe is.

    That’s why so many people mention the “Chochenyo Ohlone”, and the “Lisjan Ohlone” without ever knowing who they’re actually supporting.

    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.

    Which leads me to this last point….

    8. If you really want to help Ohlone People:

    Stop giving money to the Sogorea Te Land Trust. It does not go to Ohlone People.

    Support the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area as they fight to regain Federal Tribal Recognition on the Trail of Truth!

    The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area is the real, bona fide, tribe of this area.

  • Who are the Lisjan Ohlone? What does Chochenyo mean?

    Who are “The Lisjan Ohlone”?

    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.

    “Mission Indians” who continued to live on their homeland after secularization were not “squatters”; as the California (Military) Governor proclaimed in 1847.

    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.

    When Jose Guzman passed, in 1934, some people thought Chochenyo would never be spoken again. But, his words and phrases from 1921 make it possible for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe to reawaken the Chochenyo langauge today.

    It all started when Jose Guzman said, “Yo soy Lisjanes”.

    So when you recognize “The Lisjan Ohlone”; you’re recognizing Jose Guzman.

    You’re recognizing the historic Verona Band of Indians of Alameda County. The present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.

    Viva Lisjanes!

    Jose Guzman (1854-1934)

  • 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.


    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.
  • Text of CA Senate Joint Resolution re: Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Federal Recognition

    Amended in Senate June 08, 2022

    CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION


    Senate Joint Resolution
    No. 13

    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:

    https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/face/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SJR13

    To Learn More About The Tribe’s Efforts, visit the Muwekma website, here:

    http://muwekma.org/learn-more-about-the-tribes-efforts.html