Latest
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California’s Native heritage commission is rewriting the rules for sacred sites. Tribes without federal recognition would have to prove themselves first.
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Washington is rewriting Section 106. Tribes without federal recognition, already consulted only by invitation, could lose even that.
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Prop. 45 would write tribes like the Muwekma Ohlone out of California’s environmental review. Voters decide Nov. 3.
Top Stories
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In 1927, Washington declined to buy the Muwekma Ohlone land. A century later, California helped them get about 150 acres back.
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe says Bella Madeira, about 150 acres in the East San José foothills once marketed for estate homes, has…
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The Muwekma Ohlone brought fire back to an oak woodland. A new study says the soil came through.
In January, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe held its first cultural burn in nearly 150 years, at Stanford’s Jasper Ridge preserve. A peer-reviewed…
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The federal paper trail of California’s Indian people is being boxed up for Colorado. California has sued to stop it.
The National Archives plans to close its San Bruno facility, on Ramaytush Ohlone land, and ship its Bureau of Indian Affairs records…
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Santa Clara goes on record: Recognize the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe
Santa Clara’s City Council voted 6-0, with one abstention, to urge Congress, the White House and Interior to restore federal recognition to…
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Prop. 45 would write tribes like the Muwekma Ohlone out of California’s environmental review. Voters decide Nov. 3.
Proposition 45, a builder-backed rewrite of the California Environmental Quality Act, would let “essential” projects consult only with federally recognized tribes. In parts of the Ohlone homeland, that could leave no tribe at the table at all. Tribes without federal recognition fought the same idea to a standstill in the Legislature last year. Now it’s…
Latest Headlines
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California’s Native heritage commission is rewriting the rules for sacred sites. Tribes without federal recognition would have to prove themselves first.
-
Washington is rewriting Section 106. Tribes without federal recognition, already consulted only by invitation, could lose even that.
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The Bidwell Mansion burned. Now the Mechoopda are asking for the land beneath it back.
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47 years after it first asked, the United Houma Nation carries a new recognition case to Interior
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Thousands rise before dawn on Alcatraz, on Ohlone land, as a new prison threat looms
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Region briefs: Clear Lake tribes win a co-management pact, the cardroom war heads to appeal, and the fine print leaves unrecognized tribes out
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Explainer: Interior now lets denied tribes try again. Here’s how the re-petition door works, and when it closes.
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The Monthly Digest
The month’s essential reporting on the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, the fight for federal recognition and California Indian Country, in one email.
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California’s Native heritage commission is rewriting the rules for sacred sites. Tribes without federal recognition would have to prove themselves first.
The Native American Heritage Commission has released draft rules for its confidential Sacred Lands File that would let…
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Washington is rewriting Section 106. Tribes without federal recognition, already consulted only by invitation, could lose even that.
A bipartisan Senate permitting bill would rewrite the National Historic Preservation Act’s review process, and the Senate’s first…
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47 years after it first asked, the United Houma Nation carries a new recognition case to Interior
On Oct. 15, Principal Chief Lora Ann Chaisson hand-delivered a supplement to the United Houma Nation’s federal acknowledgment…
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Thousands rise before dawn on Alcatraz, on Ohlone land, as a new prison threat looms
More than 2,000 people crossed the Bay in the dark for the 47th Indigenous Peoples Day Sunrise Gathering…
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The Bidwell Mansion burned. Now the Mechoopda are asking for the land beneath it back.
Nearly two years after fire gutted Chico’s Bidwell Mansion, the Mechoopda Indian Tribe has laid out a plan…
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Region briefs: Clear Lake tribes win a co-management pact, the cardroom war heads to appeal, and the fine print leaves unrecognized tribes out
Seven Pomo and Lake Miwok tribes signed California’s first watershed co-management agreement under a 2024 law. A second…
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Newsom signs an apology to California Indians, then vetoes three bills they fought for
On Sept. 25 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed ten tribal bills, including a formal state apology, a Native American…
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San Mateo County pledges $1 million to spur farmworker housing
Redwood City – The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors today put $1 million toward an expanding effort to build affordable…
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Explainer: Interior now lets denied tribes try again. Here’s how the re-petition door works, and when it closes.
For a decade, a “no” from the Office of Federal Acknowledgment was permanent. A 2025 rule changed that.…
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The courts are closed. Can Congress recognize a tribe? Chinook, Lumbee and a stalled California bill show the path
The Supreme Court turned away the Chinook Indian Nation in March, and the tribe is now drafting a…
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Shutdown clock resets to Dec. 11. What the stopgap means for Indian health, the BIA, and tribes Washington won’t recognize
A continuing resolution signed Sept. 2 keeps the federal government open through Dec. 11. Indian Health Service clinics…
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A California mission tribe clears Phase I at Interior. Its “previous recognition” claim is still unproven.
The Office of Federal Acknowledgment has issued a positive Phase I proposed finding for the Fernandeño Tataviam Band…
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California’s Native heritage commission is rewriting the rules for sacred sites. Tribes without federal recognition would have to prove themselves first.
The Native American Heritage Commission has released draft rules for its confidential Sacred Lands File that would let…
-
Washington is rewriting Section 106. Tribes without federal recognition, already consulted only by invitation, could lose even that.
A bipartisan Senate permitting bill would rewrite the National Historic Preservation Act’s review process, and the Senate’s first…
-
Region briefs: Clear Lake tribes win a co-management pact, the cardroom war heads to appeal, and the fine print leaves unrecognized tribes out
Seven Pomo and Lake Miwok tribes signed California’s first watershed co-management agreement under a 2024 law. A second…
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Shutdown clock resets to Dec. 11. What the stopgap means for Indian health, the BIA, and tribes Washington won’t recognize
A continuing resolution signed Sept. 2 keeps the federal government open through Dec. 11. Indian Health Service clinics…
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California’s Native heritage commission is rewriting the rules for sacred sites. Tribes without federal recognition would have to prove themselves first.
The Native American Heritage Commission has released draft rules for its confidential Sacred Lands File that would let…
-
Washington is rewriting Section 106. Tribes without federal recognition, already consulted only by invitation, could lose even that.
A bipartisan Senate permitting bill would rewrite the National Historic Preservation Act’s review process, and the Senate’s first…
-
The Bidwell Mansion burned. Now the Mechoopda are asking for the land beneath it back.
Nearly two years after fire gutted Chico’s Bidwell Mansion, the Mechoopda Indian Tribe has laid out a plan…
-
Thousands rise before dawn on Alcatraz, on Ohlone land, as a new prison threat looms
More than 2,000 people crossed the Bay in the dark for the 47th Indigenous Peoples Day Sunrise Gathering…
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The courts are closed. Can Congress recognize a tribe? Chinook, Lumbee and a stalled California bill show the path
The Supreme Court turned away the Chinook Indian Nation in March, and the tribe is now drafting a restoration bill. The Lumbee won recognition through Congress in December…
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Shutdown clock resets to Dec. 11. What the stopgap means for Indian health, the BIA, and tribes Washington won’t recognize
A continuing resolution signed Sept. 2 keeps the federal government open through Dec. 11. Indian Health Service clinics are shielded by advance funding, but construction, sanitation and the…
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Vallejo casino stays dark as a judge backs Interior, and the record points to Ohlone shores
Interior ruled July 30 that the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians has no “significant historical connection” to its Vallejo parcel, and on Sept. 30 a federal judge…
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Pelosi’s seat is up for grabs. Neither Wiener nor Chan has said a word about the Ohlone.
San Francisco will elect its first new member of Congress since 1987 on Nov. 3. Both Scott Wiener and Connie Chan defended the Presidio Trust when Trump fired…
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“Sixteen years to fight for this land”: An Ohlone nation gets 84 acres back near Monterey
The Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation now owns 84 acres off Highway 68, returned by Big Sur Land Trust with state money after a 16-year campaign. In Oakland, Ohlone stories are…
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In Los Gatos, the Muwekma tell their own story, from the Trail of Truth to the return of cultural fire
Two exhibitions at New Museum Los Gatos, built with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and San José State anthropologists, follow the Tribe’s horseback Trail of Truth to Washington and…
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Trump’s new Presidio board has a plan for housing and a power grid. The Ohlone aren’t in it.
Five months after the White House replaced the Presidio Trust board, its new leaders have set their priorities: 196 apartments and a modernized power grid. The Muwekma Ohlone…
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A California mission tribe clears Phase I at Interior. Its “previous recognition” claim is still unproven.
The Office of Federal Acknowledgment has issued a positive Phase I proposed finding for the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians of the San Fernando Valley. It is…
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Newsom signs an apology to California Indians, then vetoes three bills they fought for
On Sept. 25 Gov. Gavin Newsom signed ten tribal bills, including a formal state apology, a Native American Day holiday and a permanent Office of Tribal Affairs. Within…
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Tribal Chairwoman: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is good for Indian Country
BY CHARLENE NIJMEH When RFK Jr.’s campaign came to Oakland to announce Mr. Kennedy’s running mate, I thought it made perfect sense for them to request a land…
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Pelosi’s smear campaign won’t derail the federal recognition our Tribe deserves
By Charlene C. Nijmeh Once again, The San Francisco Chronicle has served as a willing platform…
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We still stand by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., because he’s standing up for us
By Charlene Nijmeh, Tribal Chairwoman The Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Council decided to endorse Robert F. Kennedy…
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NBC hit piece on Trump’s support of Lumbee reveals bias towards unrecognized tribes
BY CHARLENE NIJMEH The recent NBC article by Laken Kincaid, titled “Trump’s push for Lumbee recognition…
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Tribal Chairwoman: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is good for Indian Country
BY CHARLENE NIJMEH When RFK Jr.’s campaign came to Oakland to announce Mr. Kennedy’s running mate,…
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Muwekma versus the ‘Pop-Up Tribes’: fake Ramaytush group undermines legitimate Ohlone struggle for recognition
BY SANATH KRISHNA Legitimate but unrecognized Native American tribes across North America are among the most…
Understand the Story
The people, the homeland, the Verona Band and the fight to restore federal status.
Federal Recognition, Explained
The seven criteria, the three roads to recognition, and why California is different.
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