A dynamic first term Congresswoman from Southern California has earned the praise of Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh. Rep. Sidney Kamlager-Dove has announced her introduction of legislation that would recognize the Tongva Nation, whose aboriginal territory includes the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately 4,000 square miles.
“I admire Rep. Kamlager-Dove’s dedication to public service, her commitment to her constituents, and her focus on issues such as criminal justice reform, climate change, and economic development. Her passion for social justice and her strong advocacy for underrepresented communities are examples for us all,” Chairwoman Nijmeh says.
In the precolonial era, the Tongva people lived in as many as 100 villages and primarily identified by their village rather than by pan-Tongva loyalties. The Spanish referred to these people as Gabrieléno and Fernandéno, names derived from the Spanish missions that were built on their land, where they were forcibly interned at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel and Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana.
Notably, Kamlager-Dove’s legislation does not attempt to strip the Tribe of its sovereignty in exchange for federal status, as Rep. Lofgren had demanded of the similarly situated Muwekma Ohlone Tribe in January of 2023. Chairwoman Nijmeh believes that Rep. Lofgren is holding the Muwekma Ohlone hostage at the behest of Democratic Party’s largest donors — including the 68 Indian casinos and 87 card rooms in the State.
“Gaming interests would rather finish the genocide against us because they greedily fear that they might have a competitor casino pop up,” Nijmeh explains. ”That’s why my Tribe, and other Tribes whose territories are nearest to large population centers, have struggled to attain recognition. The special interests are very powerful.”
Nijmeh believes that gaming has created a horrible divide in Indian Country, creating a circumstance where gaming tribes pay huge sums of money to lobbyists to squash the political liberation of their neighbors.
“It takes great courage to stand up to these powerful special interests, and I’m praying that Rep. Kamlager-Dove has the strength to stand up to the lobbyists who will be hounding her in the coming weeks,” Nijmeh explains.
Upon becoming Chairwoman in 2018, Nijmeh reinvigorated the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s campaign to affirm its federal status. The Tribe was previously federally recognized as the Verona Band of Alameda County, it was never terminated by an Act of Congress, and 100% of its members directly descend from that previously recognized Tribe. In 1978 the Bureau of Indian Affairs first drafted its list of officially recognized Tribes. Federal bureaucrats erred in excluding the Ohlone people, who call themselves Muwekma, from the list.
The Tribe has been in a decades-long struggle to affirm its federal status ever since. Chairwoman Nijmeh has drafted legislation called the Muwekma Ohlone Status Clarification Act, but Lofgren has been intimidating younger members of Congress and demanding that they withdraw their support of the legislation.
Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Eric Swalwell, and Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi have expressed their public support for the legislation — and Pelosi even offered to setup a meeting with Secretary Deb Haaland in her office — but Nijmeh fears that those commitments may have been merely lip service.
Khanna offered to co-sponsor any legislation that is introduced in the House Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over Indian Affairs.
Nijmeh met with Kamlager-Dove’s office on June 22, 2023, asking the congresswoman to introduce the Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Status Clarification Act. Rep. Kamlager-Dover sits on the pivotal House Natural Resources Committee.
Chairwoman Nijmeh hopes that Kamlager-Dove will amend her draft legislation to include a provision that affirms Muwekma’s federal status as well.
Critics believe that Rep. Lofgren would prefer that the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe be dependent on federal handouts rather than be allowed to pursue economic development and nation-building pursuits like gaming. Her husband’s lucrative real estate law practice has raised eyebrows.
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