Ohlone & Muwekma
News of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and the Ohlone people of the San Francisco Bay Area, first and always.
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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 petition, which has sat under a proposed negative finding since 1994. The Houma case…
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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 to Denver. On Oct. 14 California sued to block the…
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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 on Alcatraz. Speakers denounced Gov. Newsom’s vetoes and the President’s push to reopen 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 refused to let the…
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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 moving onto a puppet…
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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 its board. Neither has…
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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 its work to bring…
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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 Tribe’s 2025 request to…
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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 the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. The city joins Union City and…
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Amah Mutsun Tribal Band files petition for federal recognition
The Interior Department is taking public comment on a federal acknowledgment petition from the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band of the Mission San Juan Bautista, one of two rival Amah Mutsun governments. The…
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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 for Bay Area Democrat politicians, intent on undermining the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s efforts to secure formal…
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Union City Urges Federal Recognition for Muwekma Ohlone Tribe
On July 22, 2025, the City Council of Union City, California, unanimously passed Resolution No. 2025-107, calling on the U.S. Congress, the Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs…
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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 Jr. as a presidential candidate in 2024, for which we received criticism from many of the…
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