Muwekma
Ohlone Tribe
A
Brief History and The Federal Recognition Process
The present-day Muwekma Ohlone Indian Tribe is comprised of
all of the known surviving Native American lineages aboriginal to the San
Francisco Bay region who trace their ancestry through the Missions Dolores,
Santa Clara, and San Jose. The
aboriginal homeland of the Muwekma 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. This large contiguous geographical area which historically crosscuts
aboriginal linguistic and tribal boundaries fell under the sphere of influence
of the aforementioned three missions between 1776 and 1836. The missionization policies deployed by the
Catholic Church and militarily supported by the Hispanic Empire, brought many
distantly related, and in some cases already intermarried, tribal groups
together at the missions. Comprehensive genealogical
research of the Mission Records (birth, death, marriage) traces the surviving
Muwekma lineages of the late 19th and 20th centuries back
to their aboriginal villages. The
present-day enrolled Muwekma lineages are represented by the: Armija/Thompson descended
families, the
Santos-Pinos-Juarez descended families, the Guzman/Nonessa descended
families, and the
Marine-Peralta/ Marine-Alvarez/Galvan/ Marine-Sanchez/ Marine-Munoz/
Munoz-Guzman, Marine-Arellano/ Marine-Thompson/Elston/Ruano descended
families.
These Muwekma lineages
have been traced back respectively to the Seunen and Alson Ohlone tribal
groups of the greater Fremont Plain/East Bay, to the Chupcan and Julpune Bay Miwok and Tamcan, Passasimi and
Yatchikumne North Valley Yokut tribal groups of the interior valleys (Mt. Diablo,
San Joaquin Delta and Stockton region), to the Jalquin Ohlone tribal group of the San
Leandro/San Lorenzo/Hayward/Oakland region of the East Bay, and to the Napian/Karquin Ohlone tribal
group of the Carquinez Straits of the North Bay. The
Jalquins were a neighboring tribal group who lived north of the Seunens and some
people from both tribes were collectively baptized at Mission Dolores in San
Francisco, while most of the other tribal groups were principally baptized at Missions San Jose and Santa Clara.
One of the direct ancestral lines of the Armija/Thompson and the Santos/Pinos/Juarez lineages is traced
back to a direct ancestor named Silvestre
Avendano of the Alson Ohlone tribal group, who was one of the
first 300 Indians baptized at Mission San Jose after its founding in 1797. Another direct ancestor was Primo Vueslla of the Seunen Ohlone tribal group whom originally had villages established within
the Dublin, San Ramon, Pleasanton, and the Livermore Valley regions. Primo was born in 1794 and baptized at
Mission San Jose on April 2, 1803 at the age of nine years. Primo later married Remedia Lal-Iapa, the daughter of Radegunda Toleppata, of the Chupcan
Tribe. The Chupcans originally lived
within the Concord and Mt. Diablo region. Remedia was born in 1803 and baptized at Mission San Jose on February
27, 1811. The descendants of Silvestre
through his son Jose Elias Armija
and Primo Vueslla and Remedia Lal-Iapa through their grandchildren Delfina Guerrera Armija and Benedicta Gonzalez Pinos are enrolled
in the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. Delfina
was the mother of Magdalena Armija
Thompson and Benedicta was the mother of Peregrina Pinos Santos and Margarita
Pinos Juarez. One of
the direct ancestors of the Marine
lineage was Liberato Culpecse of the
Jalquin Ohlone tribal group whom resided in the East Bay. It was into the complex and rapidly changing
world of the emergent Hispanic Empire, that Liberato Culpecse, at the age of 14
years old (born 1787) was baptized on November 18, 1801 at Mission Dolores,
along with other members of his tribe. Seven years later in 1808, Liberato
Culpecse had married his first wife and she died before 1818. After the death of his wife, Liberato was allowed
to relocate to the Mission San Jose region, where he met his second wife Efrena Quennatole. Efrena Quennatole who was Napian/Karquin Ohlone was born in 1797
and baptized at Mission San Jose on January 1, 1815 at the age of 18
years. Father Fortuny married Liberato
and Efrena (who by then was a widow) on July 13, 1818. Liberato Culpecse and Efrena Quennatole had a son named Jose Liberato Dionisio (a.k.a. Liberato Nonessa). Liberato and Efrena later had a daughter named Maria Efrena. Both Jose Liberato Dionisio and Maria Efrena
married other Mission San Jose Indians. Liberato Dionisio's second wife was Maria
de Jesus who was the daughter of Captain
Rupardo Leyo (Leopardo) and was the younger sister of Captain Jose Antonio. Liberato Dionisio and Maria de Jesus had several children including Francisca Nonessa Guzman, born
May 7, 1867. Maria Efrena had married an Indian man named Pamfilio Yakilamne (from the Ilamne Tribe of the Sacramento Delta
region) and they had several children including their youngest daughter Avelina Cornates (Marine). During the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, Francisca Nonessa Guzman
and Avelina Cornates Marine became
two the founding matriarchs of the present-day Guzman and Marine lineages.
They, along with the other tribal families, comprised the historic Federally Recognized Verona Band tribal
community residing at the following East Bay rancherias: San Lorenzo, Alisal
(Pleasanton), Del Mocho (Livermore), (El Molino) Niles, Sunol, and later
Newark. Avelina Cornates Marine was
born in November 1863 and baptized at Mission San Jose on January 17,
1864. By the late 1880s she had met Raphael Marine, who came to the United
States from Costa Rica, but oral tradition indicates that he was originally
from Sicily. Avelina Cornates and
Raphael Marine had nine living children by 1903, six of whom have surviving
descendents presently enrolled in the Muwekma Tribe. The Guzman lineage is traced back through
Jose Guzman's family. Jose Guzman was born around 1854 and
died September 1934. Jose's paternal
grandparents were Habencio Tuchuachi
and Habencia Luitatsme of the Passasimi/Yatchikumne North Valley
Yokuts Tribe from Stockton. Their son, Habencio Zapasi was born in 1813.
Habencio Zapasi later married Petra
Coronathe of the Lakisamne and Josemite North Valley Yokuts Tribes
whom resided along the San Joaquin and Stanislaus River drainages. Petra's parents were Nimfador Atchatni (born 1773) and Nimfadora Majalate (born 1786). Jose Guzman was married several times to different Indian women from the
Pleasanton and Niles Rancherias. On May
1, 1876, Jose married Angustia Lasoyo,
the daughter of Captain Jose Antonio
and Celsa, and had several children
with her before she died. The
descendants of Jose Guzman and Angustia Lasoyo through their granddaughter Catherine Peralta and her husband, Dario Marine, the son of Avelina
Cornates, are enrolled in the Muwekma Tribe. After the death of Angustia, on May 20, 1881, Jose Guzman married Ambrosia Binoco, the sister of Jose Binoco, however all of their
children died and left no surviving offspring. Eleven years later, on August 21, 1891, Jose Guzman married Francisca Nonessa, the granddaughter of
Liberato Culpecse and Efrena Quennatole, and they had six children together
including Tony Guzman, Alfred Guzman and Jack Guzman. All three
Guzman brothers served in World War I. The descendants of Alfred Guzman
and Minnie Higuera, and Jack Guzman and Flora Munoz (Victoria Marine's daughter) are enrolled in the
Muwekma Tribe. Since 1984, the
descendants of Dario Marine and Catherine Peralta, Dolores Marine Alvarez/Piscopo/Galvan, Ramona Marine Sanchez, Mercedes
Marine Arellano/Garcia, Victoria Marine Munoz, Trina Marine
Elston/Thompson/Ruano, Magdelana Armija Marshall/Thompson, Peregrina Pinos and George Santos, Francisca Nonessa and Jose Guzman have served in leadership
positions on either the Muwekma Tribal and/or Elders Councils. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EAST BAY
RANCHERIAS AND THE AMERICAN CONQUEST PERIOD
Prior to the American conquest of California 1846-1848, some of the secularized Mission Indian families obtained formal Mexican land grants, while the majority of the others found refuge on the rancho lands of friendly Californio families. After the American takeover of California, there were Indian rancherias established on rancho lands in the South Bay, West Bay and especially in the East Bay. At least six Muwekma Indian rancheria communities emerged and maintained themselves during the 19th and early 20th centuries in the East Bay. These rancherias were located at San Leandro/San Lorenzo
(1830s-1860s), Alisal near Pleasanton (1839-1916), Sunol (1890s-1917), Del
Mocho in Livermore (1830s-1930s), El Molino in Niles (1830s-1910) and later,
Newark. (Circa. 1914 - present-day). During the 1880s, George and Phoebe Apperson Hearst purchased part
of the old 1839 Bernal/Sunol/Pico Rancho
located south and west of Pleasanton, which included part the Alisal Rancheria with approximately 125
Indians residing there on the land. Escaping the cold and foggy summers of San Francisco, the Hearst's built
their Hacienda del Poso de Verona (later
renamed Castlewood Country Club) on
this newly acquired land. Western
Pacific Railroad also built a train station there so that the Victorian elite
and other guests could visit with Mrs. Hearst at her Hacienda. This railway stop was named Verona Station. In 1905, as a result of the discovery of the 18 unratified California Indian Treaties
(negotiated between 1851-1852), Mr. Charles
E. Kelsey of San Jose, who was originally affiliated with the Northern Association for California Indians
was named Special Indian Agent to
California by the Indian Service
Bureau in Washington, D.C. Agent
Kelsey was charged by the Bureau to conduct a Special Indian Census, and
identify all of the landless and homeless tribes and bands residing from south
Central and Northern California. Based
upon the results of Kelsey's census and the discovery of the 18 unratified
treaties, Congress passed multiple Appropriation Acts beginning in 1906 through
1937, for the purpose of purchasing "home sites" for these intact "politically identifiable" California
Indian tribes and bands. One of
the bands identified by Agent Kelsey was the Verona Band of Alameda County residing near Pleasanton, Niles (and
other towns surrounding Mission San Jose). The direct ancestors of the
present-day Muwekma Tribe who comprised the Verona Band became Federally Acknowledged by the U.S.
Government through the Appropriation
Acts of Congress beginning in 1906. Between the years 1906 and 1927, the
Verona Band fell under the direct jurisdiction of the Indian Service Bureau in
Washington, D.C. and California, and by 1914, under the Reno and Sacramento
Agencies. During this time, the U. S.
Government and Indian Service Bureau agents attempted to purchase land for many
of these Federally Recognized, but landless California Indian bands. To this effort, both the Indian Service Bureau agents and
the Indian bands were faced with two basic problems: 1)
Many Californian landowners
did not want Indians living next to them, so they would not sell suitable
parcels of land, and, 2)
Individuals who were willing
to sell parcels to the government wanted greatly inflated prices, usually at
prices much higher than what was allocated to purchase lands, or even the value
of the land. In January 1927, Sacramento
Superintendent Col. Lafayette A. Dorrington (1923-1931) received a detailed
office directive from Assistant
Commissioner E. B. Merritt for him to list by county all of the tribes and
bands under his jurisdiction that had yet to obtain a land base for their "home
sites." This directive was issued so
that Congress could plan its allocation budget for fiscal year 1929. Dorrington, who was chronically derelict in
his duties, decided not to respond to this, as well as previous requests, and
as a result, he yet again received another strongly worded directive in May
1927 from the Assistant Commissioner. To this second directive, Dorrington reluctantly responded
by generating a report, which in effect, he illegally, unilaterally and administratively
terminated the rights of
approximately 135 tribes and bands throughout California from their Federally Acknowledged status by
completely dismissing the needs of these landless tribal groups. The very first casualty on Dorrington's hit list was the Verona Band of Alameda County. Without any benefit of an on-site visitation or needs assessment, which
he was charged by the Assistant Commissioner to conduct, Dorrington opined: "There is one band
in Alameda County commonly known as the Verona Band, … located near the town of
Verona; these Indians were formerly those that resided in close proximity of
the Mission San Jose. It does not appear at the present time
that there is need for the purchase of land for the establishment of their
homes." Thus
with the stroke of a pen and without benefit of any due process or direct
communication with the tribe, the Muwekma/Verona Band along with the other 134
tribes and bands of California, lost
their formal status as Federally Recognized Tribes. They essentially were knocked off the "radar
screen" and were considered ineligible under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act
to organize as tribes. In no other state within the U.S. had such an illegal termination of so many tribal
groups occurred as a result of the callous actions and dereliction of duty by a Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
agent. Afterwards, Dorrington, still being
prodded by BIA officials in Washington about the needs of the landless and
homeless Indians in California, offered his opinion to Commissioner Rhoads. In a letter dated April 23, 1930, Dorrington
wrote: "…Kindly be
respectfully advised that the matter of land purchase for homeless Indians has
really been given constant and diligent attention throughout the current fiscal
year to date and an earnest effort has been made to fully meet the needs of the
Indians to the fullest extent without unnecessary or unjustified expenditure of
funds, believing that to be the spirit of the law and your wishes in the
premises. …" "It has been my opinion, and therefore my
belief, for several years that
the best interests of the Indians will be served through an arrangement whereby
those concerned may be settled on the already acquired land instead of procuring additional which
cannot be turned to beneficial use and occupancy by the Indians in mind
because of their inability financially to establish themselves thereon." "…In its final
analysis, Mr. Commissioner, kindly understand and know that additional land for homeless Indians of
California is not required and therefore further demands on the appropriation
for the fiscal year 1930 are not warranted or justified." By July 1931, Dorrington had
either quit or was transferred and was replaced by O. H. Lipps as Superintendent of the Sacramento Agency. Lipps responded to an inquiry written by Assistant Commissioner J. Henry Scattergood with specific concerns about
the conditions of the homeless California Indians for whom land was purchased: "Receipt is acknowledged of your letter, dated June
30, 1931, relating to the matter of purchasing land for homeless Indians of
California. …I am addressing this
letter to you personally and calling the subject matter thereof to your special
attention for the reason that there appears
to be a grave lack of understanding in the Office regarding this whole matter
of providing homes for homeless California Indians." … … "I think it is
all the more important that this matter be brought to your personal attention
at this time in view of your recent visit to California with the Senate
Committee and your familiarity with the sentiment and feeling in this State
with respect to the past administration of the affairs of the California
Indians." "The conditions on some of these rancherias are simply deplorable. No one can view many of them and observe the conditions under which the Indians are trying to exist without the feeling that some one is guilty of gross neglect or inefficiency and that a cruel injustice has been meted out to a helpless people under the name of beneficent kindness… And yet there are those who say that I will never do to let the local authorities have charge of the affairs of the Indians lest the Indians be neglected and abuse. …I have not yet seen a single instance where the federal government has done anything like so much for the improvement of the homes and living conditions of the Indians under this jurisdiction as has been done by Sonoma County for the Indians residing on the Stewart's Point Rancheria." "Now it seems to
me that the thing for us to do is to look at the facts in the face and admit
that in the past the Government has been woefully negligent and inefficient,
and then start out with the determination, as far as possible, to rectify our
past mistakes. It is difficult to
locate the blame, but somewhere along the line there appears to have been gross negligence or crass indifference. If Congress has been honestly and fully
advised of conditions and has refused or failed to give relief asked for, then
the Indian Bureau is not responsible for the neglect of the Indians. On
the other hand, if Congress believed and intended by appropriating funds for
the purchase of lands for homeless Indians and improvements thereon that good
and suitable lands would be purchased and houses constructed and improvements
made, then we have neglected to do our duty." Although
left completely landless, and in some instances completely homeless, between
1929 and 1932 all of the surviving
Verona Band/Muwekma lineages enrolled with the BIA under the 1928 California
Indian Jurisdictional Act which were approved by the Secretary of Interior
in the pending claims settlement. Concurrently, during the first part of the 20th
century (between 1884 and 1934), renowned anthropologists and linguists such as
Jeremiah Curtin, Alfred Kroeber, E. W. Gifford, James Alden Mason, C. Hart
Merriam and John Peabody Harrington interviewed the last fluent speakers of the
"Costanoan" and other Indian languages spoken at the East Bay rancherias. It was during this time period that Verona
Band Elders still employed the linguistic term "Muwekma" which means "la Gente or the People" in Chocheńo, the Ohlone
(or Costanoan) language spoken in the East San Francisco Bay region. _______________________________________ Even before California Indians legally became citizens in 1924, during World War I, Muwekma men served overseas in the United States Armed Forces, and four of them (Tony Guzman, Alfred Guzman, Henry Nichols and Joseph Aleas) are buried in the Golden Gate National Cemetery. Jack Guzman and his nephew, Frank Guzman also served in World War I, are buried in Centerville and in the National Cemetery in Riverside, California. Later, during World War II almost all of the Muwekma men served overseas in the various branches of the Armed Forces. Between 1931 and 1940, Domingo Marine attended Indian Boarding School at Sherman Institute in Riverside, and there he met his future wife Pansy Potts (Maidu Tribe). In 1940 Domingo enlisted in the Marine Corps. Between 1944 and 1947, Jack Guzman, Jr. and his sister, Reyna attended Indian Boarding school at Chemawa, Oregon. Still landless, and completely ignored by the BIA but functioning as an unorganized tribal band, the Muwekma Tribe maintained its distinctive social ties and culture. Between
1948 and 1957, the various heads of Muwekma households enroll with the BIA
during the second enrollment period. During the early 1960s, a relationship was forged between Muwekma Ohlone
families and the American Indian
Historical Society located in San Francisco. The focus of this relationship especially centered on the
potential destruction of the Ohlone
Cemetery located in Fremont. The
cemetery contained over 4,000 converted Mission San Jose Indian graves, as well
as, the immediate relations of the Muwekma families who were buried there as
late as 1925. During the 1960s the
Ohlone Indian Cemetery was saved from destruction. In 1962, under the leadership
of Dolores Marine Alvarez/Piscopo/Galvan
and her daughter Dottie Galvan Lameira,
they began to weed and protect the cemetery. Dolores Marine's two sons Benjamin
Michael Galvan and Philip Galvan
later became important leaders in this effort. By 1971, the title transferred to the non-profit tribal entity the
Ohlone Indian Tribe, Inc. Afterwards,
the maintenance of the cemetery has come under the stewardship of one of the
Galvan families. During the early 1980's, many Muwekma families came together
to continue to conduct research on their tribe's history and genealogy, and
they also considered applying for Federal
Recognition. Between 1982 and 1984,
the Muwekma Tribal Council was
formally organized. By 1989, the Tribal
Council passed a resolution to petition
the U.S. Government for Federal Acknowledgment. On January 25, 1995, the Tribe's historical petition was
submitted during a White House
meeting of California Indian leaders. Additional research and documentation continued to be submitted, and on May 24, 1996 the BIA's Branch of
Acknowledgment and Research (BAR) made a positive
determination of previous unambiguous Federal Recognition (under 25 CFR
83.8) stating that: "Based upon the
documentation provided, and the BIA's background study on Federal
acknowledgment in California between 1887 and 1933, we have concluded on a
preliminary basis that the Pleasanton or Verona Band of Alameda County was
previous acknowledged between 1914 and 1927. "The band was
among the groups, identified as bands, under
the jurisdiction of the Indian agency at Sacramento, California. The agency dealt with the Verona Band as a
group and identified it as a distinct
social and political entity." Even
after obtaining a positive determination of "previous unambiguous Federal
Recognition" the Muwekma Tribe still had to submit additional documentation
(total of six linear feet) in order to satisfy the BAR's seven mandatory
criteria (25 CFR 83.7). Almost two years later, on March 26, 1998, as a result of submitting several hundred pages of
additional documentation, Deborah Maddox,
Division Chief of Tribal Operations, issued a letter to the Tribe stating that:
"A
review of the Muwekma submissions shows that there is sufficient evidence to
review the petition on all seven of the mandatory criteria. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) is
placing the Muwekma petition on the ready for active consideration list as of
March 26, 1998." After being placed on "Ready
Status," the Muwekma Tribal Council reviewed the Federal Registry and
counted the number of tribes on both the "Active
Consideration" and "Ready Status"
lists. Muwekma was about the 24th
tribe in line after factoring in both lists. Based upon the speed that BAR was processing tribal petitions, at the
rate of approximately 1.5 petitions per year, it became very clear that it
would take the BAR about 20 years
before it would begin to review Muwekma's documented petition. The Tribal Council also wondered if there
were any other tribes on either list with a formal determination of
"previous unambiguous Federal recognition." The answer was "no." As a result, the Muwekma Tribal Council
decided that a wait of 20 years was not acceptable to the Tribe, and therefore,
sought alternative remedies. After
failing to attain a date from the BAR (now called Office of Federal Acknowledgment) as to when the Tribe's petition
would be reviewed, the Council had no choice except to consider legal action. On December 8, 1999,
the Muwekma Tribal Council and its legal consultants filed a law suit against the Interior Department/BIA - naming Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Assistant
Secretary of Indian Affairs (AS-IA) Kevin
Gover, over the issue that the Muwekma Tribe as a previous Federally
Recognized Tribe should not have to wait over 20 years to complete their
reaffirmation process. This was a first
in Indian Country and in the Courts. On June 30, 2000, Federal District Judge
Ricardo M. Urbina, ruled in favor of the Muwekma Tribe and ordered the Interior
Department to formulate a process to expedite the Muwekma's petition. On July
28, 2000, based upon the BIA's findings, Justice Urbina wrote in his Introduction of his Memorandum Opinion Granting the
Plaintiff's Motion to Amend the Court's Order that: "The Muwekma 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 ("DOI") recognized the Muwekma tribe as an Indian tribe under the
jurisdiction of the United States." (Civil Case No. 99-3261 RMU D.D.C.) Between
September and October 2000, following the court order, and after consultation
with BIA/BAR staff, Muwekma submitted another two Exhibit volumes which
demonstrated how the 400 enrolled members of the tribe are descended from
full-blooded ancestors or siblings of those ancestors listed on the three
Federal Indian Population Schedules (Census) of 1900 and 1910 for Washington,
Murray and Pleasanton Townships, Alameda County, and from Kelsey's 1905-1906
Special Indian Census. As a result on October 30, 2000, the BAR and Tribal
Services Division of the BIA, responded to the Court Order and issued the
following statements and conclusions: "Do current members ‘descend from' a previously recognized
tribal entity? … … When combined
with the members who have both types of ancestors, 100% of the membership is represented. Thus, analysis shows that the petition's
membership can trace (and, based on a sampling, can document) its various
lineages back to individuals or to one or more siblings of individuals
appearing on the 1900, "Kelsey", and 1910 census enumerations described above." On July 25, 2002, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren issued the following statement in support of the Muwekma's restoration on the floor of the House of Representatives:
On August 29, 2002, California Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante wrote a letter supporting the Tribe to Assistant Secretary - Indian Affairs, Neil McCaleb
On September 6, 2002, the BIA made its Final Determination against the future of our tribe - the Bureau of Indian Affairs said in effect "yes, the Muwekma Tribe is a historic and previously Federally Recognized Tribe … and yes, the Muwekma Tribe was never legally ‘terminated' by any Act of Congress … and yes, 99% of the members descend from the previously Recognized tribe … but, NO! the BIA will not Acknowledge the Muwekma Tribe because as a landless tribe it does not meet the standards that the BAR staff subjectively and selectively employs in its Recognition Regulations." In retrospect, it appears now that the same BIA staff and solicitors whom bitterly opposed the Muwekma Tribe in their lawsuit, were the same people who made the Final Determination - a determination that AS-IA McCaleb just rubber-stamped. He never even independently looked at any of the tribe's evidence. Nonetheless, under the BAR's Summary Conclusions Under the Criteria
(25 CFR 83.7) of the Muwekma petition, the BIA did in fact determine
that: "The review of all the evidence in the record concludes that the
Muwekma petitioner has satisfied the requirements of 25 CFR 83.7 (d),
(e), (f), and (g). That is, the
petitioner's constitution and enrollment ordinance describe its membership
criteria and governing procedures, its members have demonstrated their descent
from the historical tribe (in this case, from the Verona band last
acknowledged by the Federal Government in 1927…" …In addition, Congress may consider taking legislative action to
recognize petitioners which do not meet the specific requirements of the
acknowledgment regulations but, nevertheless,
have merit." (Pages 7-8) At this
point, the Muwekma Tribe had exhausted the regulatory process and through this
arduous and demeaning process, the Tribe encountered the very same "gross negligence" and "crass indifference" with the current
BIA bureaucrats and decision-makers as it had encountered seventy-five years
earlier with Superintendent L. A. Dorrington in 1927. Even
with the supporting evidence contained in the 1998 Advisory Council on California Indian Policy's reports to the
U.S. Congress on the present status of California Indians, this justice issue,
like many other Native American civil rights and justice issues before it, has
fallen upon deaf ears. The Congress
once again has refused to act upon the very Commission that it has funded with
taxpayer money in order to correct what it has deemed "errors of the past." In the ACCIP report on Acknowledgment entitled Advisory Council on California Indian Policy Recognition Report - Equal Justice for California the Council issued the following conclusions about previously Federally Recognized tribes in California whom were disenfranchised by Sacramento Superintendent, Lafayette A. Dorrington: "The Dorrington report provides evidence of previous federal
acknowledgment for modern-day petitioners who can establish their connection to
the historic bands identified therein. Clearly, the BIA "recognized" its trust
obligations to these Indian bands when it undertook - pursuant to the authority
of the Homeless California Indian Acts and the Allotment Act - to determine
their living conditions and their need for land. The fact that some were provided with land and others were not did not diminish that trust.
"Among those California Indian groups that have petitioned for federal
acknowledgment, there are several who can trace their origins to one or more of
the bands identified in the Dorrington report. The Muwekma Tribe is one whose connection to the Verona Band (id,
at 1) has been recently confirmed in a letter from the BAR, …" The ACCIP
completed its mandate to report back to the Congress on the issues confronting
California Indian tribes and the Federal Recognition Process. A copy of the 1998 ACCIP final report was
submitted by the Tribe to the BIA as part of its response to the BAR's initial
"Proposed Findings." In their Final Determination the BAR made clear that it would not review or
consider any evidence prior to 1927 and after 1985, even though it had
encouraged the Tribe to do so during the Tribe's Technical Assistance meeting on November 7, 2001. The BAR staff sidestepped their own
recommendation by stating: "Given these conclusions of the Proposed
Finding under criterion 83.7(a), that the period prior to 1927 is outside the
period to be evaluated and that the petitioner met this criterion during the
period after 1985, it is not necessary
to respond to the petitioner's comments and arguments for those two time
periods." (page 9) The Muwekma Tribe is now in the process of responding to
the Final Determination - the BIA's
Final Solution to rid the United States of another legitimate historic tribe. The Tribe is presently seeking resolution
through the U. S. District Courts. Hopefully, the Muwekma Tribe will once again
prevail, by providing the evidence to an impartial third party - in this case
the Justice System. The Tribe intends to demonstrate that the BIA: 1) failed to
protect the rights of our tribe, 2) failed to treat our Tribe equally with
other tribes who, with similar legal histories, were administratively restored
without having to go through the regulatory process, 3) failed in its
professional and ethical responsibilities to evaluate our petition under the
regulations in an objective and unbiased fashion (e.g., 25 CFR 83.6(d) "A criterion shall be considered met if the
available evidence establishes a reasonable likelihood of the validity
of the facts relating to that criterion. …" and
83.6(e) "Evaluation of petitions
shall take into account historical situations and time periods for which
evidence is demonstrably limited
or not available. The limitations
inherent in demonstrating the historical existence of community and political
influence or authority shall also be taken into account," 4) failed to consider all the submitted evidence
collectively for each decade of the 20th century and for each criterion,
and, 5) violated the Administrative Procedures Act by virtue of the fact that
the same BIA decision makers who opposed the Tribe in our lawsuit were the same
people who made the Final determination. On March 26, 2004, Congressman
Richard Pombo (R), Chair of the
House Committee on Resources wrote to Chairwoman Rosemary Cambra stating: "The Committee on Resources will hold a Full Committee Oversight Hearing on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 … . The hearing will focus on the Federal recognition and acknowledgment process by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Among one of the subjects covered will be whether the current process is working properly and in a timely manner, and what alternatives exist to improve the system. I cordially invite you to testify at this hearing. "You have had significant experience with
this subject matter and information regarding your experience would be most
helpful to the Committee. …" Chairwoman Rosemary Cambra gave testimony before the House Committee on March 31, 2004 and offered an alternative for the Muwekma Tribe. Chairwoman Cambra, requested of Congressman Pombo to introduce legislation during this session to restore the Federally Acknowledged status of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. More recently, on April 21, 2004, former Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, Kevin Gover, provided testimony before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs on proposed Senate Bill 297. In his testimony addressing the "Structural Issues with the Federal Acknowledgment Program" former AS-IA Gover provided the following statement: "As has been well documented, I did not always agree with the judgments and opinions of BAR researchers and the attorneys from the Solicitor's office who advised the BAR. I came to believe that the BAR and its attorneys had been essentially unsupervised for many years and that the Assistant Secretary's office had become little more than a rubber stamp for their recommendations. …(Page 3-4) [Emphasis added] In his continued testimony on S. 297, former AS-IA Gover made the following points: "… My primary disagreement with BAR staff related specifically to the assignment of weight to specific evidence, the inferences that could fairly be drawn from the evidence, and the degree of certainty about historical facts required by the regulation. I believe that BAR staff, being of trained as historians, anthropologists, and genealogists, applied too difficult a standard. I believe they sought near certainty of the facts asserted by petitioners. They dismissed relevant evidence as inconclusive, even though conclusive proof is not required by the regulations. Moreover, BAR staff seemed thoroughly unwilling to give evidence any cumulative effect. While any given piece of evidence, when considered cumulatively, can make a sound case. … I do believe that, in accordance with their training, they applied a burden of proof far beyond what is appropriate and far beyond what is permitted by the regulations. …" (Page 5) [Emphasis added] In former AS-IA Gover's "Suggestions for Amendments" he puts forward the following: "… First, I strongly believe that certain petitioners, which already have been denied recognition, should be permitted another opportunity under the revised process established by this bill. … Into this category I would place Mowa Choctaw. Finally, I remain convinced that the Chinook Tribe is deserving of federal recognition, and I believe that, if Assistant Secretary McCaleb had the resources provided by this bill available to him when he addressed the Chinook petition, the outcome well may have been different. There may be other tribes, such as the Duwamish and the Muwekma who should be eligible for reconsideration as well." (Page 7) [Emphasis added] The
Muwekma people have had enough of this "Apartheid System" of government, of
inequities, of invalidating us as the aboriginal tribe of the San Francisco Bay
Area, of making our people refugees within our ancestral homeland. We will not stop fighting for our rights or
for the rights of the other legitimate tribes in California and in the United
States! We have suffered enough indignity by being totally disenfranchised
within our homeland. The Muwekma people have united and now hold hands with our
past as we look towards the future with our children and our grandchildren.
This is our last stand, our fear is that without restoration as a Federally
Recognized tribe, our Tribe, will through time, no longer have any social
mechanism to keep our people and traditions together. This is our last stand!
We have no land, we have no places set aside for our people, and we have no
rights whatsoever. Without a positive court decision, within a generation or
two, our ten thousand-year history and heritage will certainly be reduced down
to a few sentences in some obscure history book or notation on the
Internet. This is our last stand and
all we can now do is hope and pray that we will once again be successful in our
lawsuit against the Department of Interior, BIA, BAR and Department of
Justice. Aho! We Will Make
Things Right For Our People And Dance For Our Children! Makkin Mak
Haššesin Hemme Ta Makiš Horše Mak-Muwekma, Rooket Mak Yiššasin Huyyunčiš
Šinniinikma! <><><><><> |
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