Muwekma Ohlone Tribe

Mákkin Mak Muwékma Wolwóolum ~ We Are Muwekma Ohlone!

If you think forced relocation happened once, you're not seeing the full picture. Our ancestors were moved to the North Bay to build new missions. Then moved back to San Francisco when labor ran short. Then shuffled to San Jose. Then moved again. And again. No stability. No autonomy. Families separated. Communities torn apart and stitched back together by Spanish strategy, a deliberate effort to destroy any sense of collective power. But displacement didn't destroy us. It did the opposite. New bonds formed in the chaos. New kinship across displaced communities. And through every forced move, every attempt at erasure, one thing stayed constant: resistance. The mission system thought it could break indigenous people by keeping us unstable. Instead, it proved just how unbreakable we were. #MuwekmaOhlone #PresidioTrust #LandBackMovement #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #LauraJones #IndigenousPeople #MuwekmaOhloneLand #IndigenousSovreignity #OhloneAncestralRemains #HonorTheAncestors #Indigen

By the time Mission San Jose was added, the system had a rhythm, dislocate, exploit, repeat. People who had spent generations together, who spoke the same languages, intermarried, built lives side by side, were now scattered across missions like inventory. People were displaced even further, to the North Bay, to the coast, to the interior. Collecting more people. More labor. And something unexpected happened inside those missions, new communities began to form. Multicultural, multilingual, resilient. People finding each other in captivity and building kinship anyway. Outside the missions? Resistance never stopped. We escaped.. We refused to let colonialism win quietly. They thought they had control. They were wrong. #MuwekmaOhlone #PresidioTrust #LandBackMovement #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #LauraJones #IndigenousPeople #MuwekmaOhloneLand #IndigenousSovreignity #OhloneAncestralRemains #HonorTheAncestors #IndigenousCommunities #BayArea

In Chochenyo, 'Uwetto’ means "to drink", a word as essential as the act itself. Water sustains life, and for Muwekma Ohlone, culture sustains legacy. It’s never been just about survival. It's about gathering, sharing, ceremony. Every time this word is spoken, it's a quiet act of resistance against a language that was nearly erased. Learning these words, teaching them, using them, that's how a culture persists. That's how a people remain unbroken. #MuwekmaOhlone #LanguageRevitalization #Chochenyo #ChochenyoWordOfTheWeek #IndigenousPeople #NativeAmericans #BayArea

In California, 1776 was the year indigenous captivity became systematic. The Spanish didn't build Mission Dolores and Mission Santa Clara for faith. They built them for free labor. And they needed bodies to make it work. So they pulled us from our homelands on the peninsula and around San Jose. Forced us into missions. Put us to work building the very structures of our own oppression. But here's what we sometimes don't see: resistance started immediately. Escape. Defiance. Acts of survival that the missions couldn't contain. We didn't just endure, we fought back from day one. #MuwekmaOhlone #PresidioTrust #LandBackMovement #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #LauraJones #IndigenousPeople #MuwekmaOhloneLand #IndigenousSovreignity #OhloneAncestralRemains #HonorTheAncestors #IndigenousCommunities #BayArea

Native dancers, families, and communities from across California are coming for Cali Native Nights on March 13, 2026, and we are looking for partners who believe in the power of culture, connection, and community. This is more than an event. It is a living continuation of the cultural exchanges that have defined California Native traditions for generations, and every sponsorship directly fuels that revival. Sponsorship Opportunities: - Community Dinner Sponsor ($5,000): Support a dinner bringing together 100+ dancers and community members. Includes a dedicated banner and recognition. - California Dance Family Sponsor ($2,500): Support one of eight dance families to ensure their full participation in the program. Includes shared banner placement and recognition. If your organization wants to stand with Native communities in a way that is meaningful and lasting, reach out to Jill Amanno at jill.amanno@muwekmafoundation.org and let's build this together. #CaliNativeNight2026 #BayAreaCulture #NativeAmericanHeritage #CaliNative #CultureNight #IndigenousCulture #muwekmaohlone #sponsorship

Muwekma Ohlone, native to San Francisco Bay Area, whose ancestors built their lives across what is now San Francisco long before any border, city, or deed was ever drawn. Their grandparents survived missionization, genocide, and erasure. Their parents held on through displacement and neglect. And yet today, without federal recognition, their children and grandchildren are being priced out of the very land their ancestors never surrendered. They are being pushed out by some of the highest costs of living in the country, with no tribal land base, no housing protections, and no sovereign ground to return to. This is not an abstract political fight. It is a matter of whether a people who have survived every attempt to erase them can still afford to exist in their homeland. #MuwekmaOhlone #PresidioTrust #LandBackMovement #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #LauraJones #IndigenousPeople #MuwekmaOhloneLand #IndigenousSovreignity #OhloneAncestralRemains #HonorTheAncestors #IndigenousCommunities #BayArea

San José State University, located on Muwekma Ohlone ancestral land, has issued a formal letter supporting the tribe's fight for federal recognition. And they didn't mince words. They acknowledged what history already proves, the Muwekma Ohlone were federally recognized through Congressional acts in 1906. Our descendants are still here. Still fighting for a status that was stripped away through bureaucratic erasure, not because we ceased to exist. SJSU also pointed out something critical, other California tribes in similar situations have had their recognition restored through administrative action. The precedent exists. The path is clear. So why is the Muwekma Ohlone tribe still waiting? This letter isn't just symbolic. It's an institution on Ohlone land publicly stating that this is an injustice. And it's time to correct it. #MuwekmaOhlone #IndianAffairs #LetterOfSupport #CalStateUniversity #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #Congress #IndigenousPeople #JusticeForMuwekmaOhlone #IndigenousSovreignity #IndigenousCommunities #BayAreaPolitics

For 45 years, the Muwekma Ohlone have done everything right. We documented our history, preserved our culture, navigated every bureaucratic process placed in front of us, and fought with dignity for recognition that should have never been taken from us. Our ancestors walked this land long before borders were drawn, and our people are still here, still organizing, still demanding to be seen. This is not a question of whether we exist. It is a question of whether those in power will finally act like we do. Congress has the power to act, not someday, not after another decade, but now. Every day of delay keeps our sovereignty in limbo. The history is here. The evidence is here. The will to act is all that’s missing. #MuwekmaOhlone #PresidioTrust #LandBackMovement #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #IndigenousPeople #MuwekmaOhloneLand #IndigenousSovreignity #OhloneAncestralRemains #HonorTheAncestors #IndigenousCommunities #BayArea

When we say Hitkan (Heet-Kaan), we speak of need, of longing, of the body’s call to be nourished… a reminder that hunger is both physical and spiritual. Hitkan carries understanding that our people have always known the importance of sharing food, tending the land, and caring for one another so no one goes without. From acorn harvests to shared meals, nourishment has always been community. To feed one another is to strengthen the circle. #MuwekmaOhlone #LanguageRevitalization #Chochenyo #ChochenyoWordOfTheWeek #IndigenousPeople #NativeAmericans #BayArea

When we say Ruwwa (Roo-Wa), we speak of belonging, memory, and identity… the place where our spirits return and our stories begin. Ruwwa is more than shelter. It is land, ancestors, language, and community woven together. It holds our footsteps, our laughter, our ceremonies just as it has for generations before us. Home is not only where we live. It is who we are. #MuwekmaOhlone #LanguageRevitalization #Chochenyo #ChochenyoWordOfTheWeek #IndigenousPeople #NativeAmericans #BayArea

We gave them everything; documents tracing our lineage back centuries, oral histories passed down through generations and cultural practices that we never stopped performing. And when that wasn't enough, we gave them science. Genomic studies. DNA evidence linking us directly to our ancestors. Cold, hard, peer-reviewed proof that we are exactly who we say we are. Even science couldn't move them. So the question isn't about evidence anymore. It never really was. The question is: what do you want from us that we haven't already given? How many ways do we have to prove we exist? How much documentation do we need to provide to justify our own survival? We've met every standard. Cleared every bar. Answered every question. And still…nothing. This isn't about legitimacy. It's about power refusing to let go. The Muwekma Ohlone exist. We always have. No amount of denial will change that. #MuwekmaOhlone #ProtectingOurPeople #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #IndigenousPeople #JusticeForMuwekmaOhlone

When we say Hiyyis (He - yeesh), we speak of warmth, protection, and ceremony…the spark that gathers our people together. That fire carries our prayers upward, cleansing and renewing, just as our ancestors did for generations. It is the flame of resilience, knowledge passed hand to hand, story to story. #MuwekmaOhlone #LanguageRevitalization #Chochenyo #ChochenyoWordOfTheWeek #IndigenousPeople #NativeAmericans #BayArea

We've been here long before borders, before gold rushes, before termination policies tried to erase us from the record. The Muwekma Ohlone didn't disappear, we were made invisible. But you cannot erase a people who refuse to vanish. Our children still carry the names of their ancestors. Federal recognition is not a gift, it's a debt long overdue. The question isn't whether we exist. The question is: how much longer will you pretend we don't? To the administration and Congress: this is your moment. Acknowledge what has always been real. The Muwekma Ohlone are sovereign. Recognize us. #MuwekmaOhlone #IndianAffairs #BenBarnes #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #Congress #IndigenousPeople #JusticeForMuwekmaOhlone #IndigenousSovreignity #IndigenousCommunities #BayAreaPolitics

When we say ’Amham (Amh - Haam), we speak of care, survival, and responsibility to one another. Food is how we nourish our bodies and our spirit, how knowledge, recipes, and gratitude are passed from one generation to the next. It reminds us that eating is an act of connection: to the land that provides, to the hands that prepare, and to the ancestors who taught us to share. #MuwekmaOhlone #LanguageRevitalization #Chochenyo #ChochenyoWordOfTheWeek #IndigenousPeople #NativeAmericans #BayArea

Recognition only becomes “complicated” when money is on the line. Politicians listen closely to card rooms and gaming tribes, while our 10,000-year history is treated as expendable. Call it policy if you want, it’s profit protecting power, and Indigenous people paying the price. #MuwekmaOhlone #CasinoTribes #CasinoMoney #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #IndigenousPeople #JusticeForMuwekmaOhlone #IndigenousSovreignity #IndigenousCommunities #BayAreaPolitics

For generations, the Muwekma Ohlone have walked this land, carrying the prayers of our ancestors and the fire of our culture forward, even when the government tried to erase us from existence. Our federal recognition was stripped away in 1927, but we never disappeared. We are still here, still gathering, still dancing, still teaching our children that to know where you're going is to know where you've been. Our culture is not a relic of the past. It is the power that keeps us thriving, the heartbeat that drums through every ceremony, every red day, every sacred moment we reclaim. When you stand with us, you stand with the spirits of the Ohlone, the Yokuts, the Pomo, the Wappo; all the misplaced people whose roots run deep in this earth, whose fight for sovereignty continues with every breath. #MuwekmaOhlone #PresidioTrust #LandBackMovement #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #NancyPelosi #DianneFeinstein #PresidentDonaldTrump #ElonMusk #IndigenousPeople #MuwekmaOhloneLand #IndigenousSovreignity #OhloneAncestralRemains #HonorTheAncestors #IndigenousCommunities #BayArea

This Civil Rights Day, we stand at the intersection of two fights for justice. Dr. King fought for dignity, recognition, and rights for all. Yet for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, that recognition remains out of reach. For 36 years, we have fought for what was unjustly stripped away: federal acknowledgment of their existence, their sovereignty, their identity. The same systems Dr. King challenged, ystems that decide who is seen and who is invisible, continue to operate today. Justice delayed is justice denied. The Muwekma Ohlone have waited long enough. Their voices deserve to be heard. Their community deserves to be recognized. Their rights deserve to be restored. This Civil Rights Day, let's remember: the work isn't finished until every community has the justice they're owed. Stand with the Muwekma Ohlone. #MuwekmaOhlone #IndianAffairs #ViceChairmanBrianSchatz #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #ZoeLofgren #ROKhanna #AnnaEshoo #EricSwalwell #Congress #IndigenousPeople #JusticeForMuwekmaOhlone #MartinLutherKingJR #MartinLutherKing

For generations, the Presidio was our homeland. For decades, we’ve watched powerful politicians protect a system built on exclusion, one that denied our existence, blocked our recognition, and poured taxpayer money into a Trust they claimed was self-sustaining. So we asked the questions no one else would. We exposed the contradictions others ignored. And we reminded this country that we never ceded this land. The Presidio deserves caretakers who honor its history, not profit from it. Its future belongs with the people who have protected it since time immemorial. Our stewardship is not a political experiment, it is a return to balance, truth, and responsibility. The land remembers us. And we are here to reclaim what was always ours. #MuwekmaOhlone #PresidioTrust #LandBackMovement #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #NancyPelosi #DianneFeinstein #PresidentDonaldTrump #ElonMusk #IndigenousPeople #MuwekmaOhloneLand #IndigenousSovreignity #OhloneAncestralRemains #HonorTheAncestors #IndigenousCo

We believe in moving forward together. But when wealth and influence pull Indian Country apart, justice stalls. We are still here. Still waiting. Still asking for what should never have been denied. Please support us and help us fight for our federal recognition. #MuwekmaOhlone #IndianAffairs #SenatorMarkWayneMullin #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #GratonRancheria #Pechanga #IndigenousPeople #JusticeForMuwekmaOhlone #IndigenousSovreignity #IndigenousCommunities #BayAreaPolitics

Some leaders talk about lines they won’t cross. But, we’ve learned to watch what happens when the cameras turn off. Truth has a way of surfacing, especially when money is involved. #MuwekmaOhlone #GawinNewsom #CasinoTribes #CasinoMoney #TheJackCocchiarellaShow #FederalRecognition #FightForFederalRecognition #IndigenousPeople #JusticeForMuwekmaOhlone #IndigenousSovreignity #IndigenousCommunities #BayAreaPolitics