The Muwekma Ohlone indigenous tribe is searching for federal recognition with a cross-country horseback riding trip, and its grassroots campaign appears to have won the sympathy of the San Jose City Council, with several members proposing a supporting resolution.
But Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who represents San Jose and supported the tribe's petition a long time ago, warned the council Wednesday against interfering in a federal matter and the precedent that overturning the Bureau of Indian Affairs' decision on the matter could set.
“Doing this for one tribe would raise significant equity issues for other tribes who have also received adverse decisions through the BIA process,” Lofgren wrote in a letter to town. “I urge the Council to more carefully consider these and other complicated issues that would arise from Congress's overturning of the BIA's independent, fact-based decision.”
The Muwekma Ohlone, who last counted 614 members, have stressed the necessity for federal recognition to own land, receive federal assistance, and help repatriate artifacts held by government agencies and public museums. Without the popularity that proves their legitimacy, the tribe is just not entitled to those advantages.
The tribe's ancestral lands reportedly include parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Francisco, San Mateo and Solano counties.
The BIA, which last granted federal recognition to a tribe five years ago, denied the Muwekma Ohlone's request for recognition in 2002, saying it didn’t meet three of the seven required criteria. After a district court in Washington, DC ruled in favor of the BIA in 2011, an appeals court affirmed the choice two years later, leaving the one other option for recognition to be through an act of Congress.
The tribe is on a three-month, nationwide “Trail of Truth” protest that began in San Francisco on Sunday and is scheduled to finish in Washington, DC.
Charlene Nijmeh, the tribe's chairwoman, said Wednesday that a neighborhood resolution was necessary to indicate lawmakers in D.C. that she has the community's support.
“That's what Trail of Truth is about: advocating for justice, not just for the Muwekma, but for all unrecognized, unheard tribes who feel overlooked,” Nijmeh said.
However, the tribe will face an uphill battle to win congressional support.
While Lofgren supported the tribe's original request, he noted that it was unprecedented for Congress to overturn a BIA denial in spite of everything appeals had been exhausted.
“While I supported the tribe's application to the BIA more than two decades ago, I also believe it is important to respect fact-based decisions so that all tribes have a fair and equal opportunity to apply for recognition,” Lofgren wrote.
Only in a single case has Congress overturned a BIA decision, when it granted recognition to the Little Shell Chippewa Indian Tribe in Montana. In that case, Montana lawmakers had added an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act signed in December 2019, an amendment that has nothing to do with a law. Before passage, the Little Shell Tribe appealed the BIA's denial, and its subsequent attempts before Congress were thwarted.
Lofgren and other local congressmen, who didn’t reply to requests for comment, even have a contentious history with Nijmeh, who unsuccessfully contested Lofgren's House seat on this 12 months's primary, and with the Muwekma Ohlone.
Last 12 months, there have been confrontations between parliamentarians and the tribe, accusing their representatives of spreading misinformation and writing fake news about their positions.
Nijmeh had previously accused Lofgren of hindering the tribe's efforts to achieve federal recognition, calling her a “colonist.”
Lofgren's letter resonated with some council members, who asked during a Rules Committee hearing Wednesday to delay the support resolution from the Aug. 13 City Council agenda by two weeks to Aug. 27 to assemble more information, further angering Nijmeh.
“It's very disheartening that you're playing politics here with Zoe Lofgren,” Nijmeh told the San Jose Rules Committee, continuing her accusations that Lofgren was “bought” by gambling tribes.
Fifth District Councilman Peter Ortiz, who attended the tribe's protests in San Francisco last weekend and supported the support resolution, stressed that it was necessary for the City Council to know the complete context when making its decision.
“Unfortunately, historically there are recognized tribes that act against others,” Ortiz said. “Even the BIA has used its weapons against unrecognized tribes. I hope all of these things come up in the discussion because it's very important to have that context.”
Originally published:
image credit : www.mercurynews.com