On Aug. 10, 2022, the Los Gatan published an article by Drew Penner on the Town’s efforts to acknowledge the first people of Los Gatos. We were dismayed by the comments anthropologist Alan Leventhal made regarding the Tamien Nation, which were repeated by Muwekma Chairperson Charlene Nijmeh in an op-ed that appeared shortly after. If Mr. Leventhal’s statement that the Town is being “hoodwinked” is true, it is not by us.
Muwekma is aggressively campaigning against our Nation, calling us a “fictitious tribe” and blocking vital resources within our homeland. This political warfare tactic is a display of internal colonization, lateral oppression and violence. It’s painful and can cause long-term emotional, psychological and physical health disparities among our people. Therefore, we have been charged by our Elder Council to respond.
Tamien Nation has direct ancestry to Tamien speaking rancherias with lineages verified by a certified genealogist. Our members are listed on the California Indian Census of 1928, the California Indian Judgment Rolls of 1953 and 1972, and have Certificates of Degree of Indian Blood from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. We have an enrollment of over 100 citizens who have maintained continuity throughout time, despite California’s history of attempted genocide.
For our survival, our nation migrated to the San Joaquin Valley where most of us live today. We truly are “living Indians.” We maintain our customs by continuing our traditional kinship, social and political systems. It wasn’t until 1991 when we became aware of federal recognition that our nation joined the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. In 2020, our original council decided to move forward with our Federal Recognition Intent to Petition #220 assigned to us by the Office of Federal Acknowledgement (OFA) in 1999. Although we voluntarily withdrew from the process in 2000, we recently secured funding for a comprehensive ethnographic study and plan to again pursue recognition once that’s complete.
Chairperson Nijmeh’s comment, “Tamien Nation did not exist until after December of 2020” refers to the year our Nation was placed on the Native American Heritage List. This fact only confirms Tamien Nation is indeed a California Indian Tribe recognized by the State. We’ve exercised our sovereign right of self-determination and changed our name to Tamien Nation, reflecting our language and culture. We have existed since time immemorial.
Tamien Nation is not disputing Muwekma’s status as a Tribe. We support them in their place of origin, the East Bay. Tamien Nation takes issue with Muwekma, disparaging our name, encroaching on our territory, and appropriating resources that rightfully belong to our people. Muwekma submitted a map of their aboriginal villages to OFA and not one village is in the South Bay. However, Muwekma continues to claim 13 counties. This is not only unethical, but also a form of erasure and a violation of several articles listed in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Tamien Nation and Muwekma both agree: “correcting lies and misinformation” is essential. But this must happen through a transparent and unambiguous process. The truth is simple. The Bay Area has been misled for decades. Muwekma is not a South Bay Tribe and certainly not from Los Gatos. They’re an East Bay tribe recognized as the Verona Band listed in the Kelsey Census under “Miwok Stock.”
(Courtesy of Quirina Geary)
Chairperson Nijmeh made the call to present “documentation proving tribal status.” However, her call was already answered. In June, the City of San Jose facilitated a meeting between our Nations. Our leadership attended with proof of lineal descent to Santa Clara Valley. Muwekma did not.
To Muwekma’s leadership: I am the direct descendant of Chief Tulum and Yayaate of Santa Clara Valley. And on behalf of Tamien Nation, we invite you to follow Indian law and protocol and to do as our ancestors would have done—talk. Political smear campaigns do not help either of our Nations, nor are we interested in a virtual catfight. On the contrary, our nation wants peace.
Tamien Nation is doing our due diligence to affirm our connection to our homeland and to build respectful relationships, including with the Town of Los Gatos. And we support their decision to use the phrasing “Indigenous people” to refer to the area’s original inhabitants in official documents as they sort things out.
We invite everyone to speak, learn and work with us. We are committed to partnerships because the future we envision is a shared one, where our children can live safely as themselves—fully in our culture, our language, and the traditions of our people. This is the only path towards justice for us all.
To Chairwoman Quirina Geary and the Tamien Nation:
You should know that Muwekma Chair Charlene Nijimeh is building alliances with those opposing the genocide in Gaza, apartheid between Palestine and Israel, and advocates for the unhoused: have you taken the opportunity to express solidarity with these and other distressed communities? What’s happening in Gaza happened to you, the Muwekma, and many other indigenous nations, hence correcting the impression Chairwoman Nijimeh gives that hers is the only indigenous Ohlone band who knows this is urgent In my view.