[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 103 (Thursday, July 25, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1392-E1393]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      MUWEKMA OHLONE INDIAN TRIBE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 25, 2002

  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, The Muwekma Ohlone Indian Tribe is a 
sovereign Indian Nation located within several counties in the San 
Francisco Bay Area since time immemorial.
  In 1906, the Tribe was formally identified by the Special Indian 
Census conducted by Indian Agent C.E. Kelsey, as a result of the 
Congressional Appropriation Act mandate to identify and to purchase 
land for the landless and homeless California Indian tribes.
  At this time, the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Indian 
Affairs federally acknowledged the Verona Band as coming under the 
jurisdiction of the Reno and Sacramento Agencies between 1906 and 1927.

[[Page E1393]]

  The Congress of the United States also recognized the Verona Band 
pursuant to Chapter 14 of Title 25 of the United States Code, which was 
affirmed by the United States Court of Claims in the Case of Indians of 
California v. United States (1942) 98 Ct. Cl. 583.
  The Court of Claims case judgment instructed the identification of 
the Indians of California with the creation of Indian rolls. The direct 
ancestors of the present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe participated in and 
enrolled under the 1928 California Indian Jurisdictional Act and the 
ensuing Claims Settlement of 1944 with the Secretary of the Interior 
approving all of their enrollment applications.
  Meanwhile, as a result of inconsistent federal policies of neglect 
toward the California Indians, the government breached the trust 
responsibility relationship with the Muwekma tribe and left the Tribe 
landless and without either services or benefits. As a result, the 
Tribe has suffered losses and displacement. Despite these hardships the 
Tribe has never relinquished their Indian tribal status and their 
status was never terminated.
  In 1984, in an attempt to have the federal government acknowledge the 
status of the Tribe, the Muwekma Ohlone people formally organized a 
tribal council in conformance with the guidelines under the Indian 
Reorganization Act of 1934.
  In 1989, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribal leadership submitted a resolution 
to the Bureau of Indian Affairs Branch of Acknowledgement and Research 
with the intent to petition for Federal acknowledgement. This 
application is known as Petition #111. This federal process is known to 
take many years to complete.
  Simultaneously, in the 1980's and 1990's, the United States Congress 
recognized the federal governments neglect of the California Indians 
and directed a Commission to study the history and current status of 
the California Indians and to deliver a report with recommendations. In 
the late 1990's the Congressional mandated report--the California 
Advisory Report, recommended that the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe be 
reaffirmed to its status as a federally recognized tribe along with 
five other Tribes, the Dunlap Band of Mono Indians, the Lower Lake Koi 
Tribe, the Tsnungwe Council, the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, and the 
Tolowa Nation.
  On May 24, 1996, the Bureau of Indian Affairs pursuant to the 
regulatory process then issued a letter to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe 
concluding that the Tribe was indeed a Federally Recognized Tribe.
  In an effort to reaffirm their status and compel a timely decision by 
the Department of the interior, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe sued the 
Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Court has mandated that the Department 
issue a decision this year. That decision is expected in early August.
  Specifically, on July 28, 2000, and again on June 11, 2002, Judge 
Ricardo Urbina wrote in his Introduction of his Memorandum Opinion 
Granting the Plaintif's Motion to Amend the Court's Order (July 28, 
2002) and Memorandum Order Denying the Defendant's to Alter or Amend 
the Court's Orders (June 11, 2002) affirmatively stating 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. 99-32671 RMU D.D.C.)
  I proudly support the long struggle of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe as 
they continue to seek justice and to finally, and without further 
delay, achieve their goal of their reaffirmation of their tribal status 
by the federal government. This process has dragged on long enough. I 
hope that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of Interior 
will do the right thing and act positively to grant the Muwekma Ohlone 
Tribe their rights as a Federally Recognized Indian Tribe. The Muwekma 
Ohlone Tribe has waited long enough; let them get on with their lives 
as they seek to improve the lives of the members of this proud tribe. 
To do anything else is to deny this Tribe Justice. They have waited 
patiently and should not have to wait any longer.

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