Muwekma Ohlone Tribe

The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is an unrecognized organization for people who identify as descendants of the Ohlone, an historic Indigenous people of California. The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is the largest of several groups in the San Francisco Bay Area that identify as Ohlone tribes.

Almost all members of the organization are descendants of the Verona Band of Alameda County, an historic band of Ohlone people.

Status
The organization is not recognized as a Native American tribe by the federal government or by the California state government, which does not recognize any state tribes.

Petition for federal recognition
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, formerly known as the Ohlone/Costanoan Muwekma Tribe, applied for federal recognition as a Native American tribe; however, in their petition was denied in 2002. The US Department of the Interior Bureau of Indian Affairs found a lack of "evidence since 1927 of substantially continuous external identification of the petitioning group as a continuation of the historical 'Verona Band' or Pleasanton rancheria." The final determination also stated: "Because the petitioning group was not identified as an Indian entity for a period of almost four decades after 1927 … it has not been identified as an Indian entity on a 'substantially continuous' basis since 1927." The final determination also "concluded that 99 percent of its current members have satisfactorily documented their descent from individuals on the Verona Band proxy list, or sibling thereof."

Nonprofit organization
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Inc. was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2018. Charlene Nijmeh, based in Castro Valley, California, is the principal officer. Their mission states: "The specific purpose of this corporation is for religious purposes of addressing ancestral [N]ative [A]merican sacred sites."

In 2020 and 2022, their administration was:
 * Chairman: Charlene Nijmeh
 * Vice Chair: Richard Massiatt
 * Treasurer: Monica Arellano
 * Secretary: Gloria E Gomez

The Peninsula Open Space Trust, Children and Nature Network, and PayPal Giving Fund all provided grants to the nonprofit in 2021 or 2022.

Controversy
The leaders of the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone, the Tamien Nation, and the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone — organizations for people in the San Francisco Bay area who identify as being of Ohlone descent, who are also unrecognized organizations identifying as Native American tribes — have criticized the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, alleging that the organization has questioned the legitimacy of other Ohlone heritage organizations.

Notable members

 * Vincent Medina, American chef