Exclusive
Federal Police Assault Native Americans, Threaten Their ‘Spirit Horses’ On Trail Of Truth Pilgrimage To D.C.
It takes a lot of motivation, internal strength, and spirit to make a 2,800-mile journey across the country on horseback. That is what a group of Native American tribal leaders, elders and their children just accomplished in their crusade to bring some attention to their fight for self-determination – a fight that many Indian nations are surprisingly still battling with the United States Federal Government to this very day.
The Muwekma Ohlone tribe of California was once recognized as a sovereign tribe by the U.S. government, which wrongly terminated their legal status. The tribe has protested what they claim is blatant political interference in their quest to restore the sovereign rights of their tribe.
Independent Presidential candidate and environmental attorney, Robert F Kennedy, found the tribe’s legal claim so compelling that he pledged to renew the group’s Federal recognition if he became president.
His running mate, Nicole Shanahan, also called for the full restoration of the Muwekma Ohlone people’s rights. Now tragically, the group’s protest has turned violent.
Capitol Hill police could be seen in a video fighting with the Native American demonstrators in Washington D.C.. A video of that altercation has been included below. Defiant in their quest to honor their heritage and unite their people, the Muwekma Ohlone demonstrators stood up to the officers, holding their ground and protecting their beloved ‘spirit horses.’
This altercation between the Muwekma Ohlone tribe and Capitol Police was followed by an assault by the U.S. Park police, an outfit is controlled by the Interior Department, which just happens to be the same department that oversees the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs ultimately determines the legal status and land rights of the country’s Native American tribes.
The Muwekma Ohlone tribe of California has lived in the San Francisco Bay area for thousands of years. Much longer than most other “Americans.”
Their tribe once numbered over 30,000 members, spanning across the entire San Francisco Bay area, but after many years of eradication efforts and forced relocation, their numbers have dwindled to about 600. When the tribe began pleading with the U.S. government for some of their land back in the 1920’s, they were removed from the list of recognized Indian tribes and lost all rights that the recognition bestows.
They have been trying to regain their Nation-State status ever since, but have hit major resistance from other Californian Native American tribes that already have their recognition, and casinos, and plenty of money.
Slingshot News has been informed that this money is often used by the large tribes, particularly in California, to pay off politicians in order to ensure that the Muwekma clan can never compete with their Native American casino monopolies.
To bring attention to their plight, some of the remaining Muwekma tribal members traveled from California to Washington D.C. on their horses to make a final stand, and to demand that their tribal recognition be restored – but when they got to D.C. they were surrounded by Capitol Park police, attacked and taken to jail.
Tribal Chairwomen Charlene C. Nijmeh Said, “We’re out here, asking that the U.S. government return federal recognition to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe so we might operate as other federally recognized tribes do, with protections and the acknowledgement of our history and humanity. We’ve traveled across the country by horseback to make this point. We’ve met allies from so many tribes along the way, and they have marched with us in spirit. When we crossed over the Arlington bridge with our horses and our relatives from every nation who joined us, and we walked across the Capitol Mall. We had an escort from the police department. They escorted us. They didn’t say you could not enter. You could not prey. They marched us up to the capital – and then another group of police attacked us.”
Chairwomen Nijmeh and other tribal leaders had an appointment to meet with Bryan Newland, the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs at the Bureau of Indian Affairs, on October 15th at 4:30 pm in order to discuss the decades long fight for re-recognition by the Muwekma tribe.
The Capitol Police, who escorted the tribe into the city the day before, arrived at their campsite on the morning of the 15th to drop-off a permit application, and to inquire about their intentions.
The police liaison was given a thorough explanation of the Trail of Truth campaign and about the peaceful protests the tribe had planned around the city, and about their meeting with the Bureau of Indian Affairs that afternoon – and they explained that they would be walking their horses to the meeting, in continuation of their Trail of Truth march for the restoration of their Federal recognition.
The Capital Police liaison said that they were welcome and were “good to go,” and that he would contact the other police agencies that work around the Capitol to let them know that the tribe was going to walk their horses in a ceremonial parade to the Bureau of Indian Affairs, “so there would be no problems.” He even offered a police escort and asked what time they would like to leave.
As the Muwekma Ohlone tribe was preparing for the meeting with the BAI and praying, singing, smudging and spiritually connecting with their ancestors at the campsite, the Park Police arrived and immediately surrounded the tribe. They shouted, demanding that the horses remain in their trailer. The police then told the tribe that they could not have their horses, which the Muwekma Ohlone has a very strong spiritual connections with, and tried to confiscate the animals.
This provoked the Muwekma to surround the horse trailer in a protective stance while locking arms and chanting prayers as police officers pounced on them.
The tribe would not let the police take their horses.
The officers became increasingly more aggressive and militant, even wrestling people to the ground and then arresting them while threatening to kill the horses.
When the police threatened to kill their horses, several women in the tribe jumped on the horse trailer to protect their animals, which caused the police to become even more enraged and began assaulting the men, women, children, and elders of the Muwekma nation.
Nine victims of the police assault were dragged off to jail for charges ranging from interfering with a government process, resisting arrest and not obeying a lawful order.
Members of the tribe that were arrested had to spend the night in a holding cell at the police station jailm and weren’t released until the next day.
After Chairwoman Nijmeh got her husband released from jail, she went to the Park Police office to file for a permit to protest once again. While she was there, a group of Park police officers swept through the campsite and forced everyone out. The officers surrounded the tribe with 35 police cars and closed off all roads leading to the park and told the tribe they had 5 minutes to pack up and get out or they would have all their possessions confiscated. As the tribe was gathering their things together to leave, the police swarmed the camp and pulled, grabbed, and pushed the Native Americans out of the National Park.
Multiple northern California Indian tribes with substantial casino gambling revenues have been generous contributors to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, still a powerful member of the House, the late Senator Dianne Feinstein, Senator Barbara Boxer, and Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren.
The Mowekwa even endorsed Lofgren in her first campaign for Congress based on a promise that she would support the restoration of the tribe’s Federal recognition. Lofgren succumbed to the massive contributions from the casino fueled Northern California tribes who are heavy contributors, and eventually refused to support the tribe’s recognition.
Tribal Chairwomen Charlene Nijmeh believes they were targeted by California Democrat leaders who she claims have been “paid off” by the richst California tribes. Nimjeh said,
“We were supposed to meet with Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Bryan Newland that same day to discuss an administrative corrective action that would reaffirm the tribe’s federal status. The Parks Police turning on us and taking our horses feels like a strategic move on their part and it’s disgraceful. Especially considering that we have Chuck Sams, the first Native American (Cayuse and Walla Walla), as the leader of the National Parks and also Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), the first Native American Secretary of the Interior.”
The Muwekma tribe plans on staying in Washington D.C. until they receive their restored recognition, or some sort of acknowledgment from the federal government that their recognition is finally in the process of being completed.
Chairwoman Nijmeh said,
“That is what the Trail of Truth is about. We will no longer be ignored, marginalized. We will be seen and heard. We are not going home until we get this done. Until they see us and acknowledge our existence. This could be another Standing Rock if they keep brutalizing us. There are already other Indian nations calling that say they are coming down. We had sovereign nations with us when we were assaulted. They are upset because Kamala Harris and her cronies attacked us like that. It came from the top. Everybody knows that in Indian Country. It came from the top. And we are pissed off that their own brother and sitter treated another brother and sister like this. If Kamala Harris wants the Indian vote – she is not going to get it this way. A war cry has been made.”