Muwekma Ohlone demonstrators face violence in D.C. 

Members of the Muwekma Ohlone tribe, whose ancestral homelands are in the Bay Area including Stanford’s campus, said they were met with what they described as “violent and physical” police in Washington, D.C. on Indigenous People’s Day. The tribe organized a horseback journey called the Trail of Truth from San Francisco to the U.S. Capitol.

The journey was meant to call attention to Muwekma Ohlone’s status as a federally unrecognized tribe, which erases its sovereignty and right to self-governance, said Charlene Nijmeh, the tribe’s chairwoman. The two-month journey started on Aug. 4 in Crissy Field in San Francisco, just east of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Trail of Truth passed through the ancestral lands of various indigenous groups. Nijmeh estimates that 30 tribes joined the cross-country voyage. 

Nijmeh said the protesters had planned to speak to Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland about the need to recognize tribes such as the Muwekma Ohlone. The protestors were initially escorted by the U.S. Capitol police forces on the day of their arrival, but the violent interaction occurred the next day, Nijmeh said. 

In an email to The Daily, Melissa Schwartz, Senior Counselor to Secretary Haaland, denied the meeting between Haaland’s office and the riders had ever been scheduled. Haaland and her team then informed the Muwekma Ohlone that they would not meet with them in an email to the tribe following their protests.

The National Park Service (NPS) police forces claimed that horses were not allowed on the National Mall. According to D.C. city codes, each offender shall be fined “a sum not less than $1 nor more than $5.” Nijmeh said she agreed to comply and pay the fines, but a standoff followed. 

“As soon as my team opened the doors, the cops bum rushed us,” Nijmeh said. “They threw my daughter to the curb. They hit elders, women and children. They were threatening to confiscate our horses and euthanize them.”

Nine people, including Nijmeh’s husband, were arrested on charges of resisting arrest and assaulting police forces. They were released shortly after, but still face legal charges and court arraignments.

“The group was given three dispersal warnings. One arrest was made for assault on a police officer and eight arrests have been made for interfering with agency function and disobeying a lawful order,” NPS police told Fox News Radio.

The Daily has reached out to the NPS police for comment.

Lauren Rose Reyes ’25 is a Residential Assistant (RA) at Muwekma-Tah-Ruk, Stanford’s indigenous theme house, with Mescalero Apache and Navajo roots. Reyes, who spent Indigenous Peoples’ Day at the Indigenous Sunrise Ceremony at Alcatraz, said she was crushed to hear the federal response to the tribe’s protests. 

Reyes said the police were “allegedly from Deb Haaland’s troops.”  She said she found it “really heartbreaking” that a “Native woman who is in a position of high power in the U.S. is contributing to this in such a negative way. We’re supposed to be fighting the same fight and uplifting one another, especially with something as important as federal recognition.”

Schwartz denied that Haaland’s office had any involvement in sending the police to the protesters. 

The Muwekma Ohlone posted pictures of the police response on their Instagram. Armando Quezada ’28, who is Mescalero Apache and Nahua, shared the posts. 

“I am disgusted by the brutalization of the Muwekma people by the hands of the National Parks Police,” Quezada said. “I have seen videos of people being dragged off of the trailer as they were protecting Lakota horses, who the police threatened to seize and kill, as well as of a woman, Kai, being violently detained. I cannot understand why a peaceful movement in hope of recognition would be met with such excessive violence, but I cannot say I am surprised.”

Both Quezada and Reyes expressed a need to spread the word about the Trail of Truth, as there has been little national news coverage about it. Reyes said that Stanford’s land acknowledgment is a good step forward, but many outside of the Native community do not know of the continued injustices committed against Indigenous peoples. They said politicians have refused to recognize tribes that want to establish casinos on their land as a source of income.

Nijmeh said corruption between politicians, donors and interest groups is at fault. She said that in California, the most powerful tribes take their millions of dollars in casino money and pay politicians like Deb Haaland to erase marginalized tribes. 

Like Reyes, Nijmeh said that Deb Haaland “failed us at the highest level.”

“Our own people have turned against us. We call them Uncle Tomahawks. They have sold their souls, their spirits to the colonizers… Casinos are our right to nation-build if we choose to use that economic development tool,” Nijmeh said. “You’re taking rights away from our future generation. You will not take any more away from us. You’ve stolen our land, you’ve taken our language and culture. No more. This is not about a casino. It’s about our rights.”

Even before arriving in D.C., the travelers encountered disappointment. On an early stop for the riders in Sacramento, Governor Gavin Newsom did not respond to the Muwekma Ohlone’s protest. Nijmeh said Californian politicians’ promises of protecting sovereignty and self-determination is “all lip service.” 

She also criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for ignoring the needs of the Muwekma Ohlone. Nijmeh said Harris has ignored the Muwekma Ohlone people. 

“When she was a U.S. Senator, the previous chair reached out to her and you know what she told us? That Indian country is not her business,” she said.

The Daily has reached out to the Harris campaign and Governor Newsom’s office for comment. 

Despite the violent arrests and setback, the travelers plan to continue protesting in D.C, even past Election Day.

“We’ll be here speaking our minds and speaking our truths,” Nijmeh said. “We’re going to keep standing here to be seen and to be heard. That’s what this journey is about: bringing Indian country together, and uniting so that the government stops asking us to have limited rights. We want to be treated equally. We refuse to be second class citizens.”

According to NPR, hundreds of tribes across the U.S. have not been federally recognized, making it harder for them to repatriate buried ancestors, access federal aid and develop economically. 

“Whether they are from different parts of the land, our stories are the same,” Nijmeh said. She said these tribes are a stronger force together, and unifying makes it harder for the government to take away their rights.

“This was their colonial system from the beginning,” Nijmeh said. “They divided us and conquered us […] Now it’s time to stand up together and unite.”

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