To: The Honorable Doug Burgum
Secretary of the Interior
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20240
Bryan Mercier
Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW, MS-4660-MIB
Washington, DC 20240
From: Thai Nam Pham, City Clerk
Date: Tuesday, August 5, 2025
RE: Resolution No. 2025 -107 – Supporting Federal Recognition of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe
Dear Secretary Burgum and Director Mercier,
As the City Clerk for the City of Union City, I am transmitting this letter pursuant to the direction of the City Council of Union City, which adopted Resolution No. 2025- 107 at its regular meeting on Ju ly 22, 2025. The resolution urges the United States Congress, the Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to formally recognize the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area as a federally recognized tribe.
The resolution expresses the City Council’s support for reaffirming the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s status as a sovereign Native Nation. It highlights the Tribe’s historical and cultural significance, including its long -standing presence in the Bay Area and documented historical relationship with the federal government as the Verona Band.
Please find the adopted resolution attached. Should your offices require additional information or documentation, I am happy to provide it upon request.
Sincerely,
Thai Nam Pham, MMC, CPMC
City Clerk
City of Union City
cc:
The Honorable Eric Swalwell, Member of Congress
The Honorable Alex Padilla, United States Senator
The Honorable Adam Schiff, United States Senator
The Honorable Dr. Aisha Wahab, California State Senator The Honorable Liz Ortega, California State Assemblymember RESOLUTION NO. 2025-107
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF UNION CITY
URGING THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS, THE WHITE HOUSE, THE
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, AND THE BUREAU OF INDIAN
AFFAIRS TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE MUWEKMA OHLONE TRIBE OF
THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA’S FEDERAL RECOGNITION
WHEREAS, the Muwekma Ohlone people are the only Bureau of Indian Affairs - documented and historic Ohlone Tribe from the San Francisco Bay Area who have maintained a distinct culture, social, and political identity for over 230 years despite genocide and political erasure; and
WHEREAS, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe has had an ancestral presence in the San Francisco Bay Area since time immemorial; and
WHEREAS, the direct ancestors of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe were missionized into the three Bay Area Missions —Santa Clara, San Jose, and San Francisco —during the expansion of the Spanish Empire into Alta California from 1769 until secularization in 1836; and
WHEREAS, the United States Government maintained a “trust” relationship with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, historically identified as the Verona Band, from 1906 to 1927, as recognized by Bureau of Indian Affairs agents and superintendents; and
WHEREAS, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe has never been terminated by an act of Congress but was bureaucratically and politically removed from the list of landless tribes eligible for land or homesite purchases under the Congressional Appropriation Acts of 1906, 1908, and subsequent years, without due process, despite its trust relationship and prior federal recognition; and
WHEREAS, members of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe have been enrolled under the 1928 California Jurisdictional Act and subsequent acts, as approved by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Secretary of the Interior, and federal courts, and have consistently organized under the 1934 Indian Reorganization Act and attended Indian Boarding Schools in the 1930s and 1940s; and
WHEREAS, there are over 614 BIA-documented enrolled members of the Verona Band/Muwekma Ohlone Tribe currently residing in the San Francisco Bay Area; and
WHEREAS, Muwekma Ohlone men and women have honorably served in all branches of the United States Armed Forces in every major military conflict since World War I and continue to serve today; and
WHEREAS, justice and equal treatment under the law demand that the Department of the Interior and the federal government officially recognize the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s historical, social, military, and political contributions through reaffirmation of its federal status.
Docusign Envelope ID: 1009E720-3AFB-4439-9544-5A75E8DC12C2 Resolution No. 2025-107
Support for Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Federal Recognition
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF UNION CITY AS FOLLOWS:
1. The City of Union City urges the United States Congress, the Department of the Interior, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to formally acknowledge the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area as a federally recognized, sovereign tribe, as defined under 25 C.F.R. §1.2, and to take all necessary steps to reinstate the Tribe on the list of federally recognized tribes.
2. The City Council hereby directs the City Manager to prepare and transmit a copy of this resolution to the Bay Area congressional delegation and the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, urging federal action to recognize the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and include it on the federal register of recognized tribes; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution shall become effective immediately upon its adoption.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED by the City Council of the City of Union City at a regular meeting held on the 22nd day of July 2025 by the following vote:
AYES: Councilmembers Nishihira, Patiño, Wang, Vice Mayor Sakakihara, and Mayor Singh
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
APPROVED:
GARY SINGH
Mayor
ATTESTED:
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
THAI NAM N. PHAM
City Clerk
KRISTOPHER J. KOKOTAYLO
City Attorney
Docusign Envelope ID: 1009E720-3AFB-4439-9544-5A75E8DC12C2 7/23/2025