Title
Celebrate/Commemorate Native American/Indigenous Peoples Day
Report
Below is an excerpt from the City Council Meeting on September 24, 2024 (C 24-0351), featuring remarks by Mayor Larry Klein and Muwekma Ohlone representative Julie Dominguez in honor of Indigenous Peoples' Day. This transcript has been sourced from the closed captions on ’Sunnyvales YouTube channel <https://youtu.be/0eXZYnNwzTw?t=5484>
Words from Mayor Klein.
“In 1977 the International Conference on Discrimination Against Indigenous Populations in the Americas sponsored by the United Nations began to discuss replacing Columbus Day in the Americas with a celebration to be known as Indigenous People's Da. In 1992 Berkeley California was the first city in the United States to rename Columbus Day as Indigenous People's Day and since then over 200 cities, counties, universities, and states have also done the same thing. While Sunnyvale does not recognize Columbus Day as a holiday honoring the indigenous people of the land of this land is an important and vital part of ensuring our community is inclusive and welcoming in Sunnyvale. We are honored to stand upon the ancestral homelands of the Muwekma Ohlone people and named our latest City Park Muwekma Park in their honor.”
Words from Julie Dominguez
“I am Julie Dominguez.
[Words in cocenyo (chochenyo) language].
I greeted you in Native Cocenyo language. My name is Julie Dominguez and I'm a member tribal Ambassador and Community Education chair for the Muwekma Ohlone tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. I'm here today to represent on behalf of our Chairwoman Charlene C. Nijmeh, who unfortunately could not be with us today. First and foremost, thank you Mayor Klein and City Council Officials for inviting us here today and then for the proclamation towards
Indigenous People's Day I can't express how much it means not just for Muwekma Ohlone but for all indigenous people across Turtle Island. Especially from the renaming of the park and just the inclusivity it is towards our people.
As you can see, I'm alone, I'm one of only 600 surviving indigenous people to our ancestral homelands of the San Francisco Bay Area and if that doesn't speak to the genocide and where I am today and why this is so important to have a day that recognizes not just for the Muwekma Ohlone like I said but for all indigenous across Turtle Island which we call home is because you know our people were struggling to revitalize and sometimes upkeep our languages, our culture, our dances, things of that sort and I know I'm going to do my part and I appreciate all of the officials and the politicians who stand with Muwekma Ohlone and the other indigenous communities to represent us in this way. It's very heartfelt especially as I mentioned our Chairwoman couldn't be here today and I take the time to express why she is not here. She is on what we're calling the Trail of Truth and for those of you who are not informed what that is, the Muwekma Ohlone launched our campaign, our protest across the United States on horseback and started in San Francisco. We went up to the State Capital and this was on horseback, we came back down to San Jose and they are now in Wisconsin as we speak and they aim to be in Washington DC's steps at the White House on indigenous people's day October 14th.
You know, I myself I'm a mom, I'm a single mom of two and I had my 17-year-old, he left his senior year to be a part of this because it's our call to action towards our reaffirmation towards federal recognition and many people don't understand what that means for us or they don't have a clear understanding or they have stereotypes and stigmas around federal recognition and if I can give you one example why that's important again not just for Muwekma Ohlone but for all indigenous people is because you need Federal recognition to repatriate and if you're not sure what that means it means that we have ancestors again. I'm one of 600 through the genocide and I have people who are in boxes in institutions, in their basement, I've actually been to a basement of a children's museum to see an ancestral school there and to know that I have to look towards a big brother tribe to help means to do the reburial process. It is really sad and I know this is like a great celebration but there's also other struggles that indigenous people face of why it's important to bring light to indigenous people's day because we don't have that sovereignty to rebury our own people in our homelands and they're disrespected grave sites, there are freeways and excavations and those remains have been disturbed, and that's sad.
So I started across this San Francisco Bay Area doing Landing acknowledgements where at the end of them I leave a reflection when people ask a call to action instead I leave a reflection: that if we don't protect those ancestral remains now, then in a 100 and 200 years from now when those are your remains or of a person you love the most, you can expect future generations to do such acts like the Mayor who has to acknowledge indigenous people in the way that this city has and that is a full circle, why I'm very heartfelt thankful and grateful for the partnerships and the allies that we have in the communities that we live and we thrive and we contribute in daily and to leave you all with some of our words that like I said many of our language keepers are no longer with us but for the few words that we have I leave you with what we call ysaycocenyo which means our people's prayer [Words in cocenyo (chochenyo) language].
This means thank you or my heart is with you, thank you.”
Mayor Klein’s closing comments:
“Thank you, Julie and thank you for being here and now on behalf of Sunnyvale City Council and it is with appreciation for our Indigenous Community most especially the Muwekma Ohlone tribe, I proudly proclaim October 14th 2024 as Indigenous People's Day, I further call upon all Sunnyvale residents to celebrate and recognize the many indigenous communities and cultures that make up our great country; thank you very much; thank you for being here.”