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Muwekma Ohlone Back San Jose State's Postponement of Native American Heritage Month Events, Citing Protocol Violations
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe says San Jose State was right to postpone a campus walk, exhibit, and reception because organizers failed to follow traditional protocols requiring permission to conduct spiritual activities on Ohlone land. The dispute has sparked outrage among some students and tribal members, but the tribe says it is an opportunity to educate about respect for the Bay Area's first peoples.
SAN JOSE â The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is publicly supporting San Jose State University's decision to postpone several Native American Heritage Month events, saying the organizers failed to follow long-standing protocols that require permission from the area's original inhabitants before conducting spiritual or cultural activities on their homeland.
The university recently postponed a campus walk, an exhibit, and a reception, citing concerns about compliance with state and federal law. The move drew outrage from some students and tribal members, but on Thursday the Muwekma Ohlone said the postponement was justified.
"When you do invite the tribe of the area you're in, you do ask for permission to pray on their lands," said Charlene Nijmeh, chairwoman of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe.
Nijmeh said the issue is not about excluding anyone but about respecting a protocol that has been in place for generations. She said tribes from across the United States and Mexico routinely seek permission from the Muwekma Ohlone before participating in spiritual ceremonies in the Bay Area, including the annual Mexica New Year celebration in San Jose.
"This is a good time to talk about, because the San Francisco Bay Area seems like a free for all," Nijmeh said. "The Ohlone people are still here in our homeland. But everybody comes here to pray and do all these cultural activities without ever inviting us."
Joey Torres, the tribe's spiritual advisor, said the concern extends to sacred items used in ceremonies. "Those are spirits. These things are spiritual items. These things have life," Torres said. "They're things we go to as our medicine."
Nijmeh said the tribe would be willing to provide a welcoming blessing for the postponed events, which she described as the proper Native American protocol.
Some student-led events celebrating Native American Heritage Month are still proceeding on campus without objection from the tribe.
The dispute highlights ongoing tensions over how institutions in the Bay Area engage with the Muwekma Ohlone, who have long asserted their status as the original inhabitants of the region. The tribe has previously sought federal recognition and has been vocal about the need for local governments and universities to consult with them on cultural and spiritual matters.
For San Jose State, the postponement and the tribe's backing place the university at the center of a broader conversation about respect, representation, and the meaning of heritage month events. The university has not announced new dates for the postponed events.