Category: video
AlJazeera Television Report on the Canonization of Junipero Serra
Some argue that California’s native peoples voluntarily joined the Spanish Missions founded by Junipero Serra in the 18th Century. “Not true,” Valentin Lopez of the Amah Mutsun told AlJazeera Television. “That’s why they had soldiers with them, to capture the Indians.” https://vimeo.com/140805432
Call In: Valentin Lopez in a Discussion of Serra’s Canonization
Public Radio Station KALW featured Aman Mutsun Tribal Chairman Valentin Lopez in a discussion of the issues surrounding Junipero Serra during the program Call In on Sept. 14, 2015. Listen at http://kalw.org/term/elias-castillo#stream/0
Native American Holocaust Exterminate Them! The California Story
This powerful video, written and edited by Floyd Red Crow Westerman, documents the forces that destroyed Indian cultures in California: The Mission Period, the California Gold Rush, and the following flood of settlers determined that manifest destinty gave them to right to lands that had been tended by native peoples for clenturies. (video)
Author Shatters the Image of California’s Missions
In a presentation to the San Francisco Commonwealth Club, Author Elias Castillo refutes the myth that the 21 Franciscan missions in California were idyllic sites where Franciscan padres and Native Americans lovingly commingled. In reality, the missions were death camps in which the Catholic missionaries, guided by mission founder Junípero Serra’s direction that the “savage” Read more…
How the Hummingbird Got Fire
Mount Umunhum gets its name from the Ohlone word for “resting place of the hummingbird.” Hummingbird is a central figure in the Ohlone creation story and an important part of their culture. Valentin Lopez, Chairman of the Amah-Mutsun Ohlone tribal band, reads the legend of how Hummingbird got fire from the Badger People. KQED Qwest Read more…
Return to Mt.Umunhum
The Amah Mutsun Land Trust is cooperating with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in the planning fo and initiation of landscape restoration and traditional management at Mount Umunhum in the Coastal Range of Santa Clara County, CA. The peak, to which public access is currently being restored, is a sacred site to the Amah Read more…
Historic Trauma is Real, Valentin Lopez Tells a Symposium at UC Riverside (Video)
Valentin Lopez, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Band, argued against canonizing Junipero Serra at a symposium at UC Riverside on March 13, 2015. “Historic trauma is real and it ties back to mission times,” he said.
Testimony at the The United Nations United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Valentin Lopez, Chairman, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Speech Delivered to The United Nations United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: Intervention April 23, 2014 New York City miSmin Tuuhis, kan-raakat Valentin Lopez, tumsan-ak kannis riccami makke nii. Dear distinguished members of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, my name is Valentin Read more…
Mass Reconciliation Video
A Mass of Reconciliation for the Historic Amah Mutsun Tribal Band was held Dec. 22, 2012 by Bishop Richard Garcia of the Monterey Diocese to apologize for the tragic events which occurred during Mission times. A video and news story are available: