Tag: history
How Tarnished is Serra’s Halo?
A report written by Vinnie Rotondaro in the National Catholic Reporter explores the controversy surrounding Junipero Serra
Tribal Chairmen’s Assn. Letter Opposing Serra Canonization
The Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association, in an August 2015 letter to Pope Francis, opposes the canonization of the Franciscan Friar Junipero Serra. Fr. Serra was responsible for founding and building, by means of the forced labor of our Native ancestors, nine of the twenty-one Spanish Catholic missions that were eventually built on the traditional Read more…
Association of Tribal Governments Letter Opposing Serra Sainthood
The California Association of Tribal Governments has written a letter to Richard Garcia, Bishop of the Diocese of Monterey, Ca., “with our hope and prayers that someone with influence within the Catholic Church may advise his Holiness Pope Francis to reevaluate his decision to canonize Friar Junipero Serra,” and asking for a meeting to reevaluate Read more…
Letter to Pope Francis Re: The Doctrine of Christian Discovery
New York Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends has ssent a letter to Pope Francis asking him to repudiate and rescind the Doctrine of Christian Discovery promulgated by predecessor popes. In addition to achieving its stated goal, the letter supports the Amah Mutsun effort to call attention to the inhuman way that the Read more…
Far from Human and Scarcely Civilized
Letters written by California Mission founder Junipero Serra and one of his successors, Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, help create context for the attitude of leaders of the missions toward Indians. Told by church officials to allow Indians to “change their location” and “journey from place to place,” Lasuén protests that this would never work for Read more…
The Impact of Colonization on Native California Societies
By 1769 the Spanish had had nearly two and a half centuries of experience in dealing with American Indians, and were therefore prepared for managing the California Indians who had nothing worth taking, and who fell in that class of people called “Barbarians.” Spanish Indian policy was at heart that of the obligation to civilize Read more…
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)
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…
Respuesta de Amah Mutsun a la Encíclica de la Iglesia Católica con relación al Medio Ambiente
1ero. de Julio del 2015 Su Santidad Papa Francis Casa de Marta Ciudad del Vaticano, Roma 00120 Italia Re: Respuesta de Amah Mutsun a la Encíclica de la Iglesia Católica con relación al Medio Ambiente. Su Santidad, Papa Francis, Mi nombre es Valentin Lopez y soy el presidente de la Banda Tribal Amah Mutsun. 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.
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:
Amah Mutsun Land Trust News
Ninety-six acres of ecologically and culturally important coastal prairie land between Ano Nuevo State Park and the Rancho del Oso unit of Big Basin will enjoy protection from the Amah Mutsun tribe under the terms of a first-of-its-kind conservation easement deal brokered by Sempervirens Fund. Acceptance of the easement, previously held by the American Land Read more…
Amah Mutsun Tribe Acquires Conservation Easement
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 22nd, 2013 AMAH MUTSUN TRIBE ACQUIRES CONSERVATION EASEMENT NEAR BIG BASIN REDWOODS AND AÑO NUEVO STATE PARKS The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Costanoa Lodge and Sempervirens Fund Partner to Protect the Natural and Cultural Treasures of the Santa Cruz Mountains Pescadero, Calif. –The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, First Read more…
Historic Mass of Reconciliation: Mission San Juan Bautista
For Immediate Release: December 11, 2012 Historic Mass of Reconciliation Mission San Juan Bautista December 22, 2012 On December 22, 2012, Bishop Richard Garcia of the Monterey Diocese will offer a Mass of Reconciliation for the Historic Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. This mass is an important event in the history of the Amah Mutsun Read more…
Amah Mutsun Info Sheet
view Amah Mutsun info sheet PDF Who we are The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band are the living descendents of Mutsun and Awaswas-speaking peoples who have continually occupied the greater Monterey Bay Region, thriving for thousands of years and countless generations prior to European contact. Our Modern Government was organized in 1990 with the drafting of Read more…