Advisory Council On California Indian Policy - Efforts of The ACCIP

Efforts of The ACCIP

The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area is one of the tribes that was unable to achieve federal recognition, despite the assistance they received from the ACCIP and their own rigorous efforts. On September 9, 2002, the Bureau of Indian Affairs issued its Final Determination declining to acknowledge the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe on the grounds that it failed to meet three of the seven criteria laid out in the FAP regulations. One of the criterion that the BIA determined the Muwekma Ohlone failed to meet was the requirement that,

the petitioner to have maintained political authority or influence on a substantially continuous basis from historical times until the present. The Assistant Secretary determined that the petitioner did not meet the requirements of Section 83.8(d)(3) and that it did not demonstrate that it has maintained "political influence or authority" over its members since 1927, and thus does not meet the requirements of criterion 83.7(c).

The arguments BIA made against recognizing the Muwekma Ohlone have been contested by the tribe, but even without the evidence that the tribe has put forth contradicting BIA’s claims, the Final Determination completely fails to acknowledge the unique historical circumstances that prevented the Indians of California like the Muwekma Ohlone from conforming to the rigid criteria of the FAP.

The ACCIP has had some success in assisting California Indian Tribes achieve federal recognition. On December 27, 2000, President Clinton signed legislation restoring federal recognition to the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria on the recommendation of the ACCIP. The Graton Rancheria Tribe was one of many that was terminated by Congress in 1958. The “Termination Era” lasted from the late 1940s to the early 1960s and ended during the Nixon administration, largely the result of Indian activism and widespread opposition to the policy. In 1970, Nixon condemned the policy of termination and advocated the new policy of “Self-Determination” in a special message to Congress on Indian Affairs. Many of the terminated tribes managed to be restored through various channels, but California Indians faced special difficulties. With its access to Congress, the ACCIP made the recommendation that helped the Graton Rancheria gain recognition.