Students ask Saratoga council to advocate for indigenous tribe recognition

"Four students on Feb. 4 asked the Saratoga City Council to formally recognize the Muwekma Ohlone tribe. The students were affiliated with the Indigenous Justice Coalition, a student-run nonprofit that was founded in 2023 to support local indigenous tribes. The students said the Muwekma Ohlone tribe was wrongfully denied equal protections under the law after its members were declared extinct and lost their federal recognition and land rights."

"Saratoga will be using a grant from Silicon Valley Clean Energy to aid in their transition to zero-emission vehicles by 2040. The use of the grant was approved with several consent calendar items at the Feb. 4 city council meeting. SVCE awarded the $184,537 grant on Nov. 10 to support the first phase of the Corporation Yard Electrification Project, which involves installing four dual-port chargers and preparing make-ready infrastructure for future dual-port chargers."

Four students asked the Saratoga City Council on Feb. 4 to formally recognize the Muwekma Ohlone tribe. The students represented the Indigenous Justice Coalition, a student-run nonprofit founded in 2023 to support local indigenous tribes. They said the tribe was wrongfully denied protections after members were declared extinct and lost federal recognition and land rights, and that federal recognition would restore educational, political, and land-equity benefits. The tribe has about 600 members descended from the Verona Band of Alameda County, which lost recognition in 1927. Separately, Saratoga will use a $184,537 Silicon Valley Clean Energy grant to begin electrifying the Corporation Yard with four dual-port chargers and make-ready infrastructure; total first-phase cost is $196,500 with the remainder covered by the Capital Improvement Program budget.

Read at www.mercurynews.com