The Native American tribes Tamien Nation of Santa Clara County, Muwekma, and Confederated Villages of Lisjan all have a historical claim on the land of Milpitas, according to Native Lands Digital.
The Tamien Nation have lived on Milpitas and south of Milpitas land for thousands of years, but currently they own none of their historical land, according to the Tamien Nation’s website.
The Spanish began their invasion of California in the late 1700s. Many Tamien people were taken to several missions, especially Mission Santa Clara, as slaves to be converted to Christianity. They lost their land, and many families were torn apart. Their land was still
lost when America took over.
Despite this history, the Tamien Nation is still alive today and continues to be a tight-knit community that values the environment. They see the world as a living being and believe that people are part of that ecosystem. They’re working to restore the environment, and their end goal is to get climate change under control.
The present-day Muwekma Ohlone tribe is composed of the surviving American Indians in the San Francisco Bay region, according to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe’s website. They trace their ancestry from the Missions Dolores, Santa Clara, and San Jose. Many distantly related tribes and a few intermarried tribes were brought together at the missions.
They were first recognized as a Native American Tribe in 1906. Many Muwekma Ohlone have voluntarily served in many major U.S. wars, including World War I to the Iraq war, according to their website.
The people of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan have lived in the East Bay for thousands of years, according to the Confederated Villages of Lisjan’s website. The Lisjan were enslaved when the Spanish invaded in the late 1700s. The Spanish colonized their lands and their people and sought to convert all indigenous people into Catholic subjects of Spain. Later on, Lisjan faced racial discrimination and vigilante killings from American citizens.