In twelve months, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe raised its flag at San José City Hall, lit its first cultural burn in nearly 150 years, won state funding to buy about 154 acres of its homeland, and testified at the Capitol. Here is the year, month by month.

The city named for Mission Santa Clara de Asís has formally asked the federal government to reinstate the people whose ancestors were brought into that mission. It started with tribal members at the public comment microphone.

In Milpitas, it was a tradition renewed. In San José, it was a first. In the last weeks of 2025, two South Bay cities raised the red flag of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, and the Tribe’s chairwoman told one of them what should come next.