The Ramaytush Ohlone
Original Peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula

​The Ramaytush (pronounced rah-my-toosh) Ohlone are the original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the Ramaytush Ohlone numbered approximately 1,500 to 2,000 persons, but by the end the Mission Period only a few families had survived. Today, only one lineage is know to have produced living descendants in the present. Those descendants comprise the membership of the Ramaytush Tribe and the staff of the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone (non-profit). ​

The Ramaytush Tribe Membership Application Period Opens April 20, 2026
Please visit www.ramaytushtribe.org for more information.

Jonathan's (Short) Reading List

Here's what I have read recently, am currently reading, and/or believe are important ​. . . because people ask.
Sovereignty
​"Congressional Power and Sovereignty in Indian Affairs" by Michalyn Steele (2018)
"They Were Here First: American Indian Tribes, Race, and the Constitutional Minimum" by Sarah Krakoff (2017)
The White Possessive by Aileen Moreton-Robinson (2015)
Colonialism, Coloniality, and Settler Colonialism
Red Skin, White Masks by Glen Sean Coulthard (2014)
The Transit of Empire by Jodi A. Byrd (2011)
On the Coloniality of Power by Anibal Quijano (2024)
Decolonization (I suggest that these be read in order as listed)
"Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native" by Patrick Wolfe (2006)
"Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor" by Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang (2012)
"Colonising White Innocence: Complicity and Critical Encounters" by Alissa Macoun (2016)
Indigenous Resurgence
Peace, Power, Righteousness by Taiaiake Alfred (2009)
As We Have Always Done by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (2017)
Alternative Visions for the Future
Law and the Epistemologies of the South, Boaventura de Sousa Santos (2023)
The End of the Cognitive Empire by Boaventura de Sousa Santos (2018)
Epistemologies of the South by Boaventura de Sousa Santos (2014)
The Failure of Modern Civilization and the Struggle for a Deep Alternative by Claudia von Werlhof (2011)

Upcoming Events / Announcements

May 13
Jonathan will be on a panel entitled,  Systems Change and Tribal Land Return, at the Together Bay Area Conference
May 12
Jonathan and Sara will conduct a workshop for the Right Relations cohort with the Redbud Resource Group
Apr 26
Jonathan will present to Green Foothills Staff on the topics of indigeneity, sovereignty, and territory
Apr 25
The Exploratorium, in partnership with the ARO, hosts the annual California Native Homelands Festival. Free & Open to the public at the Exploratorium. Register here!
Apr 22
The ARO will participate in the Gathering of Fires at the Friendship House
Feb 28
ARO attended the event "Elevating Untold Stories & Native Resilience Through Art & Placekeeping in Yelamu" at SFMOMA
Jan 1
The Ramaytush Tribe's website is now online at www.ramaytushtribe.org. Applications for membership will be available soon.

Recent Updates from the ARO