We acknowledge that Cañada College is situated on the traditional unceded land of the Ramaytush (Rah-my-toosh) Ohlone (Oh-LOW-nee) peoples, and we respect our past elders and honor the present community. Long before Cañada College existed, this area was home to the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples, who still have a presence in the Bay Area today.
We have a responsibility to acknowledge that we as a Cañada community have benefited from the use and occupation of this land and that the tragic legacy of colonization, genocide, capitalism, racism, and oppression still impacts people today.
We also recognize the labor upon which this educational institution, state, and country is built.
We acknowledge the peoples of African ancestry who were enslaved and forcibly brought to this land, and whose forced labor played a major role in the formation of this country. We are indebted to their uncompensated labor and their unwilling sacrifice over hundreds of years—which continues to impact generations today. We honor the legacy of the African diaspora and the continued contribution of their survivors.
We acknowledge the contributions of all immigrant labor, forced labor, and undocumented people who contributed, and continue to contribute, to the building and feeding of this land. We acknowledge their immeasurable sacrifices and work that allow us to gather in this space today.
Let us not forget. Let us honor and engage with the people who have stewarded and labored on this land for generations, and let us honor these truths—by taking responsibility as a college community to continually educate ourselves about these realities, to affirm our commitment to justice through continual action, and to protect and sustain this land.
An American Genocide: the United States and the California Indian catastrophe, 1846-1873 by 
California Indian Languages by 
The Ohlone Past and Present by 
California Through Native Eyes: reclaiming history by 
Children of Coyote, Missionaries of Saint Francis by 
Indians, Franciscans, and Spanish Colonization by 
Indians, Missionaries, and Merchants by 
Indians of California by 
Inigo of Rancho Posolmi by 
We Are the Land: a history of Native California by 
Source: Bay Area Equity Atlas, Indigenous Populations in the Bay Area, Native Land Digital Mapping Tool. Bay Area Equity Atlas is a partnership of The San Francisco Foundation, PolicyLink and USC Equity Research Institute, 2021.
The Bay Area Equity Atlas offers research and data about indigenous people in the Bay Area as well as other demographic groups. The atlas includes information such as:
The United States Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network, an independent nonprofit, gathers information about indigenous people in the United States. In their words, "The US Indigenous Data Sovereignty Network unites advocates for Indigenous data sovereignty at the tribal, state, national, and international levels. Network membership is open to all American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian data users, tribal leaders, information and communication technology providers, researchers, policymakers and planners, businesses, service providers, and community advocates."
Sturtevant, William C. Handbook of North American Indians. Smithsonian Institution, 1978.
Bean, Lowell John. The Ohlone Past and Present : Native Americans of the San Francisco Bay Region. Ballena Press, 1994.
Milliken, Randall. A Time of Little Choice : the Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1769-1810. Ballena Press, 1995.
Margolin, Malcolm. The Ohlone Way : Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area . Heyday Books, 2003.
Bright, William, and Erwin Gustav Gudde. 1500 California Place Names Their Origin and Meaning. University of California Press, 1998, doi:10.1525/9780520920545.
Tending the Wild is an unparalleled examination of Native American knowledge and uses of California's natural resources that reshapes our understanding of native cultures and shows how we might begin to use their knowledge in our own conservation efforts.
Recovering lost voices and exploring issues intimate and institutional, this sweeping examination of Spanish California illuminates Indian struggles against a confining colonial order and amidst harrowing depopulation.
Descendants of the original inhabitants of San Mateo County, the Ramaytush/Ohlone, describe some of their history on their organization website, The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone:
"The Ramaytush (pronounced rah-my-toosh) are the original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula. Prior to the arrival of the Spanish, the Ramaytush Ohlone numbered approximately 1500 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 Association of Ramaytush Ohlone (ARO) today."
Find about about California Tribal Courts: "Reservations, rancherias and other federal trust lands held for the benefit of Indian people and tribes in California are what is known as “Indian Country”. A different legal jurisdictional scheme governs Indian Country, with primary authority resting with tribal and federal governments and more limited state jurisdiction."
