Purpose Statement
The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone (ARO) is an Indigenous-led non-profit organization dedicated to building an empowered Ohlone community, to revitalizing Ohlone traditions and knowledge, and to restoring, protecting, and preserving the native ecology. Ohlone perspectives and values inform our ecological and cultural restoration efforts and guide our relations with the broader public. Most importantly, we uphold our ancestral responsibility to care for Mother Earth and to care for the people who reside within our ancestral homeland along the San Francisco Peninsula. The ARO partners with others to further the following objectives:
  • the rematriation of our ancestral homeland 
  • the revitalization of Ohlone culture and language
  • the restoration of the native ecology 
  • the protection Ohlone cultural resources 
  • increasing public awareness of Ohlone peoples through research, consultation, and education
  • pursuing justice and healing for Indigenous and other marginalized communities in the San Francisco Bay Area

Founder and Chair

Jonathan Cordero​
sbcordero@gmail.com

BIO

Dr. Cordero received a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and a doctorate from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has written several articles on California Indians during the Mission Period, including “Native Persistence: Marriage, Social Structure, Political Leadership, and Intertribal Relations at Mission Dolores, 1777-1800” (2015), “California Indians, Franciscans, and the Myth of Evangelical Success” (2017), and “The California Mission Economy Before and After 1810” (forthcoming). Dr. Cordero works as a consultant in both the public and private sectors, especially in the arts, and he serves as a leader, speaker, and activist in the broader Ohlone and Chumash communities. 

Principal Cultural Consultant

Gregg Castro
glcastro@pacbell.net

BIO

Gregg Castro [t'rowt'raahl Salinan/rumsien-ramaytush Ohlone], has been involved in preservation of his cultural heritage for nearly three decades, for both his late Mother’s rumsien Ohlone heritage, and on his late Father’s side, the since ended ‘Salinan Nation Tribal Council’ (serving two terms as Tribal Chair) and currently the non-profit organization, Salinan T’rowt’raahl. Gregg is a member of the Society for California Archaeology (SCA).  Gregg is a Co-Facilitator for the annual California Indian Conference, a 30+ year gathering about California Indigenous heritage. Gregg is a writer and activist within the California indigenous community, on issues regarding cultural preservation, protection, education and traditional practices.
Highlights
  • ​Co-author, Indigenous People's Day Proclamation, City and County of San Francisco.
  • Opening Remarks. “Honoring 50 Years of Activism Featuring Buffy St. Marie.” San Francisco Arts Commission.
  • Consultant. Chinatown Subway Mural with Tomie Aria. San Francisco Arts Commission.
  • Opening Remarks. Bransten Lecture with Lisa Reihana (“in Pursuit of Venus [infected]”). de Young Museum, San Francisco.
  • Consultant. Ohlone-Portola Heritage Trail, National Historic Trail.
Highlights
  • Chairperson, Native American Programs Committee (NAPC) of the Society for California Archaeology
  • Co-Facilitator, California Indian Conference
  • A Founder and Advisor to the California Indian History Curriculum Coalition, CSU - Sacramento
  • Past central California Native representative on the Archaeology Resources Committee of the State Historical Resources Commission
  • Currently consulting on a number of vital issues, including curriculum, in the Ramaytush homeland

Ramaytush Ohlone Elders

Pam Curry
Carol Gannon-Hembel
Victor Stene