The Team You Need to Do Things Right
Our Team
Our dedicated team at Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Inc. comprises tribal elders, historians, and descendants alongside licensed archaeologists, forensic anthropologists, and GIS specialists. With decades of expertise since the 1980s, we blend ancestral knowledge with scientific rigor to safeguard Ohlone heritage, ensuring culturally sensitive compliance and respectful stewardship in every project.
Bernadette Quiroz, Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Member and Board Member of the Preservation Foundation, chairs Language Revitalization efforts to revive the endangered Chochenyo language through innovative online tools and cultural integration. Bernadette’s great-grandmother Dolores Sanchez was born on the Sunol Rancheria in 1911 and baptized at Mission San Jose in 1912. Dolores enrolled with her siblings in 1932 with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Dolores’ mother Ramona Marine was born on the Alisal Rancheria in 1893. Both were members of the historic federally recognized Verona Band. Bernadette is a passionate mother of three, she supports fundraising and cherishes hearing her people speak their native tongue.
Executive Director
Bernadette Quiroz
bquiroz@muwekma.org
Marni McManus
Marni McManus, M.A., RPA, is Director of Operations and Tribal Bio-Archaeologist for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. With over a decade and a half of archaeological experience, Ms. McManus specializes in bioarchaeological analysis, she leading respectful examinations of ancestral skeletal remains, including her thesis on the Kalawwasa Rummeytak cemetery. Ms. McManus blends scientific methods with tribal protocols to elevate the past through a Tribal lens, advance repatriation, CEQA compliance, and Ohlone heritage preservation in Bay Area projects.
Operations Director & Bio-Archaeologist
mmcmanus@muwekma.org
Alan Leventhal, MA, is Senior Archaeologist and Tribal Ethnohistorian for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, partnering for over 45 years to preserve Bay Area indigenous heritage. A San José State University Lecturer Emeritus, he merges archaeological science with ethnohistorical insight, advocating tribal sovereignty, repatriation, and CEQA-compliant cultural protection in development projects.
Senior Archaeologist and Tribal Ethnohistorian
Alan Leventhal
aleventhal@muwekma.org
Arnold Sanchez
Senior Archaeological Monitor
Arnold Sanchez serves as Senior Archaeological Monitor for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, drawing on his role as Muwekma Archaeologist and former elected tribal councilman. Son of elder Dolores “Dottie” Galvan Lameira, he contributes to fieldwork at sites like Sunol Water Temple, facilitates oral histories, and upholds cultural protocols in CEQA-compliant monitoring and repatriation efforts.
asanchez@muwekma.org
Albert Arellano serves as Monitor for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, a descendant of elder Albert Marine Arellano, born on the historic Alisal Rancheria. With deep roots in the Marine-Arellano lineage, he brings fieldwork expertise to on-site monitoring, safeguarding sacred sites, enforcing discovery protocols, and promoting respectful CEQA compliance in Bay Area projects.
Monitor
Albert Arellano
aarellano@muwekma.org
Joseph Torres, Muwekma Ohlone Culture Bearer, Dance Captain, and Board Member of the Preservation Foundation,. Joseph’s great-grandmother Dolores Sanchez was born on the Sunol Rancheria in 1911 and baptized at Mission San Jose in 1912 along with other tribal members until the 1920s. In 1932, Dolores Sanchez enrolled with her siblings with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Dolores’ mother Ramona Marine was born on the Alisal Rancheria in 1893. They along with the other lineages of the Verona Band were members of the historic federally recognized tribe. Joseph’s grandmother Julie Lopez and his mother Geraldine Torres were also enrolled with the BIA. In following in the footsteps of his tribal ancestors. A spiritual leader, he mentors youth in song, dance, and regalia-making, organizing gatherings and securing lands for ceremonies. He is a father of three children, he embodies artistry, music, and cultural vitality as a Traditional California Native dancer.
Monitor and Culture Bearer
Joseph Iyolopixtli Torres
jtorres@muwekma.org
