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, Executive Director of Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Inc., is a devoted tribal member and Language Revitalization Chair. She spearheads Chochenyo language programs, blending cultural education with preservation efforts to honor Ohlone heritage. Passionate about sovereignty and community, she fosters resources that revive ancestral tongues for future generations.
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 of expertise in bioarchaeological analysis, she leads respectful examinations of ancestral skeletal remains, including her thesis on the Kalawwasa Rummeytak cemetery. McManus blends scientific methods with tribal protocols to 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, known as Joey or Iyolopixtli, serves as Monitor for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, a dedicated culture bearer and board member of the Preservation Foundation. Descended from original Bay Area inhabitants, he leads ceremonies like the historic Túupentak sweat lodge revival, shares ancestral songs, and advocates for sovereignty through fieldwork, repatriation, and CEQA-compliant site protection.
Monitor and Culture Bearer
Joseph Iyolopixtli Torres
jtorres@muwekma.org
