In this two-part interview, Joey Iyolopixtli Torres describes to Kakoli Mitra how he grew up as a member of one of the remaining Muwekma Ohlone families, whose people were almost decimated by waves of Euro colonizers but who still persevere. He talks about his childhood with his mother (a single mother studying to be an anthropologist/archeologist) and with relatives from many different Native American tribes in the San Jose (California, United States) area, all of whom helped (and continue to help) him learn about, understand, and practice the Knowledge-Technologies-Practices (Knowtep) of his people. Iyolopixtli talks about how Muwekma Knowtep are being reawakened now and why his people’s connection to the land is so important — because it is in the living beings and waters and soils and air of the land that the Muwekma culture inheres. He describes how during his lifetime, Californian Native Americans — the Muwekma, in particular — have become more visible. However, Iyolopixtli and his fellow Muwekma relatives are still fighting to be formally recognized as the Indigenous people of the San Francisco Bay area. “We’re not fighting for the land; we’re fighting because we are the land, and because we want to repatriate our relatives,” says Iyolopixtli. He describes his months-long journey on horseback — with other Muwekma — from California to Washington, D.C., visiting other Native American tribes along the way to hear their stories. One of the goals of this Trail of Truth journey was to gain the federal government’s formal recognition as a Native American tribe.