At Kaname Chiropractic, we believe care extends beyond the body. This November, we're reflecting on our relationship with the land, the Indigenous communities who have stewarded it for generations and our responsibility to turn acknowledgment into meaningful action.
Every day, we move through places that hold stories far older than the buildings, roads and neighborhoods we recognize. We take walks, build homes, raise families, establish businesses and create communities. Yet how often do we stop to ask whose land we're standing on?
November is Native American Heritage Month, a time to honor the histories, cultures, resilience and ongoing contributions of Indigenous peoples across the United States.
At Kaname Chiropractic, it's also an opportunity to reflect on something fundamental: We live, work and care for our communities on Indigenous land. And that acknowledgment carries a responsibility to listen, learn and act.
The Land Beneath Our Feet
Our Kaname Chiropractic offices in Castro Valley and San Mateo are located in the Bay Area, a region with rich and enduring Indigenous histories. San Mateo is part of the ancestral homeland of the Ramaytush Ohlone, the original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula. Castro Valley is situated within the broader East Bay region, where Ohlone peoples, including Chochenyo-speaking communities, have maintained relationships with the land across generations.
Long before these places became the cities and neighborhoods we know today, Indigenous communities cultivated relationships with local ecosystems, developed sophisticated systems of knowledge and sustained cultural traditions rooted in their environments.
These histories are not simply chapters of the past. Ohlone communities and their descendants are here today, working to preserve and revitalize their languages, protect cultural sites, reclaim ancestral lands and strengthen the futures of their communities.
Recognizing Indigenous land means recognizing Indigenous presence. It means understanding that the people whose ancestors cared for these places continue to shape their future.
Care Is Connected to Community and Place
Our approach to whole-person care encourages us to consider the many dimensions of well-being. Our bodies do not exist in isolation from our daily lives.
The environments we inhabit, the relationships we maintain, the resources available to us and the communities we belong to can all influence our health. Access to safe housing, clean air, nourishing food, supportive relationships and culturally respectful healthcare matters. This understanding invites us to think about wellness not only as an individual pursuit but also as a shared responsibility.
We recognize that Indigenous communities have their own distinct knowledge systems, healing traditions and relationships with the land. These traditions belong to the communities that sustain them and deserve to be understood on their own terms, rather than interpreted through the lens of chiropractic care.
For us, honoring Native American Heritage Month means recognizing the importance of cultural humility, listening to Indigenous perspectives and respecting the many ways communities understand health and well-being.
Caring for people also means paying attention to the conditions in which people live.
Indigenous Communities Are Still Here
Too often, conversations about Native American history focus exclusively on the distant past. But Indigenous communities are living communities. Across the Bay Area, Native-led organizations are working to protect cultural heritage, expand access to healthcare, restore relationships with ancestral lands and create opportunities for future generations. These efforts remind us that Native American Heritage Month is not simply about remembrance. It's about visibility, sovereignty, cultural continuity and the future. It's about recognizing Indigenous leadership and supporting communities in defining their own priorities. And it's about understanding that the histories of the places we call home are still unfolding.
This November, we invite our Kaname community to explore ways to learn from and support Indigenous-led organizations in the Bay Area.
Association of Ramaytush Ohlone
The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone represents the interests of the Ramaytush Ohlone, the original peoples of the San Francisco Peninsula. Its work includes cultural revitalization, education, ecological stewardship and community advocacy.
Learn more about the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone
Sogorea Te' Land Trust
Based in the East Bay, Sogorea Te' Land Trust is an Indigenous women-led organization working toward land rematriation, cultural revitalization and the restoration of Indigenous relationships with ancestral territories.
Its Shuumi Land Tax initiative offers a way for non-Indigenous residents and organizations to contribute to this work.
Learn about Sogorea Te' Land Trust
Native American Health Center
The Native American Health Center provides healthcare and community services rooted in a commitment to Native wellness, cultural identity and community connection.
Its work demonstrates the importance of accessible, culturally responsive care for Native communities in the Bay Area.
Explore the Native American Health Center
Beyond supporting these organizations, we can continue learning throughout the year by attending Native-led educational events, reading Indigenous authors, supporting Native-owned businesses and sharing resources created by Indigenous communities themselves.
Gratitude Comes With Responsibility
November is often associated with gratitude. But gratitude can be more than an individual feeling. It can also shape how we relate to the people and places around us. We can be grateful for the communities that welcome us while recognizing the histories that made those communities possible. We can appreciate the beauty of the Bay Area while acknowledging the Indigenous peoples who have maintained relationships with these lands since time immemorial. And we can express gratitude through action, supporting the people and organizations working to protect cultural heritage, community health and Indigenous futures.
At Kaname Chiropractic, we're grateful to live and work in the Bay Area and to care for the diverse communities of Castro Valley and San Mateo. We also recognize that being part of a community means continuing to learn about its history, listening to the people who shape it and considering how our actions affect one another.
This Native American Heritage Month, we invite you to join us in that reflection.
We live, work and heal on Indigenous land. May our gratitude inspire responsibility, our awareness lead to action and our care extend beyond ourselves.
With care,
The Kaname Chiropractic Team
Castro Valley + San Mateo