Louise Ramirez is an enrolled member of Ohlone/Costanoan-Esselen Nation, from the Greater Monterey County, (Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, Castroville, Salinas, King City and Los Padres National Forest) and is the current Tribal Chairwoman. She serves as the Most Likely Descendant for OCEN with the Native American Heritage Commission to protect ancestral remains when they are disturbed by construction. She has served as president of the American Indian Alliance, San Jose, California; on the Tribal Council of the Esselen Nation; with the community group Many Nations, One People; and Breath of Life, the program for Natives of California languages that have no speakers to help revive languages that have been sleeping for over 100 years.

Ramirez’s talk was entitled, “We Are Still Here.”