What about the East Bay Ohlone of Oakland, Emeryville, Alameda?

Someone recently responded to the article “Who are the Lisjan Ohlone? What does Chochenyo mean?” with some questions of their own. What about the East Bay Ohlone of Oakland, Emeryville, Alameda? [The] Muwekma are not the only Lisjan in the area. B. Richman I publicly responded: [B.] Richman this article seeks to educate people like… Continue reading What about the East Bay Ohlone of Oakland, Emeryville, Alameda?

Shellmounds: Spanish and American Influence on Indigenous Burial Practices and Shellmound Use

A shellmound is a graveyard, a mortuary complex, an ancient structure. It’s a place where the first peoples who live along the coasts and rivers of California, used to bury their dead. This article briefly explores why that is. Spanish Influence on Indigenous Use of Shellmounds This changed when Spain Conquistador’s invaded the San Francisco… Continue reading Shellmounds: Spanish and American Influence on Indigenous Burial Practices and Shellmound Use

BART Decolonized: Travel the Indigenous Bay

It’s The Bay The Indigenous Bay, that is. Alameda Native History Project has remixed the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) System Map to show: Travel the Indigenous Bay with Native Pride! A small run of prints are available now on our fundraiser page. Get yours before they run out!

Ohlone Curriculum

In 2015, the East Bay Regional Park District published their second edition of the “Ohlone Curriculum with Bay Miwok Content and Introduction to Delta Yokuts”. This was meant to be third-grade curriculum about the indigenous people of the Bay Area, created by (then) District Cultural Services Coordinator, Beverley R. Ortiz. This curriculum came with several… Continue reading Ohlone Curriculum

Foreword to A Land Defender’s Guide, Vol. 1

The following is the Foreword to A Land Defender’s Guide to: Making the Exploitation of Land Expensive & Unappealing To Would-Be Colonizers, Volume I: Work-Site Blues. Foreword You told them this was Native Land, Indigenous Territory, A Sacred Site, or even the place where your great-grandparents are buried. But they laughed in your face, and… Continue reading Foreword to A Land Defender’s Guide, Vol. 1

Shuumi Does Not Benefit Ohlone Tribe

Most people are familiar with the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC.; and their fundraising (“trust”) corporation known as Sogorea Te Land Trust, INC. Both are fronted by Corrina Gould, an Ohlone woman, who has managed to command the attention and monies from thousands of people in the San Francisco Bay Area, and beyond.… Continue reading Shuumi Does Not Benefit Ohlone Tribe

SF Bay Area Shellmounds Are Some of the Most Endangered Cultural Resources in the World

The San Francisco Bay Area had well over 425 shellmounds. Gabriel Duncan, from the Alameda Native History Project, estimates the true number of shellmounds around the S.F. Bay Area’s shoreline is closer to seven or eight-hundred shellmounds, which existed before European invasion and colonization. Shellmounds are ancient burial grounds used by the First People of… Continue reading SF Bay Area Shellmounds Are Some of the Most Endangered Cultural Resources in the World

One More Reason Why Land Acknowledgment is Important: Letter to Museum of San Ramon Valley

The following is an email sent to John Keenan, volunteer at the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, in reply to his request for topics for Zoom Lectures at the museum: Land Acknowledgement is an important step in naming and acknowledging the people who actually belong to this land. It’s a proclamation that has no… Continue reading One More Reason Why Land Acknowledgment is Important: Letter to Museum of San Ramon Valley

Text of CA Senate Joint Resolution re: Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Federal Recognition

Amended in Senate June 08, 2022 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION Senate Joint ResolutionNo. 13 Introduced by Senator Cortese(Coauthor: Senator Wieckowski)(Coauthors: Assembly Members Kalra, Lee, and Low) March 07, 2022 Relative to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST SJR 13, as amended, Cortese. Muwekma Ohlone Tribe: federal recognition. This measure would urge the United… Continue reading Text of CA Senate Joint Resolution re: Muwekma Ohlone Tribe Federal Recognition

Christian Prayers at Powwow: How Praying to Your Oppressor’s God Colonizes Your Soul

This past week, we remembered the children who were forced into Boarding Schools, and never left. As we wore orange shirts, and declared “never again”; “never forgotten”; and “bring them home”… there’s an even larger group of contemporary Native Americans who asked for all of these things in the name of Jesus Christ. But, is… Continue reading Christian Prayers at Powwow: How Praying to Your Oppressor’s God Colonizes Your Soul