Alameda Native History Project

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Mission & Methods

Decolonizing History

For more than 100 years, we have been purposefully separated from our family, language, and culture.

Native American boy holding a slip of paper in the card catalog section of a library.

The process of repatriation isn’t limited to Native American Graves and Burials; it also includes reclaiming the Indigenous Knowledge kept from us by institutional gatekeepers, and refusal to acknowledge our very indigeneity.

The sovereign rights of tribal nations includes Data Sovereignty, the Academic Right to Be Forgotten, and the Unrestricted & Unequivocal Right of Access.

Decolonizing History is a multi-faceted effort which must rely on the intergenerational integration of Indigenous Knowledge, Culture, and Data to preserve our history, and identity for the Next Generation of Indigenous Leaders.

COMMUNITY

Cultural preservation.

Portrait of indigenous elder standing on city street wearing traditional regalia and headdress.

1. The oral histories and tribal cultural legacies of where we come from, and who are, live within our elders. Part of Decolonizing History means honoring the roles that our elders played in our lives, and the lives of our families, tribal group, and communities. Many of our elders are veterans of foreign wars, as well as the struggle of Indigenous Liberation-which includes the take over of Alcatraz, as well as Standing Rock (DAPL) protests.

Spanning the generational gap between Elders and Youth to overcome historical trauma and reconnect the continuum of culture; and address youth and elder loneliness, through community spaces and collaborative projects.

2. Elder field trips and on-site listening sessions tie together historical, and legendary, events to the real-world places those events occurred.

Indigenous man in urban alley mugging for the camera.
EDUCATION

Next-gen integrations.

Using modern technology to leverage awesome new ways of educating youth about the indigenous, pre-contact history of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Presenting California History, and Native American History in a way which has never been done before; from an indigenous perspective, inclusive of indigenous voices and lived experiences.

For too long, our stories and knowledge have been overlooked as simple superstitions and useless information only of interest to die-hard outdoors people and survivalists.

Indigenous knowledge is valid; and our legends and creation stories are just as amazing and noteworthy as Western and Eastern Theologies such as the Greek & Roman, and Egyptian, pantheons.

Except: Native American culture and beliefs are far more relevant to California and San Francisco Bay Area history. Which is why they should be taught in schools just like everything else. Why are we spending time learning about Mt. Olympus when we should be learning about how Tuyshtak [“Mount Diablo”] was made. We should be learning about how a legendary warrior came down from Tuyshtak and “routed” a bunch of conquistadors on the Concord side of the mountain. Or how the hills and bay were formed around this place we call the “San Francisco Bay Area”.

earthen mound rising above the waters of the san francisco bay area. example of a shellmound.
indigenous beach camp on the california coast.
boy wearing backpack stands looking at small teepee village in an abandoned lot on the outskirts of San Francisco

We believe in sparking creativity and challenging the status quo by providing new ways to preserve and share history; providing access to equipment and training which enables tribes to produce and store their own sovereign data and archives.

Learn more about Our Projects!

Find out how to get in touch!

East Bay Tribal Groups map. Showing tribal village names around the East Bay. Has sticky note that let's the East Bay Regional Park District know the map is fixed and
ADVOCACY

Accuracy matters.

Creating and using accurate data to adequately, unambiguously identify Tribal Cultural Resources, Sacred Sites, Native American Cemeteries, and other Tribally Significant Locations, is key to advocating for their protection.
Check out our Maps!
underground storage contamination map where proposed park in Alameda would be.
alameda shellmound map. alameda is muwekma ohlone terrritory.
map of the tribal groups of california.
san francisco bay area shellmound map. updated.
map of east bay brownfield toxic cleanup sites and hazards. environmental justice.