Month: December 2023

  • Alameda Native History Project Announces Fiscal Sponsorship

    Since Alameda Native History Project started as a small research project in 2019, it has been run using the pocket money of its founder, Gabriel Duncan.

    As the Alameda Native History Project started to become larger, and more established; being able to budget for upcoming events, meetings, classroom presentations, (and more) is becoming a vital part of operating day-to-day.

    While the model of giving away stickers and maps for donations is sustainable, it does not raise the amount of funding which would allow us to do the big projects and work the Alameda Native History Project is truly devoted to.

    Work like:

    • Correcting the inaccurate portrayals and misleading information presented by school districts, curricula, and even our local museums.
    • Developing and distributing Indigenous History Curriculum for Grades 3 & 4; and High Schools.
    • Engaging with the community to hold dialogues about our local indigenous history and strategize ways to engage everyone in the process of developing a community vision for the future which improves our present.
    • Empowering Youth and Elders to come together and share their stories and culture with each other in a way that begins to heal intergenerational trauma and restores the Continuum of Culture.
    • Recognizing that Oral Histories are a vital, integral part, of preserving our culture, elucidating our past, and helping the next generation forge their future while maintaining a connection to their ancestors, history, and culture.
    • Stimulate change, encourage experimentation with new and awesome ways to educate our youth about the pre-contact world, as well as the history of this place, which includes the voices and experience of those who lived it.
    • Provide access to, and training for next-gen equipment & software tribes can use to gather and create their own tribal data and databases, in a way that is sustainable, low-or-no-cost, and guarantees the Data Sovereignty of Tribes.
    • Providing funding, transportation, training and equipment for recording Oral Histories and documenting Elder Field Trips with Youth.
    • Give youth the guidance and knowledge they need to pursue their dreams, enhance their skills, and build the future they want to live in and leave for future generations. To let them meet and believe in themselves. And give them the space and reassurance to trust their instincts and know they are already our heroes.

    This is not a wish list of stuff we want to do….

    This is a list of programs/components which are already in development.

    The overlapping nature and community buy-in for these projects already exists; and the community strongly believes that this work is needed, and important, to the survival of Indigenous Culture, Knowledge, and History.

    The Alameda Native History Project is already beginning to plan and organize with other local organizations, educators, and change-makers to begin developing the programs and resources needed to achieve our goals.

    But we still need the funding for equipment like voice recorders, tribal computers, gps devices, student/youth stipends, remote-sensing equipment, software licenses, and more.

    Fiscal Sponsorship is a blessing

    Because of Fiscal Sponsorship, we will be able to apply for funding for our programs under the 501(c)(3) umbrella offered by our fiscal sponsors, The Hack Foundation.

    Alameda Native History Project is fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499).

    This means that all donations we receive are now tax-deductible.

    You can also leave us a nice note when you donate. ♥

    We still have the same commitment to transparent financials.

    The Hack Foundation allows us to be even more fiscally transparent: you can now view our current balance, and review our expenditures through our page on the Hack Club website.

    We’d like to thank the Hack Foundation for this opportunity, the Native Solidarity Project for referring us, and the community–especially our elders, for believing in the work we’re doing.

    Stay tuned for special events and project announcements in 2024!

    Sign up for our newsletter to receive exclusive announcements and learn about opportunities to support our work.

  • PRESS RELEASE:

    Alameda Native History Project Calls On City of Alameda To Dedicate Park In Memory of Mario Gonzalez

    12/15/2023
    Alameda, California

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

    On Thursday, December 14, 2023, the City of Alameda announced that it had reached an $11M settlement with the Estate of Mario Gonzalez, and a $350,000 settlement with Mario‘s Mother, to settle claims arising from the death of Mario Gonzalez, who was in Alameda Police custody when he died on April 19, 2021.

    While no amount of money will ever bring Mario Gonzalez back—and while this project considers $350,000 a paltry sum for the life of a son, father, brother, and care-taker—we applaud this settlement as the first step in seeking justice for Mario and his family.

    The City of Alameda, and the Alameda Police Department still have a long way to go repair the historic harms they have committed against all people of color. Even today, the City of Alameda, and especially the Alameda Police Department are still widely known for their unfair bias and treatment of non-white citizens and visitors to the island.

    As the City of Alameda, and the Alameda Police Department, reflect on what this settlement means to the status quo of their enforcement and policing, a permanent reminder should be put in place to help us all remember that every human life is precious, no matter who you are, or where you are from.

    We call on the City of Alameda to do three things now:

    1. Officially establish a Park (or “Parklet”) at Oak Street and Powell Street, where the Mario Gonzalez Memorial and ofrenda now stands;
    2. Name that park “Mario Gonzalez Memorial Park;
    3. Affirm their commitment to protecting the people who live in, and visit, Alameda from excessive force, harm, and death at the hands of Alameda Police, or while in their custody.

    For more information about this release, or to support the effort to create the Mario Gonzalez Memorial Park, contact Gabriel Duncan, press@alamedanativehistoryproject.com, (510) 747-8423

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    About the Alameda Native History Project

    Alameda Native History Project is a Two-Spirit, Native-run Organization based in Alameda, California, committed to combating anti-indigenous bias and inaccuracies in textbooks, museums, curricula, etc., in the San Francisco Bay Area, and beyond. Find us on Instagram, or on our website: AlamedaNativeHistoryProject.com

    Alameda is Muwekma Ohlone Territory.