Demonstrating Indigenous Resilience
San Lorenzo, Calif. — October 13, 2025
The Alameda Native History Project and the San Lorenzo Library co-hosted Acorn Granary Workshop 2.0 on Saturday, bringing together families, students, and community members to rebuild the Acorn Granary in the library’s outdoor viewing area. The event was part of an ongoing collaboration between the Alameda Native History Project and the Alameda County Library System to reconnect the public with Indigenous knowledge and land-based traditions.
From 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., more than 20 participants, including about 10 children, worked together to weave willow poles, lash frames, and construct the granary. The effort followed the unexpected removal of the original structure earlier this month by Alameda County General Services Agency.
“For us, this was not about loss,” said Gabriel Duncan, founder of the Alameda Native History Project. “In traditional practice, granaries were never permanent. They might be damaged by weather, animals, or time. Rebuilding is part of the cycle and a living reminder of community resilience.”
The project would not have been possible without the support of the John Muir Land Trust, which hosted a willow harvest on October 12 at Family Harvest Farm in Pittsburg. Volunteers gathered and prepared the willow branches used in the new granary, linking the harvest directly to the hands-on reconstruction at San Lorenzo Library.
Granaries have long been integral to Indigenous food systems in California, used to store acorns safely through the winter and maintain a sustainable food supply. Rebuilding and teaching these practices supports the Alameda Native History Project’s mission to reopen Indigenous foodways across the East Bay through workshops, acorn harvests, and cultural education programs.
“Building and rebuilding together deepens our relationship with the land and with one another,” Duncan said. “It is how we remember, how we teach, and how we continue to care for the foods that sustain us.”
The new granary now stands at the San Lorenzo Library as a community-built symbol of renewal, cultural continuity, and partnership.
For more information about upcoming events, visit https://nativehistoryproject.org