Acorn Granaries are traditional California Native food storage systems.
Granaries were made all over California. – The acorn was one of the single most important food items in California.
“Hanging Basket” stores acorns off the ground. – Some tribes built platforms to perch granaries atop of. But not all granaries were suspended.
Material defines shape. – Some granaries are made with twisted stems, blades, and vines to form a Coil Basket (or “Birdnest” design. ) Others are made with small bushells of wild grass and thatched into an “Inverted Basket” (or, Thatched-Cone Design.)
Holds acorns overwinter. – An Acorn Granary must be resilient enough to hold Acorns over the winter. Repaired and reused over many seasons.
Basket-in-shell design. – Every granary is created with an outer shell made from strong, natural material resistant to animals and insects.
Hands-On Learning Experience and Cultural Exchange
Learn about the different plants used to make Acorn Granaries; and how pests were managed before GMO and RoundUp.
Learn how to split willow to make reeds, experiment with creating the different kinds of Acorn Granaries. Strategize how to keep out squirrels, crows, and other hungry critters!
Each week will have a different focus, as we move through the steps of Acorn Granary Construction, and preparing for the harvest.
From splitting willow to making various cordage, and thatching wild grass: We will work with a mix of materials old and new. And also address the non-native plant and their uses in construction and pest management.
Most of the material gathering will take place at the Indigenous Land Lab, and the processing of cordage, thatching of wild grasses, and splitting willows will happen in town, during the Granary Construction.
This is meant to be a very mellow and open-ended process that frankly invites a little bit of creativity, and welcomes a contemporary breath of fresh air.
And we’re also open to this process taking longer than a month.
Here’s a ballpark timeframe for construction and harvest preparation.
June-July: Gather Materials and Build Acorn Granaries
August-September: Continue to prepare for Harvest, Monitor Oak Trees
The main goal here is to be totally ready by the time the acorns start to fall!
This is why we’re creating the granaries now: So we can harvest, sort, and pack our acorns into these granaries as efficiently as possible.
But, we also want to give ourselves the greatest chance of success by using multiple granaries of varying construction materials and methods. This will also give us some data to analyze and use to plan for next year!
This is an excerpt of an email to the Indigenous Land Lab mailing list.
Updates:
June 8th Willow Harvest Meetup went great! With the help and enthusiasm of our Land Lab partner, Liz, we were able to harvest about 30 pounds of willow poles and reeds.
We received donations of:
Weed whacker, from Naomi! It worked great in knocking down those weeds at the Land Lab.
Beautiful Pots and Monstrously Large Sage Trimmings from Laura! The pots are marking the outline of the site. The sage has been trimmed and is now drying.
The Acorn Granary Challenge begins on July 7th!!!
Priorities:
Collecting as much materials for Acorn Granary construction as possible.
What do we need?
Willow and Hardwood poles to create the legs and superstructure of the granary.
Willow reeds to weave the sides of the granary.
English Ivy, Honeysuckle Vines to use as cordage and help keep everything together.
Large rosemary “spears”. Like, “big ‘ol stems or branches”. These are for pest control.
Large bay tree boughs, very important for pest control.
Eucalyptus boughs, experimental non-tradish pest control.
There are other, more serious plants, like stinging nettle, which I would like to take the time and make some cordage from. Just like splitting the willow reeds to make strips for weaving the granaries.
Hard-to-find materials would be redwood bark–which would be nice to use on the outside of a granary. And then Pine Sap–which simply won’t be readily available until later, and will require some travel into higher elevations to gather.
If you would like to help gather more natural materials for Acorn Granary Construction, please sign up for the Indigenous Land Lab Email List, to help plan what dates and times work best to plan a meet-up to harvest materials.
Next Steps for the Land Lab:
These are the next steps we are anticipating.
Meet up to harvest materials for acorn granary construction.
Weed and Hemlock Management.
Cover with silage tarp for 1 month.
Plan 3 Sisters x Victory Garden (create Garden Design)
Harvest local plant seeds from around Indigenous Land Lab and Greater Bay Area
Source heirloom and native seeds.
Till soil. Make rows according to Garden Design
Build mini-greenhouse and tray/propagation tables
Fence important stuff
Begin planting cover crops or actual crops or both.
Install Acorn Granary
Begin propagation
You are invited to participate in any or all aspects of planning and working. We’re assuming tilling should happen sometime in August.
Tool & Equipment Drive
We’ve received a lot of interest, support, and some very generous donations of equipment, supplies, and money! (All donations are tax deductible!)
What do we need?
We’re still looking for the basics:
Shovels
Metal Rakes
Pickaxe
Hoes & Scrapers
Saws
Post driver
Specific things we need:
Silage tarp (for area 30′ x 30′)
8 fence posts
Chicken-wire (120′ x 4′)
3-5 Cubic Yards of Compost
*Once the size and design of the restoration nursery is finalized, we will be adding construction materials to our list of specifics.
We managed to find a roto-tiller we can use when we’re ready!
Some of these things we know we can borrow, like a post driver. But other stuff–like shovels and rakes–we need to keep on hand.
Luckily, we don’t need a large amount of anything other than Silage Tarp, Chicken-Wire, and Compost.
Best ways to support?
Join us in harvesting Willow, Bay Leaf, and Nettle for granary construction.
Donate tools: If you have some tools, supplies, or equipment on this list, we can pick it up. If you have a truckload of compost, we can meet you at the land lab for a drop off.
Alameda Native History Project is fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499). Any monetary donation, or donation in-kind is tax deductible, and you will receive a donation receipt whether you want it or not. LOL. I mean, if you say no, then we won’t, but who doesn’t like a small write-off?
What Next?
Check your garden for the plants we need. Check your neighbors’ too!
Come out and harvest materials for granary construction! (Plan on about 2-3 hours. Sometime next week.) We’ve got lots of water and snacks.Please bring a bag lunch.
The next meeting should happen in early July. Think about when you’re generally available for a 30-60 minute Online Meeting. Our meetings are fast, agendized, and focused on business and planning. Feel free to ask questions or submit a topic for the next meeting and I’ll do my best to make sure it’s covered/included.
Anyway, it’s Pride Week, so things are totally hectic as I volunteer for the Gay American Indians. Check out the attached fliers for GAI events. Consider marching with Gay American Indians at Pride!
June 24, 1979; Gay American Indians banner at Civic Center during San Francisco “Gay Freedom Day Parade”. Photo by Joe Altman.
It’s official, the first and oldest Two-Spirit Society in the Nation, the Gay American Indians, will be appearing as their own contingent in the San Francisco Pride Parade to celebrate their 49th year in existence.
This year’s (2024) theme is “Visibility is Our Essence“.
What’s more, homophobia and learned anti-traditional behavior on reservations across Native America helped form a mass exodus of LGBTQ Native American people from their homelands, into the cities.
Because of the discrimination and ignorance both at home, and in the Castro (and other cities), LGBTQ Native American people suffered from depression, and languished from being kept out of and separated from the social support networks enjoyed by our white gay counter-parts. This situation only compounded a suicide and substance abuse epidemic–which started soon after the Relocation Act (of 1956), and still plagues our communities today.
Just because we were weren’t let into businesses and bars on the Castro certainly did not mean we were spared from “Gay Diseases” like, AIDS–which ravaged the Gay American Indian community. In fact, the AIDS Epidemic hollowed out the Native American LGBTQ community worldwide.
And, the ignorance and homophobia surrounding the virus created an impenetrable stigma which resulted in the unnecessary pain and suffering, and indignities seen across the Gay Community, but which profoundly Two-Spirit People in their own Native American communities–some of which would not let their own relatives be buried in their own cemeteries, on their own homelands.
HIV/AIDS testing and care services are still needed in Native America.
The other 36% of people who are not on medicine may not be at fault. They may be part of the 20% that doesn’t even know they’re infected; they may be unable to receive the care they need because of stigma from within their rural healthcare communities (which I have experienced first-hand) or because of the myriad barriers to gaining access to, and retaining, HIV/AIDS care and treatments.
The amount of research The lack of testing & research done on the prevalence, rates, and effects of HIV/AIDS on Native American People and Communities means that most Health & Service Agencies are blind to the true extent and impact of the epidemic on our friends and relatives. This issue became front and center when, in 1987, the late Jodi Harry became the first Native (that we know of) to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. [Harry would later take his own life.]
GAI will never forget the brothers and sisters we lost to HIV/AIDS. And we honor them every day we continue to breathe and fight for the rights and representation of our Two-Spirits relatives everywhere.
The Term “Two-Spirit”
… Refers to Native American people who do not fit the Western/European idea of what Men and Women are, and what their roles in society should be.
[The whole premise of this first sentence is offensive to Native American people because we honestly don’t care what white people think of us. And, it’s for the very reason that all People of Color have been disregarded, or all together regarded as a monolith, that has led to countless inequities in every facet of our existence in society, from healthcare to sports. In fact, the consideration and explanation of People of Color by people who treat mayonnaise as a spice, and consider the sun an enemy has never really worked out for us, at all.]
The term “two-spirit” came about as a preferred moniker to the term “berdache“–which is a french slur meaning “boy whore”–and is widely offensive to LGBTQ Native American People from a diverse plethora of tribes, communities, and backgrounds–and especially Lesbian Women, and people Assigned Female At Birth (AFAB.)
Because of the work the Gay American Indians did in bringing forth their research, and the opinions of researchers like Will Roscoe, Paula Gunn Allen, Maurice Kenny, in the first Gay American Indians Anthology: “Living the Spirit”….
… And comments and narratives from Two-Spirit People like GAI co-founders Barbara Cameron, and Randy Burns; Erna Pahe; and people like notable activist and Tribal Law Expert Clyde Hall during the 1993 American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting….
In 2025, next year, the Gay American Indians will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary. And we are going all out. We are going to be creating story boards and presentations to honor:
GAI co-founder Barbara Cameron, and her legacy as an activist, SF Pride Board Member, published author, and more.
Memorial to GAI Members who Lost Their Lives to HIV/AIDS
Commemorating GAI Veteran and Their Service To Our Country
History of Gay American Indians over Five Decades, from 1975 to 2025
If you are a GAI Member, or are an archivist, photographer, or someone who has articles, photos, recordings or other things which you think will help us tell the story of the Gay American Indians’ 50 Year Legacy, please reach out to us directly so we can arrange a time to talk about your collection/item.
If you would like to show your support for Gay American Indians, and Two-Spirits everywhere, by marching with us in this, or next years’ San Francisco Pride Parade, you can reach out to us by emailing: gai@nativehistoryproject.org.
Check out GAI’s event Friday, June 28th:
For more info email GAI@nativehistoryproject.org; or call Randy Burns (650) 359-6473
This is less a news event, than this is a prayer for healing, learning, and success. I’m humbled and ecstatic to say the Indigenous Land Lab is happening.
There is land for a lab. With amazing potential. There are seeds. And water. We are ready to begin.
"All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today."
The plan, right now, is to have a (mini) propagation lab, small nursery, and 3 Sisters x Victory Demo Garden.
And all of it will be made from the ground up.
What a great place to start. This is exciting.
You can share in this awesome journey, too!
Bring gloves, a hat, and your waiver. LOL. (No, for real, it’s for our fiscal sponsor.)
We’ll provide water, some shade, and (hopefully) lunch during official workdays. (At least snacks!)
You can support the Indigenous Land Lab in other ways, too!
The first, of course, would be by donating landscaping & gardening equipment you no longer use. But, we would be especially grateful for the use of your walk-behind “brush mower”, “brush hog” or “rotor cutter”.
The land we have is wild, and untamed. It’s overgrown with invasive grass, some hemlock, and a random shrub or two. This is why our list sounds more like a fire crew equipment list than what you’d expect for an established garden.
Here’s a list of what we would really like to get our hands on:
Tools
Metal Rakes
Shovels
Pickaxes
Hoes & Scrapers
Chingaderas (a fire tool good for “extracting deep rooted fuels”)
Post drivers
Saws (hacksaw, chainsaw)
Equipment
A walk-behind Brush Mower/Brush Hog/Rotocutter
Rototiller
Supply locker/chest/weatherproof box
Supplies
Chicken-wire
Fence Posts
If you wish to donate any of these tools, or if you have other tools you’d like to donate:
Please send us an email ( collab@nativehistoryroject.org ) so we can arrange a good time to come to you, receive your generous donation, and supply you with a donation receipt you can use for tax purposes.
One more way to support the Indigenous Land Lab is to donate to the Alameda Native History Project.
Alameda Native History Project is fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499). As such: all donations you make are tax deductible.
May 4th, 2024
11:00 AM to 2:00 PMCorica Park Golf Course Clubhouse
1 Clubhouse Memorial Road, Alameda, CA 94502
Tickets: $15-Limited Sponsorships Available-
In this class:
You will be introduced to different kinds of maps, from topographical, to transit maps.
Learn by doing trip planning exercises using different modes of transportation.
By the end of this class:
You will know how to read maps and orient them to your surroundings, using landmarks and approximate (relative) distances.
You will be able to navigate from point A to B no matter what mode of transportation you use.
We have a very small number of free tickets and laptops to be loaned out during class. If you want to sponsor someone else’s attendance, please let us know.
Proceeds from ticket sales go toward venue rental, lunch (and refreshments), future programming, and operations.
The Corica Park Open Space Project is devoted to building community by expanding access (for everyone) to the open space Corica Park occupies and sustains, creating opportunities that drive the success of our future leaders, and positively impacting friends, neighbors and community members. We are excited by all of the amazing opportunities presented by this community initiative and cannot wait to participate in, and offer you more activities and events to come!
We’d also like to thank ABM Computers for their donation of computer hardware to the Alameda Native History Project. This equipment will help us ensure that everyone has an opportunity to develop their maps skills through hands-on learning experiences.
We also want to acknowledge that your donations, and the proceeds from the Indigenous Bay BART Map sales have made it possible for us to do this.
Thank you for your continued support, can’t wait to see you at our Maps Class.
For more information on how to obtain a scholarship, or how to sponsor someone, please reach out to us directly at collab@nativehistoryproject.org.
Alameda Native History Project is fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499)
Shellmounds are ancient structures created by thousands of years of indigenous occupation.
Shellmounds are cemeteries, or mortuary complexes. The final resting places of the first people to live in this place we call the San Francisco Bay Area.
There were once over 425 shellmounds in the San Francisco Bay Area alone. In fact, there were many more shellmounds than that.
If you look closely at the distribution of shellmounds in Marin and Sonoma Counties, and apply that density to the rest of the Bay Area, you will very easily top 600 shellmounds.
Despite the fact that shellmounds are cemeteries, hundreds were still destroyed all around the Bay Area.
And–to make matters unimaginably worse–the bodies inside were ground up, and used as overspread to level out train tracks, and build massive infrastructure (like the Angel Island Immigration complex.)
“How was this possible?” (You may ask yourself.)
Wouldn’t someone be able to tell there were bodies inside of these mounds?
Yes. People could tell there were bodies in the mounds.
Even though some news stories feature witnesses who described bones disintegrating, or “turning to dust” as soon as they were handled…. People are still finding skeletons in places like Alameda, California, whenever they dig somewhere for the first time in a hundred years–which isn’t hard to do when many houses in Alameda are 100 years old.
In spite of the desecration, and destruction visited on hundreds of shellmounds here in the San Francisco Bay Area, many still survive. And a surprising amount shellmounds survive intact.
The most well known, “intact” shellmounds in the Bay Area reside in the Coyote Hills Regional Park. They are known as the “Ryan” and “Patterson” Mounds.
They join a long list of shellmounds which have been reported upon and studied over the past 100 years or more.
This list includes (but is not limited to):
Ellis Landing (Contra Costa)
Emeryville (Alameda)
West Berkeley (Alameda)
San Bruno Mound (San Mateo)
Miller Mound (Colusa)
Alameda Shellmound (Alameda)
Ryan Mound, and Patterson Mound (Alameda)
Burton Mound (Santa Barbara)
Herzog Mound (Sacramento)
… Just to name a few.
Excerpts of Illustrations from “Shell midden” surveys in SoCal showing shellmounds in situ:
These objects and human remains were taken during a period of “salvage archaeology“. Which was a period of intense extractive and exploitive research into Native American Language, Arts, Culture and Religion under the premise that the “Aboriginal Indians of North America” would soon become “extinct”.
Obviously, much of this work was made easier by the dispossession, missionization, forced internment (on reservations), and annihilation, that Indigenous People endured since First Contact with Europeans.
Just as Indigenx, Native American, First Nation and all First People of this place survived colonization: so did their shellmounds.
It’s up to us to break the cycle of destruction. The cycle of purposely disconnecting people from the places they come from. And then destroying those places (literally) for no other reason than the speculative amount of value or resources the land is worth.
One of the ways we can put the earth back into balance is by letting those who are from this earth gain access to their ancestors; and traditional places (like hunting camps) and resources (like a river) which provide a tribal cultural benefit.
Traditional tribal hunting grounds provide a tribal cultural benefit as source of traditional sustenance…. A river (or certain parts of it) where fish are caught, or plants or other things are gathered, is a natural resource which provides a tribal cultural benefit.
There is an air gap between the idea of land stewardship as a Native American landscaping service; and land stewardship through traditional cultural practices which have shaped much of the natural ecosystems of the Bay Area for over 10,000 years.
Render of a shellmound on the shore of the Carquinez Strait.
The mounds which still exist are not flat; have not been dug out; and are certainly not parking lots, transit stations, or shopping malls.
Parking lots are not “undeveloped” space.
Parking lots are not “open space”.
Parking lots have been levelled, packed, and paved.
…Just because parking lots are flat does not mean the land “isn’t developed”.
You need to know this:
When we talk about saving sacred sites. We’re talking about real sacred sites. Places which have been spared from development, either by ignorance, or by luck.
Render of a shellmound across the bay from San Francisco. Possibly in Albany, or El Cerrito.
Shellmounds are a part of the natural environment.
Shellmounds support the ecosystems they reside in.
Shellmounds are not parking lots!
Aside from the spiritual impact of shellmounds to their surrounding areas: shellmounds today provide habitat for plants and wildlife where that habitat is endangered–and, under constant threat of development.
You can help protect sacred land by protecting the environment around it.
You can help protect sacred land by advocating for its conservation, and return to the San Francisco Bay Area Ohlone Tribe: the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe.
While support for land trusts, and ideas like “rematriation” are wonderful….
Fundraising campaigns like “Shuumi Land Tax” take away from the real causes of Ohlone Tribal Recognition, Ohlone Tribal Sovereignty, and Ohlone Ancestral Land Back.
For real, though, once they run out, it’s going to be a minute before another run is printed. And you’ll be forced to make due with one of our other awesome maps.
Nothing about this is an act of charity, or legitimate “return” of native land. The fact that the property being purchased is a 2.2 acre parking lot–instead of a real shellmound–is kind of embarrassing; especially because these headlines are so wrong.
Just because the City of Berkeley City Council voted on an agenda item with the title:
Adopt first reading of an Ordinance authorizing the City to acquire the portion of the West Berkeley Shellmound located at 1900 Fourth Street and also authorizing the City to transfer that property to the Sogorea Te Land Trust, thereby returning the land to the Ohlone people.
Does not mean that land is actually being returned to Ohlone people.
It’s a conclusory statement based on the bandwagon fallacy: that donating money, creating cultural easements, and transferring property to the Sogorea Te Land Trust benefits Ohlone people.
And this false equivocation between a non-Ohlone organization, and “The Ohlone People” is dangerously close to the impersonation of a tribe. Especially when the transfer of money, property and benefits meant for the enjoyment of an Ohlone Tribe goes to an organization which is neither a Tribe, nor Ohlone.
2. The City of Berkeley did not Buy the West Berkeley Shellmound
The City of Berkeley only chipped in about $1.5 Million worth of City Money. That’s less than 10% of the total purchase cost of the West Berkeley Parking Lot–which is $27 Million Dollars.
I just want to note that the Valuation for the land at 1900 4th Street, which are two parcels [57-2101-1-3, and 57-2101-5], is currently $9,690,000.00 (or $9.69M).
…And also let you know that the valuation for this property jumped between 2022, and 2023; from a combined (Land + Improvements) value of $1,306,140, to its current, $9,690,000. That’s a difference of $8,383,860 in value, in just one year. I’m not sure if this has to do with $60K worth of delinquent property taxes being paid in December 2023. But there hasn’t been any obvious change on the ground which would indicate a higher valuation.
All of this is to say that a purchase cost of $27 Million Dollars is way more than what the land is worth.
So, there’s actually a really good chance the inflated cost of the property includes legal fees and losses involved in the decade long struggle of the property.
And, if that’s true, this is much more of a win for the developers than it is for anyone else. Like, $18 Million Dollars more.
3. Sogorea Te Land Trust is Not An Ohlone Tribe or Organization
Sogorea Te is not even an Ohlone word. Sogorea Te is a place name for Glen Cove, in Vallejo, which is currently Wintun and Patwin Territory.
Sogorea Te Land Trust is a non-profit Land Trust that’s supposedly gathering money to purchase [Ohlone] land to return to indigenous people; support “rematriation”; and create urban gardens, and community centers.
However….
None of the money Sogorea Te Land Trust has raised, has benefited any actual Bay Area Tribe.
The only group benefitting from the Sogorea Te Land Trust’s work seems to be a corporation posing as a Tribal Government, the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC.
But the fact that:
Sogorea Te Land Trust is so often being confused with an Ohlone Tribe, or representing an Ohlone Tribe; and the fact that,
Sogorea Te is now accepting land on behalf of “the Ohlone people”; and the fact that,
Sogorea Te Land Trust is not correcting this misidentification, false equivocation, or,
Making it clear that the Sogorea Te Land Trust is not an Ohlone tribe, and does not speak for one…
Means that the Sogorea Te Land is getting closer and closer to impersonating a tribe, or at least benefitting from the false impression that the Land Trust is an Ohlone Tribe or Ohlone Tribal Organization–which it is not.
4. The West Berkeley Shellmound is not “endangered”
It’s destroyed.…
But it’s easier for people to believe they are helping to “undo”, or “right centuries of wrong” by allowing a Land Trust to purchase an insignificant piece of what’s left of the West Berkeley Shellmound.
Wallace, W.; Lathrap, D. (1975) Contributions of the University of California Archaeological Research Facility, Vol. 29, “West Berkeley (CA-Ala-307): A Culturally Stratified Shellmound on the East Shore of San Francisco Bay” https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4616g044
I would argue: the only reason the West Berkeley Shellmound has received so much attention is because it’s a flat, empty space which is easy to fit a hundred protestors on top of. [Other shellmounds are behind fences, and protected by Oil, Quarry and Other Industries’ Private Security Companies.]
But, as a sacred site that needs protecting, the West Berkeley Shellmound is at the bottom of the list–mostly because it’s already 👏🏽 been 👏🏽 destroyed 👏🏽; and, also, because the Spenger’s Parking Lot is not where the shellmound used to be.
Map of West Berkeley showing CA-Ala-307 (West Berkeley Shellmound)
The historic location of the West Berkeley Shellmound is on the other side of the train tracks, under what’s now mostly a Truitt & White Lumber Yard.
5. Lisjan has never been the name of any Ohlone Tribe
Lisjan (or “lisyan”) does not appear in any historic mission records–or anywhere else–until 1921: when a Muwekma Ohlone ancestor (Jose Guzman) said “Yo soy lisjanes“, to define himself as someone from the Bernal, and Alisal Rancherias, in what’s known as Pleasanton today.
Aside from the fact that “Lisjan” appears in an interview of Muwekma ancestor Jose Guzman, which occurred about 87 years after the secularization of the Missions in California: there is nothing to prove that an Ohlone village named Lisjan ever existed. In fact, the only thing passages referring to “Lisjan” prove is that “Lisjan” is the place name for Pleasanton, California; not East Oakland–where Corrina Gould claims the “Lisjan” homeland is.
To dive in deeper to the references of “Lisjan” in the 1921 interview of Jose Guzman: Guzman was busy discussing how his family came from the North–which was Nisenan territory, where the word “Lisjan” came from–to Pleasanton. In this passage, Guzman talked about his family’s history, and of his grandfather speaking Russian.
But, let’s be clear: Lisjan is not an Ohlone word at all.
So a woman calling herself the chairperson of an Ohlone “tribe” (which is supposedly a “confederation” of Ohlone villages) named after Pleasanton, but based in East Oakland, should be considered extremely suspect. 🚩🚩🚩
But Corporations are not Tribal Governments, because Tribal Governments are Sovereign Nations which exist outside of the normal U.S. Corporate Structure.
7. Corrina Gould isn’t a tribal chairperson.
There are a number of different reasons why Corrina Gould is not a Tribal Chairperson. The fact that the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. is not a tribe is the strongest. And it’s evidenced on the faces of everyone you see in every picture of CVL’s “tribal members”.
Real Tribal Leaders are actually voted for by Tribal Members who represent all the different families which make up a Tribe.
Look at the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area:
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe was federally recognized; they have a documented 10,000 year history continuous habitation in the San Francisco Bay Area; not just Federal Documentation, but family trees, and DNA documentation directly linked to archaeological sites.
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is comprised of all the remaining known Indian lineages who survived the California Missions. They have over 614 enrolled tribal members.
The reason why the Muwekma Ohlone tribe seems like it’s “The San Jose Tribe”, or is only in Santa Clara is because Mission San Jose was down in Fremont. That’s where all the “Indians” got let out from when the Mission systems closed down. So that’s why the Governor issued an order re: squatters on Mission Lands; and why the present-day Muwekma population is distributed the way it is. [That is a completely different historical topic for another day.]
“But we have members all over the Bay Area,” Muwekma Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh told me. This includes places outside of San Jose, like Castro Valley, Oakland, Berkeley, San Francisco–and even in Manteca, and Sacramento, and beyond.
But this is an argument about Traditional, Hereditary Muwekma Territory. And that territory includes Berkeley, and Oakland, and Alameda, and Albany. This whole area is Muwekma Ohlone Territory. The only reason they’re not here is because they haven’t got their land back.
When you look closer, the “tribe” Corrina Gould purports to represent is comprised only of her own immediate family members.
Official Portraits of the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, Inc. have never shown many (if any) members of the tribe Corrina Gould purports to be the Chairwoman of.
Take this into consideration when you compare the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. to real tribes, like the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area–which has 600+ members from many different families, who have well-documented, hereditary links to their land and ancestors.
If Corrina Gould were really trying to educate the public, she would have told you the truth a long time ago, and actually stepped aside to let the real tribe she came from benefit from the work she purports to do “for Ohlone people”–instead of doing it for her personal benefit, and the benefit of her immediate family members.
It’s up to you to educate yourself before you give money, land, or support to Native People.
We get it, you feel guilty about what your ancestors did Native Americans.
But your desperation to absolve yourself of your White Guilt, and the Sins of Colonization lead you into problematic “fixes”, following straw man causes which end up contributing to the erasure of the very people you’re trying to help.
“Lisjan” has been referred to as a Traditional Ohlone Village Site, in East Oakland.
Both the San Leandro Creek, and San Lorenzo Creek bear the name of “Lisjan” creek.
But “Lisjan” isn’t even an Ohlone word.
“Lisjan” is what Nisenan People call the city of Pleasanton, California.
Uldal, J. & Shipley, W. (1966) “Nisenan Texts and Dictionary”
And, just to be clear: Pleasanton wasn’t called “Pleasanton” until the 1860’s. Up to that point, it was called “Alisal”, or “Alizal”, or “El Alizal”, or “Alisal Rancheria”. And, before that, Alisal was the Bernal Rancheria.
And Nisenan People are not Maidu People. They’re totally seperate tribes.
You could say, the present day Nisenan capitol is Nevada City, California….
The “definition” of Lisjan, a Nisenan Word…
In 1929, A.L. Kroeber published “The Valley Nisenan“, which contained an expansive, and categorized Nisenan vocabulary; and a decent explanation of phonetics. However, this was only a short list, which did not contain Place Names. But, this book is an indication of the linguistic study and research going on behind the scenes, in California, in the early 20th century.
It wouldn’t be until 1966, that Hans Jørgen Uldall, would publish “Nisenan Texts and Dictionary“, with William Shipley. This volume includes some very adult stories. So, beware. But, there are Nisenan-English, and English-Nisenan dictionaries in the back.
Uldall’s dictionary contains the entry for “Lisjan”; as a Place Name for Pleasanton, California.
But, how did that name, get all the way up to Nisenan territory, 100 miles away from Pleasanton? And 45 years after Harrington’s interviews? Why is “Lisjan” being touted as a traditional Ohlone Village Site in deep East-Oakland, if “Lisjan” is another name for Pleasanton?
Excerpt from “Chochenyo Field Notes” showing the word “muwekma”.
J.P. Harrington’s “Chochenyo Field Notes” (1921)
One of the most-cited references in Ohlone History…
In 1921, J.P. Harrington performed a Language Survey of Native Americans in the East Bay. Harrington gathered numerous languages during this time, including the “Chocheño” language; which is known as the East Bay Ohlone language, today. Despite being deeply flawed, and extremely sus at times, this document continues to be a primary influence on mainstream discussions about Ohlone History in the San Francisco Bay Area.
One of Harrington’s interviewees was a man by the name of Jose Guzman. Guzman was interviewed, along with a man named “Angelo”, and a third man who is known as “informant”–presumably, Harrington’s fixer. Francisca is another interviewee who appears separately from Jose and Angelo, most times.
This volume is incredibly informative. Even though, a good portion of the information provided by Jose Guzman, and Angelo become problematic in many places–when viewed in context with later anthropological work, and the lack of clear attribution to a speaker (if any) in many of the entries. This is a problem with Harrington, really.
A majority of contemporary work on East Bay Ohlone People cite J.P. Harrington’s “Chochenyo Field Notes”, from 1921.
This document is never more than one step removed from almost any article or research paper.
But who’s actually read it? As daunting as these tomes look in the beginning: I have to be honest, and tell you, it’s not as bad as it seems. 355 pages of hand-written notes goes kind of quickly if you can hang with the kind of Spanglish that’s spoken on many a rez, today.
It’s easy to get a feel for the personalities of the interviewees by how their interviews progress; and even the type of setting. Some interviews were taken at gatherings. There are write-ups of methods of fabrication for food and tools; songs; as well as old stories, passed down to Jose Guzman. Harrington’s hand-writing also changes, depending on the speed of the information he’s being given, and whether or not he’s having a good day. Sometimes, he had to switch pens, until ultimately finding a pencil.
In the beginning, Harrington focuses on the basics. Where are you from? What’s the name of your tribe? Have you heard of these people? Can you tell me the history of this place?
Harrington wouldn’t ask twice about something the same day. He would circle back to it again, on another day.
As his notes progress, the words move to phrases. The lists become Chocheño lists, with Spanish or English translation.
This is how “Lisjan” kept popping up.
Harrington’s Synthesis of Chocheño VS. The Way Chocheño Was Actually Being Spoken
Aside from where the notes explicitly said who the speaker was, or whether or not the interviewees agree, it’s difficult to tell the difference between Harrington’s own ideas and synthesis of Chocheño; and the Chocheño language as it was actually spoken.
The following entry shows how Harrington took a variation of the phrase “makin miwikma” (we are good people), and applied it to “lisjan”, to form “lisjanikma”–which, to Harrington’s understanding of Chocheño, means “lisjan people”.
makin lisjanikma, we are lisjanes. approved lisjanikma but could not get tongue around it.”
The result was a valid form of the word. But not a word which was actually in use; or even really pronounceable.
This would continue on the next page, with:
makin Jinijmin, somos muchachos, cannot say *makin jinijminka inf. tells me clearly
Hand-writing is unclear for “mak[n]ote”, “mak[in]ote”, “mak[s]ote”, “mak[‘n]ote”…
This is when I started suspecting there may have been drinking involved in some of these later sessions with Jose Guzman and Angelo. (Because it looks like they’re having fun, and getting kinda goofy at times.) The informant’s answer seems to say more about the philosophy, or [machismo] culture, of the group being interviewed. I can actually see it playing out:
You can’t just say, “We’re some men.” You have to say, “Puros muchachos estamos aqui!”
It was at this point, that I started noticing the strong Spanish-language influence in many of these examples of Chocheño given to Harrington by Chocheño speakers.
References to “Lisjan”
Page 54: The Ind. name of the Chocheños is lisianij.
In the first few pages, we find an entry that says the “Indian Name” of the Chocheños is “Lisjan“.
This may seem like an authoritative, and all-encompassing reference. But the specifics change over time.
Page 59: lisjanis, In. Infor. They said that S.Jose was an early mission [upside-down triangle symbol]; they called the Inds. here sometimes los viejos cristianos. Jose knows this trbu. too and uses it every day, in talking to me.
In the next entry, we find out that San Jose Mission Indians were also called “los viejos cristianos”.
We also find out that Jose Guzman references San Jose Mission Indians this way, as well. No location information is given yet. But that changes.
Soon, there are distinctions made between who is, and who isn’t Lisjan.
On page 95 of the PDF, a paragraph begins with “lisjanes were the San Jose.” It goes on to say that, neither the Doloreños, nor the Clareños, were Lisjanes.
Page 95: lisjanes were the San Jose — the name covered up as far as S. Lorenzo Angelo thinks. 8ing. lisjan. yo soy lisjan. The Doloreños were not lisjanes, nor were the Clareños. [Mention of Dumbarton Rail Bridge (opened 1910) at bottom of page?]
This entry includes a little more information about location. It states that the name Lisjan covered up as far as San Lorenzo. This is interesting, because the very first entry said Lisjan is the “Indian Name” of the Chocheños.
It’s also interesting, because the Chocheño-speaking Indians at San Lorenzo were called “Los Nepes”. Which means, they were considered a completely different group by Harrington’s interviewees.
Unfortunately, this entry only gives us a rough northern boundary to a possible Lisjan “territory”, certainly not enough information to pin to a certain geographic region. This also means that “Lisjan” was definitely not located in present-day Oakland, at all.
Pages 105-106: kana lisjanka, yo soy lisjan. makin lisjanikma, we are lisjanes. approved lisjanikma but could not get tongue around it.
The next entries that we see, are on pages 105 and 106. While the phrases “yo so lisjan”, and “we are lisjanes” are present; so is a real problem.
There is no distinction between the words and phrases that are actually used/spoken in Chocheño–and given to Harrington; and, the words and phrases J.P. Harrington created, or invented, on his own, and “pitched” to his informant, and interviewees.
Using the information found in Harrington’s notes, I prepared the following visual aids.
I wanted to find the answers to a number of questions I had:
Where is Lisjan? Is it in Oakland, Pleasanton, or somewhere else?
Who are the Lisjanes? Are they a specific group, or family?
Regarding what Angelo said about a Northern Boundary for Lisjan: is it possible the boundaries for Lisjan fall within the historic bounds of Mission San Jose?
Map showing Historic Place Names, Mission San Jose, and approximate North and South Mission Lands boundaries, as surveyed in 1852.
Where is Lisjan? Is it in Oakland, Pleasanton, or somewhere else?
[If this is the only document you’re going by….] And, if the Northern bounds of the name “Lisjan”, were located just before San Lorenzo, that means that:
Lisjan was not located in Oakland.
Lisjan was not bound by the historical Mission San Jose property lines.
Pleasanton was probably not called “Lisjan” by locals.
Who are the Lisjanes? Are they a specific group, or family?
Not much light is shed on who the Lisjanes are. While Jose Guzman probably declared himself Lisjan; it’s unclear the extent of Angelo’s affiliation to the name. At one point, one man touches his chest and tells Harrington that he is Lisjan in name, but his heart is from somewhere else.
Does this mean that Lisjan is somehow a transitory, or new affiliation based on where someone lives, now? Is this person simply saying something akin to, “I left my heart in San Francisco?” Or, “My heart yearns for home?” Or even something like, “This heart was made somewhere else; my blood pumps the blood of my ancestors, from a different place than here?”
We are told that the San Jose’s are Lisjan. The indian name for Chocheños from Mission San Jose are Lisjan. Indians from Santa Clara, and Dolores are definitely not Lisjan. Los Nepes aren’t Lisjan, either. And a tribe, from Sunol, the name of which no one could remember, was never affiliated with Lisjan.
This was one of the reasons I began to suspect that the bounds of Lisjan could be tied to the property lines of Mission San Jose.
But, alas, no matter which San Lorenzo you draw the Northern boundary of the name Lisjan upon, they always exceed the extent of mission property lines.
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