I vaguely remembered having to do a lot of work in the beginning to make that shoreline map because I was just learning how to use GIS software. But I didn’t remember the specifics. And, I couldn’t find an original file for the project that wasn’t already incorporated into a larger project.
So, I did what I probably should have done in the first place, and took a look at the data table, to find some identifier that Google would help me resolve. That identifier came as a “Project ID” number: “CA37B01”.
Even better: the website took me to another place where I could search for and download the files I wanted, The National Geodetic Survey – NOAA Shoreline Data Explorer… Which is better than the regular National Shoreline Data Explorer, because it loads faster, and is easier to filter. Also, the difference between vector and raster files is very clearly delineated.
Once I got everything mended together, I had a redux of the “Pre-1900 Historic Shoreline of the San Francisco Bay Region”.
As awesome and fun as this is, the map is still missing Goat Island–known as Yerba Buena Island Today–which Treasure Island was built (or filled) next to, and the San Francisco Bay Bridge was built (tunneled) through. Mapping of Goat Island does not appear to have occurred until after the year 1900. I could not find any T-Sheets or National Shoreline Datum in either vector or raster form showing Goat Island.
It’s a little disappointing. But it does not invalidate or really detract from the overall purpose of this project; which was to show the Pre-1900 Shoreline of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Update: October 2025
After revisiting the original shoreline data, I expanded this work into a full interactive map covering the entire San Francisco Bay Area. The new project, titled Historic Shoreline of the San Francisco Bay Area, combines all of the pre-1900 shoreline and wetland data into a single handmade, open-access map.
This is the first time the entire Bay’s historic coastline has been reconstructed and shared publicly in an interactive format. It connects the dots between earlier projects like the Alameda Shellmound Map and the Nelson-Duncan Shellmound Survey, revealing how much of the Bay’s edge has been altered or erased over time.
This article will introduce you to where Lisjan is; who “Lisjan Ohlone” are, what what “Viva Lisjanes” means.
Where is Lisjan?
Lisjan is the big valley that spans the area from Pleasanton, to the Altamont Range (Amador and Livermore Valleys) which were also rancherias Alisal, Bernal, Del Mocho, and more.
Lisjan homeland of Jose Guzman, who is a Muwekma Ohlone Ancestor and Captain of the Verona Band of Indians of Alameda County.
Lisjan is a Nisenan (Maidu) name for the area now known as Pleasanton, California.
Why does it seem like Ohlone people are only in the South Bay?
Because the Spanish Missions in the Bay Area were in San Francisco and the South Bay.
Mission San Jose is in Fremont
Mission Santa Clara is in San Jose
Mission Delores is in San Francisco
The present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is comprised of all of the known surviving American Indian lineages aboriginal to the San Francisco Bay region who trace their ancestry through the Missions Dolores, Santa Clara, and San Jose; and who were also members of the historic Federally Recognized Verona Band of Alameda County.
Secularization and Mission Abandonment
When the Missions were abandoned, secularized (in 1833), or destroyed, indigenous people continued to live on Mission Land, in what was most definitely their tribal homeland.
They were simply continuing to live and survive on their land, through the rise and fall of the California Mission System—which only lasted 64 year, yet had a profound and cataclysmic effect on all Indigenous people within their spheres of influence.
Many indigenous people stayed in this area, and blended in with Spanish, and Mexican work forces to avoid the American treatment of Indigenous People–which was well-known by the mid-1850’s to be sadistic and unpredictable. It was in the interest of survival that people blended in, and kept a low profile.
Verona Band of Alameda County
The “Verona Band” was an administrative name used to refer to a group of indigenous people who lived around the area where a train station named “Verona” was built by William Hearst in 1901. This is the Niles Canyon/Sunol Region of the Bay Area. Relatively close to the Mission San Jose.
Yo Soy Lisjanes
In 1921, a linguist interviewed a member of the Verona Band known as Jose Guzman. Guzman was considered an “Indian captain” and shared much of his language and life stories with John P. Harrington—the linguist. (Jose Guzman was not the only person Harrington interviewed.)
So where/who is Lisjan?
One of the things Jose Guzman said was, “Yo soy Lisjanes.”
As in: I’m Lisjanes, I am from Lisjan.
He was saying he’s from the area North of Verona: valleys now known as Amador and Livermore–but which had been split into many different rancherias by Spanish and Mexican colonizers, including Alisal, Bernal, and Del Mocho, among others.
One of the reasons that Guzman may have referred to the area around present-day Pleasanton by its Nisenan name could be that Jose Guzman’s parents were both from Maidu Territory, farther north, in a region where people spoke Nisenan.
Indigenous people are polyglottal by nature.
What does Chochenyo Mean?
Jose Guzman was the last fluent Chochenyo Speaker. Chochenyo is an Ohlone Language spoken in the East Bay.
There’s a new map showing the Shellmounds of Alameda.
It transposes the historic alameda shoreline onto the modern-day silohuette of the city. The map shows historic wetlands and tidal marshes, and the four Alameda Shellmounds.
Map of the Shellmounds of Huchiun, ~Muwekma Ohlone Territory~ Showing the Area Now Known As The “City of Alameda”
By: Gabriel Duncan
Description of The Map:
The base map is comprised of the present-day shoreline of the Alameda and Bay Farm area, indicated by a gray-hashed outline; with the land-mass filled in white. The overlay to this map shows the pre-1900 shoreline of Alameda as a solid black outline.
The Areas shaded in green comprise historical wetlands in the Alameda and Oakland Area. Alameda and Oakland were once connected. Alameda used to be a lush oak tree forest (Coast Live Oak), with verdant wetlands, and a thriving ecosystem. Alameda was also called la Bolsa de Encinal, or Encinal de San Antonio (a land grant reference.) First Peoples called this place Huchiun.
The green dots (or markers) indicate the approximate positions of historic Ohlone shellmounds present around 1908, and before. The shellmound locations indicated in this map were compiled from three different sources:
N.C. Nelson’s “Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region” [1909, University Press.]
Imelda Merlin’s “Alameda: a Geological History”, [1977, Friends of the Alameda Free Library]
Shellmounds are the resting place of the First Peoples of this area, Ohlone people. Ohlone people built these ancient structures over thousands of years. There are so many mussel shells in a shellmound they have a bluish tinge. Shells were deposited on land by birds, as well as humans, and the natural course of the circle of coastal life.
In the 1800’s until around 1980, Archaeologists and Historians thought that Ohlone people were extinct; and that these shellmounds were “trash heaps”. And they treated the mounds accordingly.
Americans used the shells and bones inside the mounds to make aggregate for concrete; landfill for levees; overspread to grade train tracks; and even fertilize plants. Grave robbers stole things from the Ohlone people buried inside the mound, and sold them to museums or collectors. The famous shellmound that Mound Street is named after (the “Sather Mound”) was used to pave Bay Farm Road on multiple occasions.
Shellmounds today are one of the most endangered historical sites in the Bay Area. But they still exist as a sacred resting place of the Ohlone ancestors. Alameda is the tribal homeland of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, survivors of the Missions Fremont, Santa Clara, and Delores, and the Verona Band of Alameda County. For at least 10,000 years, Ohlone people have called this place home.
Historic Shoreline (1851-1877) Datasets produced by NOAA National Ocean Service
Present-day Shoreline; City of San Francisco Department of Telecommunications and Information Services
Tribal Regions; A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769-1810, Randall Milliken, Malki-Ballena Press, 1995
Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region, N.C. Nelson, University Press, 1909
Alameda: A Geographical History, Imelda Merlin, Friends of the Alameda Free Library, 1977
Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, Personal Interviews with Tribal Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh, Vice Chairwoman Monica Arellano, Tribal Member Joey Torres
Muwekma History Presentation to Alameda City Council, Alan Leventhal, Dec. 5 2022
Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area Website, http://muwekma.org, Accessed Aug. 10, 2023
“Road Paved with Bones Grewsome [sic] Covering On Bay Island Thoroughfare”, Alameda Daily Argus, Apr. 23, 1901
“Fixing the Streets”, Alameda Daily Star, Aug. 13 1908
“Mayor Has Idea on Roadbuilding: Takes Exception to Old Mound Being Used for Dressing on New Road”, Oakland Tribune, Oct. 9 1908
“Routine Ruled the Meeting”, Alameda Daily Times, Sep. 29 1908
“End Hauling Dirt to Island From Mound”, Oakland Tribune, Nov. 22 1908
About the Cartographer
Gabriel Duncan is the founder and principal researcher of the Alameda Native History Project. He is a recognized descendant of the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe. Gabriel was adopted at birth, and born and raised in the city of Alameda, California. ANHP is devoted to researching and documenting the Indigenous History of Alameda, fostering indigenous representation and awareness in Alameda, and educating Alamedans about their local (living) history in a modern, nuanced way.
NOTE: This map was updated on 08/17/2023 to show the “Pre-1900 Shoreline”, Historic Wetlands, and Present-Day Land-mass; which are layers 1-3 on the list of references, above. Subsequently, those references have also been updated to reflect this change.
Voter Choice Alameda is a ballot measure committee that was founded by members of the Alameda League of Women Voters with the purpose of introducing a ballot measure to voters in the 2024 Elections.
Alameda Native History Project fully supports Ranked Choice Voting, and Voter Choice Alameda, and we’re actually really excited to have a nonpartisan way to get involved.
We also want you (the person reading this) to consider donating your time to the crucial signature-gathering period of getting this measure on the 2024 Election Ballot. [Voting’s really the easy part, innit?]
So what’s up with Ranked Choice Voting? Why should anyone even care about this stuff?
Ranked Choice Voting helps to strengthen the guarantee of free and fair elections; and the constitutional promise for government officials who are representative of, and stand for, the majority of voters.
Right now, in Alameda, we have a Plurality Voting System. This means that candidates with the highest amounts of votes win–even if they only garnered a small percentage of the vote.
Read on to learn more about Ranked Choice Voting; and the differences between Plurality and Majority Voting Systems.
Ranked Choice Voting isn’t a new idea.
Several cities in Alameda County already use Ranked Choice Voting to choose elected officials.
Albany
Berkeley
Oakland
San Leandro
Ranked Choice Voting in Alameda will be used to choose elected officials, like the Mayor, Members of City Council, City Auditor, and the City Treasurer.
Ranked Choice Voting means that the elected official chosen in an election will be chosen with a majority of votes.
Right now we have a “plurality” voting system; which means that whoever has the most votes wins.
This makes sense when there are only two choices. But when there are–let’s say–five or more candidates: the fact is that none of the candidates running ever score a majority of the votes. Which leaves the simple fact that, if an elected official wins with only 20% of the vote; there could be 80% of voters who never even wanted the elected official in the first place.
Plurality Voting skews to the rich, and to candidates with name recognition. It leads to a partisan, polarized, all-or-nothing mentality where voting for someone who isn’t “guaranteed to win” is just throwing away your vote.
It reinforces the idea of a “Two-Party System” and effectively shuts out other candidates, regardless of merit, because they can’t spend the money to game the system the same way career politicians do. It also disenfranchises voters who begin to believe that their vote doesn’t count, or that the voting system just doesn’t work.
Ranked Choice Voting seeks to find the candidates voted by the majority of people who cast ballots. And, that–in and of itself–helps to create a democratic government which is representative of its citizens.
Ranked Choice Voting also saves the overall cost of holding elections. Most of the savings comes in eliminating the costs of run-off elections, by using 2nd and 3rd choice candidates to find the majority consensus among voters. Since this is a Majority Voting method, the “run-offs” are held during the tabulation of votes; where the candidate with the least votes is eliminated in each round of tabulation to determine the majority vote-getter.
This video produced by PrimerLearning helps explain Majority Voting, Ranked Choice Voting, and Approval Voting; and compares all three voting schemes with each other.
Ranked Choice Voting also removes the “Spoiler Effect” that third-party candidates can have in “Splitting The Vote”. It also disincentivizes voting as if we really do only have a Two-Party system (ignoring all other candidates than the two major party candidates.)
Most importantly, Ranked Choice Voting allows voters to vote honestly for their first choice, and then “strategically” for their second and third choices, without being worried about “splitting the vote” and changing the outcome of the election to something a majority of voters neither wanted, nor intended.
A Note About The 2022 Oakland School Board Election
Some folks might point to the error in the Oakland District 4 School Board Tally System, which resulted in an incorrect count of votes.
That error was not the result of a flaw with Ranked Choice Voting, rather Human-Error in the configuration of the scanning and tallying at the County-Level. Specifically, the error meant that First Choices Left Blank were not counted correctly.
Because of regular auditing of elections, this error was caught and corrected by FairVote.
Therefore vague objections to Ranked Choice Voting like, “Ranked Choice Voting doesn’t work, look at what happened in Oakland” are facetious and made in ignorance to the true nature of the error. [Sorry, not sorry.]
Read More:
CalRCV Website – Has tons more information, videos, and even answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Ranked Choice Voting in California.
On the morning of Friday, August 4th, 2023, the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe, Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc, their supporters, members of the press, and San Jose government officials (and their designees.) Gathered at the site where a statue of Captain Thomas Fallon was “immortalized” in bronze to commemorate the moment when Fallon rose American Flag for the first time, in San Jose, 1846; and which symbolized the second time this land was stolen.
However, the statue was no longer there, at the intersection of Julian and St. James, in what’s no known as San Jose, California. The statue was removed on April 25, 2023.
This meeting was to cleanse the land beneath the concrete and roadways of this area. (The place where the Guadalupe River flowed. Where the Muwekma Ohlone ancestors lived for thousands of years.)
Charlene Nijmeh speaking at site of former Holiday Inn, where her mother Rosemary Cambra, fought to protect Muwekma ancestral remains unearthed by archeologists right here.
Charlene Nijmeh, Muwekma Chairwoman said we gathered at the former site of a symbol of oppression and genocide, “To give prayers to our ancestors; and also to give them hope.”
And, to show that Ohlone people are still here, and that their voices will not be silenced.
The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is trying to break the silence on their fight for Federal Recognition, Sovereign Rights, and Land Grants that the tribe rightfully deserves. Things which are granted to Federally Recognized Tribes as a matter of law.
They want all of these things without the concessions Bay Area Congressional Representative want them to make. Concessions like money for education, and limits on rights affecting the tribe’s long term development and survival.
San Jose City Council voted unanimously to remove the Fallon Statue on November 9, 2021.
San Jose Councilmember Peter Ortiz–who led the movement to remove the Christopher Colombus statue from San Jose’s City Hall– recognized the Fallon statue as another reference to the culture of colonialism. He said it sends the wrong message; that we need healing from the violence of the past.
“The monument symbolized, unfortunately, oppression, it symbolized injustice,” San Jose Councilmember Omar Torres said, “I’m just glad that it’s gone.”
Peter Ortiz’, and Omar Torres’ pledge to co-write, and introduce a resolution fully recognizing the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area as a “Tribe”, could be the start of the silence surrounding Muwekma’s efforts finally ending.
Today’s events would start with a cleansing at the former site of the statue, followed by a procession around downtown San Jose to show people historic places which are important to Indigenous and Latinx Communities.
Left to Right: Miwok Elder Razzle, Charlene Nijmeh (Facing), Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc (Back to camera), Joey Torres, Muwekma Tribal Members and Supporters Surrounding.
Controversial from the beginning…
The early history of the fight to remove the Fallon statue. As told to me by Kathy Chávez Napoli, a Mountain Maidu Elder, and core member of the original group fighting the statue, along with Javier Salazar (who started it), and Felix Arcano. With help from Yolanda Reynolds, and more. I was honored to have met one of the people who fought the installation of the statue from its commission in 1988, and to receive this oral history.
Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc Rep. (Left), Kathy Chavez Napoli (right) being recognized during celebrations at St. James Park.
About the Controversy
The controversy around the statue stemmed from the fact that it blatantly romanticized American colonization; was a symbol of land theft (the annexation of Mexican land), oppression, and the dark and violent nature of the creation of America literally on top of the bones of Indigenous people.
There were also serious questions about whether or not Thomas Fallon even deserved to have a statue erected in his honor. Fallon gave himself the rank of captain; it wasn’t actually awarded to him in any official manner. And, John D. Sloat was the one who was ordered to land on Alta California and raise the American flag. Sloat simply gave the flag to Fallon.
Mayor McEnery’s Book About Fallon Was Fiction
Aside from those cultural and subject matter objections to the statue, there was also the fact that Tom McEnery wrote a book about Captain Thomas Fallon which was supposed to be based on Thomas Fallon’s journals. And the “historical facts” gleaned from these journal were used to bolster the Mayor McEnery’s argument for commissioning and installing the statue.
It was later revealed that Thomas Fallon kept no such journal, and the entire book itself was historical (fan) fiction written by Tom McEnery, himself.
Mayor Tom McEnery, meanwhile, was able to personally commission this art project (in 1988)–with a budget of $250k–which ended up costing $800k; and would require another $500K for installation and infrastructure. (Which is about $1.9M in 2023 dollars for the statue, and about $1.1M for installation and infrastructure.)
But, where did the money even come from? How did the Mayor Manage to amass the money to pay for the statue? And how did he intend to pay for the installation and infrastructure on top of that?
This was the fact that moved so many people to action.
Outcry Over Lack of Accountability Exclusion of Public Input
Kathy Chávez Napoli remembers the reaction to this sudden, and extreme expenditure: “Wait a minute, we don’t even have stop lights at certain places and you want to spend $800 thousand dollars on a person that you wrote a book about?!“
Tom McEnery (the Mayor at that time) had leveraged an alarming amount of public funds from the city to pay for it. This was possible because of the passage of Measure “G” which gave the mayor of San Jose more power to act without certain checks and balances (like City Council or Committee Approval/Review).
“Tom McEnery, at the time, was the most powerful mayor that San Jose had ever had.” Kathy Chávez Napoli told me, “They passed Measure G; it gave him a lot more power than the mayor had ever had, prior. And he had never been challenged. And so, when we challenged him, that was his first defeat.”
The Fallon protestors had managed to make their points heard, and break through the noise with verifiable facts, in black and white, on paper. An advisory committee was created.
“Because of that we were able to get a lot more support and they formed the Historic Art Council. I was appointed, Javiar was appointed. And we voted to destroy it, but we were out-voted.”
However: the statue was never installed in its intended place, or anywhere else. For a decade the statue sat in storage, somewhere in Oakland, California….
“We never knew how much it cost to be in storage, in Oakland, for ten years.” Kathy said, “They never would tell us. They never would tell us where the location was.”
Referring to Mayor Gonzalez’ decision to reinstall the offensive statue, “… we said, ‘When it goes up, it’s gonna get vandalized.’ And ever since it’s gone up, it’s always getting vandalized. Always.”
“It should never have been there. It should never have even been created.” Kathy told me, “And that’s how we were able to bring so many people in the community together to oppose it.”
Commenting on how long it took for the statue to finally be removed, Kathy Chavez turned to me and said:
All of our work, all of the work of all the community has been vindicated. And it doesn’t always happen right when you hope it does. But it happens! What better win?
Kathy Chávez Napoli
As I listened to the presentations from Muwekma Tribal Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh, Muwekma Tribal Member Joey Torres, Muwekma Youth Ambassador, Muwekma Tribal Members, Miwok Elder Razzle, SCU Prof. Lee Panich, SJSU Anthropologist & Archeologist Gustavo Flores, and the Speaker for Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc–who described some of the horrors of the mission system….
Centro Aztlan Chicomoztoc Presenting at Plaza De Cesar Chavez
It became more apparent how the removal of public art dedicated to the symbols of oppression, land theft, and white supremacy can open up pathways to healing wounds that we can’t always see.
That the removal of these blocks can also open up our eyes to see other places where we could do better. New opportunities to create pathways for healing on a community level. Something which is needed more often than not in area where wide disparities exist.
George Floyd’s murder (May 25, 2020) by police is what sparked the unanimous urgency behind the the deaccession and removal ordinance passed by the San Jose City Council on November 9, 2021.
The ensuing protests, and the birth of the Black Lives Matter, Defund Police Movement, Me Too, Missing Murdered Indigenous Movement, and more, reignited the struggle for civil rights which had remained dormant until then. It let loose our collective energy, which had been pent up and held back not just by our collective oppression, but our repression, and our silence.
All of these events helped people wake up and realize that there is a gap in the way people are treated in our society.
That the economic, justice, and welfare systems in American society were created to exclude nonwhite society members; or, include them in a predatory, exploitive way, which made the cost of inclusion too great a price to bear.
Because our eyes were open to the injustices and injuries visited upon other people by an unjust system created to oppress and subjugate them….
Because we were able to empathize with the pain and struggles of someone else who did not look like us….
Because we, as a society, started practicing restorative justice instead of making proclamations to do so, we have been able to move forward, and imagine a future which includes everyone.
“This is a we thing.” Miwok Elder Razzle told us, inviting us to share and participate in the cleansing ceremony, directly, as several people shared songs.
The removal of the Fallon Statue, and the introduction of a resolution fully recognizing Muwekma as a “Tribe” are the first steps in the journey towards the official recognition of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Muwekma Tribal Member Joey Torres talked about how our ancestors got use ready for this moment, how we are reawakening and searching for knowledge stored deep inside.
Miwok Elder Razzle talked about the seventh generation, and said this would not have been possible if the youth and young adults of today hadn’t spoken up and taken the lead on a battle that started so long ago.
We are at an interesting moment in time when the Seventh Generation is now beginning to take the lead as our elders begin to transition. Let’s do them proud and make sure we leave something good for the next seven generations.
You can also encourage your local leaders and politicians to acknowledge the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe with a formal Land Acknowledgement.
Not Sure If You’re In Muwekma Territory?
The aboriginal homeland of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe includes the following counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, most of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and portions of Napa, Santa Cruz, Solano and San Joaquin
From Muwekma.org
What about the “Chochenyo Ohlone”, and the “Lisjan Ohlone”?
Chochenyo is a dialect of the Ohlone language, spoken in parts of the East Bay. Jose Guzman, a famous Ohlone leader, who referred to himself as “Lisjanes”. [“Yo soy Lisjan.”]
Jose Guzman was thought to be “the last Chochenyo speaker” until the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe began speaking and learning their language again. He was a member of the Federally Recognized Verona Band of Alameda County.
The present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is comprised of all of the known surviving American Indian lineages aboriginal to the San Francisco Bay region who trace their ancestry through the Missions Dolores, Santa Clara, and San Jose; and who were also members of the historic Federally Recognized Verona Band of Alameda County.
So, every time you recognize the “Chochenyo Ohlone“, or the “Lisjan Ohlone“, or Lisjanikma, you’re recognizing the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. “Muwekma” means la gente.
Since we’re not supposed to change anything on the server, our Merch/Giveaway page is still offering Limited Editions of the Indigenous Bay Maps and T-Shirts!
As always: we’d like to remind you that Alameda is Ohlone Land; the ancestral homeland of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.
The present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe is comprised of all of the known surviving American Indian lineages aboriginal to the San Francisco Bay region who trace their ancestry through the Missions Dolores, Santa Clara, and San Jose; and who were also members of the historic Federally Recognized Verona Band of Alameda County.
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 missionization of local indigenous people can be characterized by the abduction, forced baptism, and slavery of Indigenous people by Spanish Priests and Conquistadors. And, the outright theft of natural resources (like food) which indigenous people had helped cultivate and depended upon for all of their food, medicine, building materials, etc.
In spite of the homefield advantage, and larger numbers, indigenous people could not defeat the colonizing Spanish force.
When Spanish colonizers had ruined the ecosystem by grazing, logging, razing, and waste, indigenous people found themselves with little choice but to join the missions or flee to places outside of the reach of the mission system. (In reality, no Indigenous Californians were safe from the missions, except those in the far North of California, where Missions did not exist.)
Because the Missions were located in Central Areas; and because of the Area of Influence Spanish Invaders were able to exert dominance over was so vast (due to horses); indigenous people of the area known as the Bay Area were forced to abandon their burial practices because they had to abandon the land their graveyard was situated upon.
This meant that indigenous people had to figure out how to bury their dead using the resources found away from the coasts and rivers they were used to.
It also meant that, indigenous people were being buried in graveyards at Catholic Missions all around the Bay Area.
American Influence on Indigenous Use of Shellmounds
Soon, American aggressors would begin to appear in what they though was their frontier land; an “Indian Frontier”. This was during the time of the “Wild West”, when Indian Wars were being actively fought.
The Indian Wars would be romanticized for years to come in newspaper stories, and on the screen especially during the 1950’s with such films/shows as:
Winchester ’73
Gunsmoke
The Lone Ranger
Davey Crockett
They Died with Their Boots On
But there was nothing romantic about the real story of the California Genocide.
Americans would purposely destroy or vandalize sacred sites for entertainment or out of spite. One famous shellmound, in Alameda, California, was used to pave Bay Farm Road in 1908. The bodies of ancestors were routinely ground up and used as aggregate for cement, or even calcium enrichment for roses and other flowers (instead of eggshells.)
Militias were paid by the United States Government, and (later) the State of California, to hunt and kill all indigenous people. The United States Army “expeditions”, especially what they liked to call “punitive expeditions”, were marked by the execution of indigenous men, and the rape, torture, and mass-murder of indigenous women and children.
In 1848, the area now known as California was ceded by Mexico, at the end of the Mexican-American war. Two years later, California would officially earn statehood, and its first governor, Peter Hardeman Burnett, during his first State of the State address mentioned the California genocide explicitly.
“A war of extermination will continue … until the Indian race becomes extinct,” Peter Hardeman Burnett, the First Governor of California continued, “the inevitable destiny of the race is beyond the power or wisdom of man to avert.”
Now, all Indigenous people were actively under threat by all white people, who were paid for each “Indian” they killed, baby they stole, or person forced into slavery via “prisoner debt” to white business and property owners. Prison debt was money owed to a person or business for a crime committed against it. These were often times for extraordinary amounts of money which the debtor was only able to pay through involuntary labor or servitude. The prison debt system was created to control Indigenous People, and People of Color, and prevent them from gaining any foothold or capital in a society and world which white people viewed themselves as being solely entitled to because of their religious or racial beliefs.
Once Native Californians were being displaced, forced onto reservations, into indebted servitude, boarding schools, orphanages; and their burial places forced abandoned, and desecrated by American invaders. Many indigenous people began the practice of cremation. One of the most common reason for why someone is cremated was because they wouldn’t be able to be buried with their ancestors, next to their loved ones, or with their family or tribe. It was better to live the afterlife free of their body than to have it defiled.
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 resources, including: student resources on Ohlone, Bay Miwok, and Delta Yokut people; Native Peoples Map and Brochure; and the 106-page Ohlone Curriculum, itself. The curriculum is primarily directed at the Grade 3 “Core” and History-Social Science standards; as well as Grade 4 & 5 History-Social Science Content Standards.
But, the reason it’s remarkable, is because the student’s resources are made mostly of stories and history told by indigenous people, themselves. In fact, it looks like a big family photo album. Which is pretty cool, very personal. And teacher resources and supplements are super helpful.
Native Peoples of the Region Now Known as the East Bay
Ohlone Curriculum Map; East Bay Regional Park District; March 24, 2020
It feels kinda dumb to even point this out.
The map itself is an extension of all the great energy and intention and wonderful work and the personal, lived experiences of indigenous people.
Distributed to school districts where East Bay Regional Park District operates;
But it contains some really obvious catographic, and typographic errors.
These seemingly “small errors”, or “minor mistakes” have the profound effect of being repeated in classrooms, and by park interpreters, and educators for almost an entire decade.
And it’s comically contrary to one of the main intents of the curriculum: to dispel stereotypes and clarify misperceptions about the First Peoples of the East Bay.
Ohlone Curriculum Map, with Markup
So what’s wrong with this map?
Huchiun Is Listed Twice. Huchiun appears in two different areas; the northern-most is actually supposed to be Huchiun-Aguasto.
Huchiun Aguasto is Not Where Vallejo and Mare Island Are. Huchiun Aguasto is actually in the Richmond area; where the northern-most Huchiun label occupies.
Jalquin/Irgin Yrgin and Jalquin are two seperate places/areas. Yrgin is spelled incorrectly.
Inconsistent Capitalization There’s no reasoning or explanation for why any of these areas/places are spelled with upper-case or lower-case letters.
The effect is a false sense of understanding; the continuation of misconceptions and proliferation of “educational materials” which are wrong/inconsistent with the sources cited in the Ohlone Curriculum, itself. [Like Randall Milliken’s maps.]
Alameda Native History Project tried to tell ’em….
It’s been almost 3 years since we first notified the East Bay Regional Park District of problems with the map they have so widely distributed and prominently displayed, we have yet to hear from the Park District.
The East Bay Regional Park District has neither acknowledged their mistake, not made any move to correct it.
So, we fixed the Ohlone Curriculum Map for them.
East Bay Tribal Groups Map, made by Gabriel Duncan, for the Alameda Native History Project (2023). Map services and data available from U.S. Geological Survey, National Geospatial Program.
lol, the invoice is in the mail.
For information on how to get copies of this map, contact Merch.
If you are an institution which would like large-format, or data designed to meet your cartographic and display needs, contact Collab.
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 hid behind a wall of lawyers. And a wall of militarized police.
And, then, they shook hands with the very politicians who promised to protect your tribal homeland, and your great-grandmother’s grave, as they broke ground right on top of her.
This is not figurative, or metaphorical, in any sense at all. You literally watched the shovel break the ground above her resting body. Desecrating forever the sanctity of this place, and guaranteeing an afterlife without rest, or peace.
It made you feel ridiculous; a welling of impotent anger, aggrieved frustration, and justified indignation at this betrayal; at the destruction of the most precious and pristine place you were proud to call your home.
Now, it’s become the site of a lithium mine; host to a four foot wide petroleum pipeline; or worse, a dumping site for nuclear waste that won’t be safe for hundreds of thousands of years (if ever.)
Meanwhile, your ancestors are pulled out of the ground like empty corn husks. The prairies and forests you used to visit, pray and play in have been flattened and become a parking lot for heavy equipment, modular offices.
The water flowing from the springs smell bad now, and none of the animals will drink it, anymore because they will get sick, and die—just like the trees and plants that used to grow around this place.
You tried to tell them they were destroying the place you held close to your heart. Tried to tell them that the well-being of this land wasn’t just important to your people, but that it was integral to the survival of all life on earth.
Other people agreed. They said deforestation, not only led to loss of habitat for the animals you depend on, and who depend on you; but that the earth would never be able to recover from critical damage to its carbon reducing, oxygen producing, infrastructure.
Your new friends got lawyers, and held protests, made t-shirt slogans, eye-catching signs, and raised awareness on social media. But it didn’t mean anything to the people who only saw profit in loss and exploitation. And your new friends left as soon as their GoFundMe’s reached their goals—never giving you the help they promised, or the money they raised in your name.
Now your ancestor’s resting place has a metal fence around it with big signs saying “KEEP OUT”, “PRIVATE PROPERTY”. But you know the signs should be for them, instead of you, and your people.
“A Land Defender’s Guide to: Making the Exploitation of Land Expensive & Unappealing To Would-Be Corporate Colonizers” has just dropped–published by guerilla printer Lonely Ocean Press.
The 36 page booklet “Volume I: Work-Site Blues” offers a plethora of information about the heavy equipment used to desecrate sacred land, as well as a selection of basic tools which can be used to access, operate, and “service” most heavy equipment.
The Land Defender’s Guide has been referred to as, “revolution on a budget of $200 or less”–because the tools required are fairly common, cheap, and can sometimes be found on the work-site itself.
Included in the Appendix are 31 extremely detailed illustrations of the mechanical, hydraulic, and electrical workings of:
Skid-Loaders
Dozers
Mining Trucks
Backhoe Loaders
Mini Loaders
Excavators
And more…
Excerpt from the Guide:
Introduction:
This is written in the spirit of such other publications as Steal This Book, Steal This Computer Book, The Anarchist Cookbook, and other such banned and questionable literature provided to, by, and for, The Resistance.
While this booklet may present the principles of hydraulics, electrical engineering, thermodynamics, and other physical considerations for the efficiency of the methods of colonization, and the development of stolen land….
One should take note that violence against individuals, or even groups of individuals is absolutely unacceptable.
While this text can be seen as a collection of techniques to respond to the violence of colonization, and the brutalization of those who stand against the exploitation of stolen land. Injury or death to another person or living creature is neither encouraged, condoned, nor inferred, as an acceptable means to decolonization.
This volume is a thought experiment to imagine the costs associated with work stoppages, and prolonged periods of repair to the expensive, and sometimes complex, equipment associated with all aspects of construction, pipe-laying, excavation, and mining.
Disclaimers: These images are for illustration, only. Each year, make, and model of the type of equipment illustrated can vary widely over each model, and even within variations of the same model. No one’s saying you should actually do any of the things mentioned in this work.
Emphasis Added; from: A Land Defender’s Guide to: Making the Exploitation of Land Expensive & Unappealing To Would-Be Corporate Colonizers, Volume I: Work-Site Blues
The Guide is offered for free; and has also been made available as a PDF.
For information about ordering copies of the booklet by mail, send an email to defendersguide [at] proton (dot) me.
Otherwise, the PDF file can be downloaded from a Proton Drive here.
Please note: The Land Defender’s Guide is only offered through Proton Mail and Drive, to preserve the privacy of everyone involved with the Defender’s Guides [a series]. To learn more about the privacy and security offered by Proton, check out their About Us page.
