Alameda Native History Project

Tag: ohlone land

  • Sogorea Te Land Trust is Not an Ohlone Organization

    When you read articles like:

    “Controversial Berkeley shellmound burial site to be returned to Ohlone“

    “Berkeley buys Ohlone shellmound, returns it to Indigenous people“

    “City aims to ‘right a historic wrong,’ to return shellmound site to Ohlone people“

    Headlines around the Bay Area right now.

    You are being misled.

    Here’s a breakdown of how these articles are misleading, and what the truth is behind Ohlone Land Back:

    1. The “West Berkeley Shellmound” is Not Being Given Back
    2. The City of Berkeley did not Buy the West Berkeley Shellmound
    3. Sogorea Te Land Trust is Not An Ohlone Tribe or Organization
    4. The West Berkeley Shellmound is not “endangered”
    5. Lisjan has never been the name of any Ohlone Tribe
    6. Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. is a Corporation, Not a Tribe.
    7. Corrina Gould isn’t a tribal chairperson.
    8. If you really want to help Ohlone People…

    1. The “West Berkeley Shellmound” is Not Being Given Back

    The Parking Lot was bought for ~$27 Million Dollars.

    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.

    City Council Special Meeting eAgenda March 12, 2024

    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.

    For comparison, Sogorea Te Land Trust kicked in about $5M along with the $20M donation the trust recently received from the Katalay Foundation. So, the Katalay Foundation is the primary underwriter for this purchase.

    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.

    Not the Yocha Dehe Wintun Tribe, Wintu Tribe of Northern California, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco, or the Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe, just to name a few.

    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

    The West Berkeley Shellmound has been declared “one of the most endangered historic places” in the U.S. But it’s a parking lot.

    Out of the over 425 historic shellmounds in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Berkeley Shellmound doesn’t even make the list of “endangered places” when you compare it to the shellmounds actively being quarried in San Rafael and Richmond.

    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

    It’s not even an Ohlone word.

    It’s actually a Nisenan place name for “Pleasanton”.

    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. 🚩🚩🚩

    re: Lisyan, “The word does not appear in any Spanish mission period records.
    Levy (1978:485)
    Uldall & Shipley Nisenan Texts and Dictionary

    6. Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. is a Corporation, Not a Tribe.

    Corporations Are Not Tribes.

    Corporations can never be tribes.

    Especially non-profit corporations.

    The exercise of sovereignty is not a charitable purpose.

    Real tribal governments are tax exempt because they’re actually a sovereign nation under a Constitution. A lot of Corporations claim to be Tribal Governments, but they are lying. It’s fraud, straight out.

    Tribes can create corporations through State Law (State-Chartered Corporation), through Tribal Law (Tribally Chartered Corporation), or through Section 17 of the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934.

    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:

    Muwekma Ohlone Tribal Members pose for a picture in San Jose, California during a ceremony to commemorate the removal of the racist Fallon statue.

    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.

    The pictures of the Confederated Villages of the Lisjan Nation, INC. usually have 5 or 6 actual Ohlone descendants, and the rest of the crew is comprised of Gould’s non-indigenous (“white”) supporters–who are no more Tribal Members than Ward Churchill or Elizabeth Hoover.

    Corrina Gould capitalizes on the public’s confusion about who Ohlone people are and what a tribe is.

    That’s why so many people mention the “Chochenyo Ohlone”, and the “Lisjan Ohlone” without ever knowing who they’re actually supporting.

    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.

    Which leads me to this last point….

    8. If you really want to help Ohlone People:

    Stop giving money to the Sogorea Te Land Trust. It does not go to Ohlone People.

    Support the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area as they fight to regain Federal Tribal Recognition on the Trail of Truth!

    The Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area is the real, bona fide, tribe of this area.

  • What is the Alameda Native Food Project?

    The Alameda Native Food Project is a program offered by the Alameda Native History Project, which seeks to educate the public about Traditional Native American Ingredients, Cooking Methods, and Contemporary Indigenous Cuisine.

    The Native Food Project is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about Native American connections to the natural world through the food they cultivate and enjoy.

    Share the Experiences, Ingredients and Cooking Methods you learn at the Food Project with your family and loved ones!

    Become a Food Ambassador

    Introduce your friends to the delicious, nutritious, indigenous ingredients you learned about at the Native Food Project!

    Food is the best way to travel the world and learn about other cultures and history without ever leaving home!

    Join us for a series of workshops offered throughout the year.

    Wait up… I thought this program was called the “Indigenous Food Lab“???

    Funny story…

    It turns out the term “Indigenous Food Lab” was trademarked.

    So now the program is called the Alameda Native Food Project.

    Stay tuned for our upcoming sessions!

  • 2024 Alameda Oak Tree Survey

    The Oak Forest of Alameda is alive and well.

    During our survey, we identified at least 405 properties which have Oak Trees.

    Once everything was processed and plugged into our GIS systems, we were able to identify the footprint of Alameda’s “Bolsa de Encinal“.

    1859 Coast Survey Map showing “The Encinal”.

    What is la Bolsa De Encinal?

    →Bolsa; Spanish, noun.: meaning bag, or purse

→Encinal; Spanish, noun.: meaning Holm Oak grove

→Alameda; Spanish, noun.: poplar grove

→Bolsa de Encinal: Purse of Oaks [It sounds better in Spanish.]
→Encinal de San Antonio: San Antonio Oak Grove

    This place we call “Alameda” has been known by many names. All of them have referred to the oak grove (or forest).

    La Bolsa de Encinal came about because this place (a peninsula) was like a little pouch or purse attached to the mainland. A purse of oak trees….

    The Encinal, or Encinal de San Antonio, literally means “the oak grove”, or “San Antonio Oak Grove”.

    And “Alameda” itself means a (poplar) grove of trees.

    But make no mistake:
    “Alameda” is unceded Muwekma Ohlone Territory.

    2024 Alameda Oak Tree Survey

    Looking at this image, you might not be able to fully recognize the actual density of what we discovered represents an urban forest right where the “historic Bolsa de Encinal used to be.”

    The real take-away was that you can’t talk about Alameda’s Oak Forest as a thing of the past.

    Alameda’s Oak Forest

    Sure, it can be hard to see when you’re surrounded by Victorian houses, and mid-century apartment buildings….

    But when you take a step back and look at the big picture: you can see it clearly.

    The Oak Forest of Alameda. Bolsa de Encinal.

    Despite the fact that many of the oldest Oak Trees in Alameda have been felled by mismanagement, habitat loss, and development; there were still plenty of big old healthy Oak Trees that we found all over the city of Alameda.

    We also learned that Coastal Live Oaks (queercus agrifolia) have been designated as a “protected tree” by the City of Alameda (A.M.C. §13-21.7[c]).

    And that same code section states: “Any oak tree shall be replaced with a minimum of [two] oak trees”.

    This means Alameda’s Oak Forest is not only alive and well, but the island itself is subject to some reforestation efforts.

    Why did we perform this survey, anyway?

    This survey was necessary to plan for the Alameda 2024 City-Wide Acorn Harvest; which is happening this September and October.

    Check out the Oak Tree Registration Form to learn more about how property owners with Oak Trees can contribute to our first annual acorn harvest.

    There are tons of opportunities for residents, local businesses, and organizations to participate in all of our 2024-2025 Cultural Arts & Educational Programming.

    Sign up for the Alameda 2024 City-Wide Acorn Harvest here.

    Open Call for Participation

    If you are a property owner with an Oak Tree on your property, check out this Oak Tree Registry Form to learn about the specific ways property owners can contribute to our harvest.

    Residents, Families, Friends, and Neighbors: Sign-Up for the Alameda 2024 City-Wide Acorn Harvest. Everyone is welcome!

    If you represent a local business, organization, class, school, or community group, or tribe, and you want to participate in planning, organizing, and/or any other aspect of these activities, reach out via email.

    Or, use the form below:

    Harvest/Oak Tree Contact Form

    [contact-form-7 id=”b1779e1″ title=”Oak Tree Harvest Survey Contact Form”]

  • ANHP Receives Grant for Bay Area Indigenous Mapping Project

    The Alameda Native History Project is the proud recipient of a Native Solidary Project grant for our work mapping the Indigenous Bay.

    Our mapping project seeks to reverse the erasure, and inaccuracies promulgated by biased archeologists and flawed anthropological analysis.

    We do this by centering the indigenous knowledge and lived experiences in historical narratives about indigenous people by presenting those narratives from Indigenous People themselves.

    This grant will go towards printing educational materials, and putting them in classrooms, institutions, and community centers Alameda, and the Greater Bay Area.

    You can have a meaningful and direct impact in decolonizing history by supporting the printing and distribution of accurate, interesting, and educational Indigenous History materials to schools and other institutions in Alameda and the Greater Bay Area.

    Provide tangible support to our mission, to Decolonize History, by donating to the Alameda Native History Project.

    DONATE
    All of your donations are tax deductible.
    This project practices financial transparency.
    Alameda Native History Project is fiscally sponsored by The Hack Foundation (d.b.a. Hack Club), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 81-2908499).

  • 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

    ###

    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.

  • Alameda Museum Contract Expires

    Should the City renew the agreement?

    On Monday, September 4, 2023, the City of Alameda’s five-year agreement with the Alameda Museum to provide archival storage expired.

    According to the agreement, the Alameda Museum, as an Independent Contractor, would provide the following:

    1. Be open to the public for free at least 15 hours a week.
    2. Be open for free group tours, especially for education based groups.
    3. Store historical records of the city and provide archival preservation.
    4. Dedicate 25% of warehouse to archival storage.
    5. Dedicate an additional 25% of warehouse to the City’s historical exhibits, including documents and photo archives from the Library, City records, Police and Fire Departments, Alameda Recreation and Park Department, and other City records.
    6. Assist with providing archive digital photos and text for City historical interpretive signage as requested.
    The agreement made it clear the Alameda Museum is a Service Provider; and not a Civil Servant.

    The agreement also provided a standard of care:

    Provider agrees to perform all services hereunder in a manner commensurate with the prevailing standards of like professionals or service providers… all services shall be performed by qualified and experienced personnel[.]

    Service Provider Agreement Between the City of Alameda and the Alameda Museum executed 09/05/2018

    In the Recitals, the Agreement states that the Alameda Museum “possesses the skill, experience, ability, background, volunteer and staff time, and knowledge to provide the services described in this agreement on the terms and conditions described herein.”

    But, even when this was signed, in 2018, the Alameda Museum didn’t possess any of the skill, experience, ability or background to perform these services.

    George Gunn wasn’t qualified to preserve historical documents; and he didn’t.

    George Gunn was an architect; not a serious records preservationist, or an archivist. Sure, he was able to inventory houses outside of the museum. But he never inventoried or organized the inside of museum in any useful or practical way–and this is a truth uncovered by what was supposed to be a routine records request that started almost four years ago.

    Before 2019, the Alameda Museum had never bothered to organize the catalogue by Keyword, or Date.

    Museum staff had simply redirected visitors to the Alameda Free Library, hoping the Library would do the Museum’s heavy lifting for them; instead of providing access to the relevant materials the Library actually transferred to the Museum.

    This is why it always feels like a run-around.

    Because the Alameda Museum always tries to redirect you to Alameda Free Library, even if the Library referred you to the Museum.

    But this story lead straight to the Alameda Museum from the beginning; and I was not going to be redirected. I had the receipts.

    I was following up on a number of items referenced in historical newspapers as donated to the Alameda Library; so I knew those items were in the possession of the Alameda Museum because of the transfer.

    Of course the Museum didn’t know what I was talking about at first, and forced me to show them my sources to validate my inquiry.

    Despite inheriting such a well organized, and cross-referenced volume of data and objects from the library, the Alameda Museum still managed to index it in a way that made it impossible to search the historical City Records, and City Exhibits. This was the second major hurdle.

    When George Gunn finally left, the shadow of his leadership still remained.

    The Museum Warehouse was not indexed. And, despite the efforts of the Museum’s volunteers, many of Alameda Museum’s holdings that were indexed, were indexed incorrectly.

    This isn’t just proof Alameda Museum wasn’t in compliance with their contract; these circumstances underscore the need for the Archives to be maintained and preserved by a qualified Archival Preservation specialist.

    Identification, dating, authentication and assignment of keywords of Alameda Museum’s artifacts needs to be performed by qualified persons. Data Entry and Cross-Referencing of existing card catalogs needs to be performed accurately, and with care.

    And this is not to mention the financial and existential challenges George Gunn left Alameda Museum Board Members to deal with in his wake.

    None of this is an excuse for the fact the Board Members didn’t do anything to encourage Gunn to provide the services or fire him. Point of fact: Gunn was constantly co-signed; his seat was never contested.

    George Gunn, for his part, was belligerent in his noncompliance and perceived omnipotence [read: hubris].

    George Gunn thought he would always be able to “survive” his critics… But he resigned in 2021, two years before the Museum’s contract expired.

    While people like Dennis Evanosky [sorry, Dennis] and Woody Minor lauded Gunn’s “accomplishments”: Gunn’s only listed accomplishments reflected his own personal interests–outside of the museum–and unintentionally highlighted that Gunn’s notable achievements did not confer a public benefit.

    Coincidentally, Dennis Evanosky was a signator to the Agreement with the City of Alameda, as the President of the Alameda Museum Board of Directors.

    Museum Lacks Skilled Staff or Volunteers to Provide Preservation Services

    Even if the Alameda Museum has been able to stay open for the 15 hours required of it for some of 5 years of this agreement, the Museum certainly does not have the volunteer or staff time to provide the archival services necessary to manage and preserve Alameda City Records.

    This is because the Alameda Museum lacks any staff or volunteer hours to do the work that piled up during George Gunn’s tenor.

    The Alameda Museum openly admits this:

    • They lack trained staff, they’re volunteer run.
    • They don’t have enough staff or volunteer hours to provide access to the Archives.
    • Board members are largely only scheduled for 2 hours a week.
    The Alameda City Records are invaluable, priceless materials the City pays to be conserved in a warehouse suited for archival preservation.

    Charging for Admission & Tours At Meyer House could Violate Agreement

    Meyers House required $5 cash only admission fee.

    The Service Provider Agreement specifically states the Museum must be open to the public (for no admission fee) for at least 15 hours per week.

    Is the Meyer House exempt from the Agreement for some reason?

    If so, the Meyer House and Garden hours of operations should not count towards to the total amount of time the Alameda Museum is open to the public.

    Which would bring the Alameda Museum’s total time “Open To The Public” to only 7.5 hours–exactly half of the 15 hours the museum is required to be open for.

    Museum Does Not Have Important Documents Regarding Transfer of Artifacts From Alameda Library

    To be honest, my research request has less to do with the Alameda Museum, than with the Official City Repository they are paid to manage.

    For context, my research request with the Alameda Museum started on November 24, 2019. And I was looking for archival materials like Newspapers of Records, Archival Photographs and Documents from the Library, City Records from the Council and other Departments and City Offices, as well as objects, artifacts, and other things donated to the Alameda Free Library’s Museum — all materials that were transferred to the Alameda Museum for safe keep, per the Service Provider Agreement between the Alameda Museum and the City of Alameda.

    The first hurdle was the Museum’s lack of useful, practical, or accessible index/catalog.

    Today, Valerie Turpen claims the Museum’s holdings have been catalogued and can now be searched by keyword — which was impossible before. But this doesn’t mean that my records request has been satisfied, or that I am any closer to reviewing the historical documents I request nearly four years ago.

    Part of the reason is because some records are missing.

    For instance, it appears that all records of the donation of Ohlone Artifacts to the Alameda Library are missing. There is no record of when the artifacts were donated, or by who. Every artifact in the “Native American Collection” seems to bear the same boiler-plate language:

    Part of a collection of objects found in the largest Shellmound, also known as Sather’s Mound in Alameda, or smaller mounds. The excavations at Sather’s Mound were carried out in 1908 by Captain Clark, an amateur anthropologist. The items were donated to the Alameda Free Library, and passed on to the museum when the museum moved to a separate location.

    Alameda Museum, “Native American Artifacts” as of May 31, 2022
    1991.1.42
    1991.1.89
    1991.1.87
    1991.1.168
    1991.1.9
    1991.1.6
    1991.1.15
    1991.1.16
    1991.1.33
    1991.1.17

    The images above are a small selection of the Ohlone Artifacts stolen from the Alameda Shellmound and put on display as “Miwok” artifacts until I called the Museum out for their inaccuracies in 2019.

    As you can tell from the object description quoted above: the exact provenance is impossible to tell because of Alameda Museum’s failure to accurately identify these stolen burial goods, and preserve integral paperwork related to their “donation”.

    The plain and obvious disregard for indigenous objects and history stands in sharp contrast to the careful cataloguing and indexing of the white, Victorian-era artifacts proudly displayed and advertised by the Alameda Museum.

    And it begs the question: How can the Museum have spent so much time cataloguing all of the objects owned by white Alamedans, from artwork to silverware to shoes, to the smallest, most inconsequential objects… but completely neglect the provenance, identification, and indexing of the most historically important objects in the entire Alameda Museum: proof of what life was like for the First Alamedans.

    These artifacts were celebrated and popular during the early 1900’s. Several lectures were given on the Alameda Shellmounds, which featured artifacts now in the possession of the Alameda Museum.

    Is this indicative of how other collections in the Alameda Museum are being mismanaged, improperly attributed, and haphazardly stored?

    What other “city exhibits” are being neglected and what other records have been lost by the Alameda Museum?

    When’s the last time the Museum even took inventory of their holdings? Seems like the answer is never, if their holdings weren’t even catalogued in 2019.

    How could the Alameda Museum have let these conditions persist for so many decades?

    Has the City ever inspected it’s own Archives for Compliance with the Service Provider Agreement?

    All signs point to, “No”.

    Maybe it’s time for the City of Alameda to take a better look at how the Alameda Museum has mismanaged the City Archives;

    And either take serious steps to provide required access to those Archives at the Alameda Museum;

    Or put out a Request for Proposals from qualified records storage and preservation companies.

  • Who are the Lisjan Ohlone? What does Chochenyo mean?

    Who are “The Lisjan Ohlone”?

    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.

    “Mission Indians” who continued to live on their homeland after secularization were not “squatters”; as the California (Military) Governor proclaimed in 1847.

    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.

    When Jose Guzman passed, in 1934, some people thought Chochenyo would never be spoken again. But, his words and phrases from 1921 make it possible for the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe to reawaken the Chochenyo langauge today.

    It all started when Jose Guzman said, “Yo soy Lisjanes”.

    So when you recognize “The Lisjan Ohlone”; you’re recognizing Jose Guzman.

    You’re recognizing the historic Verona Band of Indians of Alameda County. The present-day Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.

    Viva Lisjanes!

    Jose Guzman (1854-1934)

  • Alameda Shellmound Map

    Please Note: A new version of the Alameda Shellmound Map (Version 2.0) was released on July 18, 2024.

    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:

    1. N.C. Nelson’s “Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region” [1909, University Press.]
    2. Imelda Merlin’s “Alameda: a Geological History”, [1977, Friends of the Alameda Free Library]
    3. Oakland Tribune [“Skull reveals mound”, Feb. 11, 1945]

    What are Shellmounds?

    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.

    Get an 24×18-inch copy of this map:

    Get this map as a thank-you gift for your donation of $25 or more to the Alameda Native History Project. 10% of your donation goes directly to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area.

    References:

    1. Historic Wetlands; Gabriel Duncan 2023
    2. Historic Shoreline (1851-1877) Datasets produced by NOAA National Ocean Service
    3. Present-day Shoreline; City of San Francisco Department of Telecommunications and Information Services
    4. 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
    5. Shellmounds of the San Francisco Bay Region, N.C. Nelson, University Press, 1909
    6. Alameda: A Geographical History, Imelda Merlin, Friends of the Alameda Free Library, 1977
    7. “Skull Reveals Mound”, Oakland Tribune, Feb. 11 1945
    8. Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area, Personal Interviews with Tribal Chairwoman Charlene Nijmeh, Vice Chairwoman Monica Arellano, Tribal Member Joey Torres
    9. Muwekma History Presentation to Alameda City Council, Alan Leventhal, Dec. 5 2022
    10. Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area Website, http://muwekma.org, Accessed Aug. 10, 2023
    11. “Road Paved with Bones Grewsome [sic] Covering On Bay Island Thoroughfare”, Alameda Daily Argus, Apr. 23, 1901
    12. “Fixing the Streets”, Alameda Daily Star, Aug. 13 1908
    13. “Mayor Has Idea on Roadbuilding: Takes Exception to Old Mound Being Used for Dressing on New Road”, Oakland Tribune, Oct. 9 1908
    14. “Routine Ruled the Meeting”, Alameda Daily Times, Sep. 29 1908
    15. “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.
    Please Note: A new version of the Alameda Shellmound Map (Version 2.0) was released on July 18, 2024.

  • Ohlone Curriculum

    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.

    Not only that, but the map is also:

    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?

    1. Huchiun Is Listed Twice.
      Huchiun appears in two different areas; the northern-most is actually supposed to be Huchiun-Aguasto.
    2. 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.
    3. Jalquin/Irgin
      Yrgin and Jalquin are two seperate places/areas. Yrgin is spelled incorrectly.
    4. 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.

  • Save Shellmounds Not Parking Lots

    Collage art of a shellmound with historic Alameda newspaper articles in the background, with the title words “Save Shellmounds Not Parking Lots”. Artwork by Gabriel Duncan.

    While these places may be on our traditional homelands, and within our tribal territories: Brownfields properties and Supferfund sites are neither appropriate, nor respectful gifts of atonement to the Indigenous People the entire Western Hemisphere was stolen from.

    It is a waste of resources for indigenous non-profiteers, like Corrina Gould, to focus primarily on post-industrial sites, like the place she alleges is the “West Berkeley Shellmound“.

    It is an improper use of our allies’ time, energy–and money–to have them marching around an empty parking lot, and futilely protesting an established and thriving shopping mall (Bay Street Emeryville).

    All of this takes away from the reality: Ohlone cultural resources in the San Francisco Bay Area are being destroyed by development at an alarming rate.

    Without intervention, Native American cultural resources, like shellmounds, and the fragile ecosystems they inhabit and have supported for over 10,000 years, will be destroyed. Paved over, without a second thought for anything other than their “fair market value”.

    Parking Lots and Abandoned Post-Industrial Spaces are not a priority; compared to Federal Recognition, Federal Land Grants, and the establishment of a Tribal Land-base and an official, recognized, Ohlone tribal reservation, and sovereign tribal territory.

    Urban Gardens do not address the Land Back movement in a relevant way.

    Cultural Easements—like the one proposed at Joaquin Miller Park, in Oakland, California—are not actually land back, and do not benefit the cause Corrina Gould (under the auspices of Sogorea Te Land Trust) purports to advocate for (all the while pretending to be the “tribal chairwoman” of a non-profit corporation posing as a bona fide tribal government.)

    In fact, PR events like the dedication of part of Joaquin Miller Park, in Oakland, and the renaming of a park in Alameda, are completely irrelevant to the actual cause of land back, rematriating the land, and the real priorities of bona fide tribal governments, like the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area–a tribe Corrina Gould would be a member of, if she weren’t so focused on personal gain, instead of advocating for her own tribe, and all Ohlone people.

    All of this only confuses the well-meaning public; and takes attention and purpose away from the legitimate means of land back, and the mechanisms which exist to attain justice, land, and equity for Ohlone people in the San Francisco Bay Area.

    As long as people realize their time and energy is better spent on an achievable goal, like Federal Re-Recognition & The Establishment of a Muwekma Land-base: Land Back is something we can see happen within our lifetimes.

    For more information on how you can help Ohlone people regain Federal Recognition, and get their Land Back, visit the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area’s website at: http://muwekma.org