Campaign Resources » Shellmound

Media coverage

Berkeley Times 3/31/23: Berkeley Shellmound Legacy
US Times Post 1/7/23: The fight to preserve the sacred West Berkeley Shellmound
ABC7 News 11/23/22: Honoring the Ohlone or housing? The fight to preserve the sacred West Berkeley Shellmound
National Trust for Historic Preservation 3/16/22: People Saving Places: Corrina Gould and the Protection of the West Berkeley Shellmound
New Republic 12/9/21: When California’s Housing Push Clashes With Indigenous Rights
Challenging Colonialism podcast 11/14/21: The Matter of Shellmounds
Washington Post 7/29/21: City of Berkeley, Native American tribe lose appeal to stop development of sacred site
SF Chronicle 7/29/21: State Supreme Court allows housing-retail development on Berkeley shellmound to proceed
Berkeleyside 7/29/21: Spenger’s development can proceed on site of Ohlone shellmound, court rules
High Country News 7/23/21: The fight over a 5,000-year-old burial site in California
Daily Cal 6/7/21: City of Berkeley files appeal against West Berkeley Ohlone Shellmound development
SF Chronicle 6/5/21: Berkeley appeals decision to allow housing development on sacred Ohlone site
Berkeleyside 6/4/21: City appeals decision to allow 260-unit complex at 1900 Fourth St.
Berkeley High Jacket 4/28/21: Opinion: Berkeley Must Better Recognize Indigenous History and Present Struggles
Daily Cal 4/27/21: Court rules development can proceed on West Berkeley Shellmound
El Tecolote 4/23/21: The fight to save the West Berkeley Shellmound
Berkeleyside 4/21/21: Court rules 260-unit apartment complex can go up at 1900 Fourth, a site the Ohlone consider sacred
SF Chronicle 4/21/21: Court OKs housing development at site of Ohlone shellmound in Berkeley
Berkeleyside 3/22/21: ‘This feels cruel, that our sacred site is now imprisoned.’ Ohlones protest fence around ancestral land
Daily Cal 3/21/21: ‘Imprisoning our sacred space’: Ohlone tribe protests West Berkeley Shellmound, Village Site fencing
Indian Country Today 2/17/21: California appeals court to hear arguments to erase Berkeley Shellmound (Press Release)
KPFA 1/29/21: Terra Verde—Saving the West Berkeley Shellmound and Village Site
Indian Country Today 1/11/21: Preserving Ohlone cosmology and teachings at the West Berkeley Shellmound (video story)
Berkeleyside 9/25/20: West Berkeley Shellmound is now considered one of the U.S.’s 11 most endangered historic places
Daily Cal 9/25/20: West Berkeley Shellmound and Village Site named 1 of 11 most endangered historic sites in US
Earth Island Journal 9/25/21: Paved Over Ohlone Shellmound Site in Berkeley Listed as Endangered Historic Place
SF Chronicle 9/24/20: Berkeley Native American site slated for homes named a key endangered historic place
SF Gate 9/24/20: Bay Area site surprisingly named one of America’s most endangered places
San Francisco Business Times 9/24/20: Designation for Native American burial grounds in Berkeley may impede planned housing development
ABC Nightline 9/23/20: Turning Point— Native Americans seek reparations in different forms: Video Part 1 | Video Part 2 — A mini-doc that features Corrina Gould of Confederated Villages of Lisjan, and highlights the West Berkeley Shellmound.
The Wild Hunt 10/29/2019: West Berkeley Shell Mound Update
Daily Cal 10/23/2019: Judge rules against developers in West Berkeley Shellmound lawsuit
Berkeleyside 10/22/2019: Judge rules for Berkeley in developer’s lawsuit over Spenger’s parking lot
Daily Cal 10/22/2019: Alameda County judge rules in favor of city of Berkeley in lawsuit against 1900 Fourth Street developers
Daily Cal 9/6/2018: Berkeley declines developers’ request to build on 1900 Fourth St. for 2nd time
Curbed San Francisco 9/5/2018: Berkeley blocks housing project again, citing historic value of parking lot site
Berkeleyside 9/5/2018: Berkeley rejects SB35 application for Spenger’s lot development, again
Mercury News 9/5/2018: Berkeley rejects controversial project that sought fast-track under new state law
Berkeleyside 9/4/2018: Developers drop controversial Fourth Street project, hand it over to owners
SF Business Times 6/7/2018: Berkeley rejects fast-track approval for 260-unit housing project
6/6/2018 Berkeleyside: Berkeley says no, for now, to speedy application for 1900 Fourth under SB 35
6/1/2018 Daily Cal: Ohlone protests, affordable housing plans— A recap of Tuesday’s City Council meeting
5/30/2018 East Bay Express: Living on Ohlone Land (feature story by Will Parrish)
5/24/2018 League of Women Voters: Ohlone Campaign Calls for Urgent Action to Save West Berkeley Shellmound Historic Ohlone Site
5/23/2018 Berkeleyside: Desecrating the Ohlone village site at West Berkeley shellmound won’t solve housing crisis (Op-ed by Corrina Gould)
4/24/2018 Berkeleyside: It’s developers vs Native Americans in battle over Berkeley shellmound
4/8/2018 Daily Cal: Supporters of West Berkeley Shellmound flood Landmarks Preservation Commission meeting
3/26/2018 Ctr. for Intl. Environmental Law blog: Not for Sale: Final Remains of Ohlone Sacred Site at Risk
3/25/2018 Mercury News: Much-needed housing may upend Berkeley’s shellmound
3/20/2018 KPFA audio: Native Americans and Supporters Oppose Proposed Development in West Berkeley
3/20/2018 CBS Bay Area: Ohlone Tribe Protests Proposed West Berkeley Housing Development
3/13/2018 Next City: A New Calif. Housing Law Is Being Put to the Test in Berkeley
3/12/2018 Sacred Land Film Project Blog: Assault Begins on West Berkeley Shellmound Site
3/12/2018 Daily Cal: Construction may begin on West Berkeley site considered ‘sacred’ by Ohlone tribe
3/8/2018 SF Chronicle: Berkeley 4th Street developer plans to use new housing law to bypass review
3/8/2018 East Bay Times: Berkeley housing development first to seek fast-track under controversial new state law
3/8/2018 Berkeleyside: Developer invokes new state law to force Berkeley to approve 260-unit on Fourth Street
12/19/2017 Mercury News: Ohlone activists stand firm in opposing West Berkeley Shellmound development
11/23/2017 KPFA: Interview with Corinna Gould about West Berkeley Shellmound (audio, 1 hour) hosted by Karyn Sanders
10/11/2017 Mercury News: Preserving Indian shellmounds is subtheme in Berkeley on Indigenous Peoples Day
10/9/2017 Daily Cal: Community members gather at Shellmound to pay land tax, paint mural on Indigenous Peoples’ Day
10/9/2017 Daily Cal op-ed: Authority over dispossessed land must be returned to Native peoples
10/8/2017 Daily Cal: ‘The true birthplace of Berkeley’: Ohlone tribe defends sacred Shellmound site
9/10/2017 Daily Cal: Local Indigenous leaders discuss West Berkeley Shellmound, Ohlone burial site
3/23/2017 Daily Cal: Indigenous groups protest further development of West Berkeley Shellmound
3/7/2017 Daily Cal: Activists draft alternative plans for Shellmound property
3/7/2017 Sacred Land Film Project blog: Berkeley Sacred Site Threatened
3/6/2017 East Bay Times: Berkeley Shellmound alternative proposed by activists
2/27/2017 East Bay Times: Standing Rock comes to Berkeley through work of Native American activist
2/8/2017 Mercury News: Berkeley Shellmound EIR prompts call for do-over from landmarks commission
2/6/2017 Daily Cal: Public comment period extended for West Berkeley Project’s draft Environmental Impact Report
2/4/2017 East Bay Times: Berkeley Shellmound proposal comment deadline extended again
1/27/2017 Berkeley Daily Planet: SQUEAKY WHEEL: CEQA Comes to Fourth Street
1/18/2017 East Bay Times: Berkeley project site has long historical record of Native American discoveries
1/14/2017 SF Chronicle: Dispute over Berkeley project: likely sacred Indian burial site
1/10/2017 East Bay Times: West Berkeley Shellmound site sacred, project opponents say
12/23/2016 East Bay Times: Comment deadline extended for West Berkeley Shellmound site plan
12/13/2016 East Bay Times: Berkeley: Hearing on development proposal at landmark shellmound site to continue
12/1/2016 Daily Cal: Report reveals origins of human remains found at construction site
11/29/2016 East Bay Times: Berkeley: Remains of at least five individuals found at project site, report says
5/12/2016 Sacred Land Film Project blog: The Ancestors Call from the Berkeley Shellmound
5/11/2016 Berkeleyside: Second West Berkeley human remains discovery prompts call to re-examine shellmound boundaries
4/16/2016 Mercury News: Berkeley: Human remains found on Fourth Street draw scrutiny to development proposal at Spenger’s parking lot
4/11/2016 Daily Cal: Human remains discovered at 4th Street construction site
4/11/2016 Sacred Land Film Project blog: Ohlone Burial Disturbed in Berkeley
4/8/2016 Berkeleyside: Ohlone human remains found in trench in West Berkeley
4/6/2016 Berkeley Daily Planet: Berkeley Historian Disputes Rhoades Claim that He Reviewed Study of 1900 Fourth Site
3/14/2016 Berkeleyside: Critics question impacts of ‘Spenger’s parking lot’ project on Fourth Street, Ohlone heritage
5/11/2015 Berkeleyside: Housing, restaurant, garage planned at Spenger’s lot

Video clips

6/15/22: Berkeley is Ohlone Territory— 7 min., Sacred Land Film Project
4/16/21: Free the West Berkeley Shellmound!— 6 min., Sacred Land Film Project. Documents the 3/20/21 solstice mural painting and candlelight vigil.
12/15/2020: My Ancestors’ Home— Narrated by Corrina Gould 2:46 min., created by Chris Walker and Corrina Gould in collaboration with the Sacred Land Film Project.
7/17/2019: An Ohlone View of the Fourth of July— 4:30 min., Sacred Land Film Project.
10/18/2018: A New Vision for the West Berkeley Shellmound— 3:30 min., Sacred Land Film Project.
5/25/2018: Corrina Gould on the West Berkeley Shellmound— 33 seconds, Sacred Land Film Project.
10/22/2017: Bioneers: Corrina Gould and the Ohlone Shell Burial Mounds— 1:22 min., Bioneers Indigenous Forum on Genocide and Survivance
3/28/18: Spring Equinox 2018 gathering at the West Berkeley Shellmound Site— 5:25 min., Sacred Land Film Project.
12/20/2017: Protecting ancient shellmounds, from Emeryville to West Berkeley— 1:40 min., Sacred Land Film Project. Corrina Gould speaks about protecting the West Berkeley Shellmound.
2/7/2018: West Berkeley Shellmound Action and Interfaith Prayer on MLK Day— 2:50 min., Sacred Land Film Project.
Injunuity: “Buried”— 3:28 min., animation of Ohlone educator Corinna Gould talking about shellmounds and the destruction of sacred sites.
PBS Natural Heroes: Beyond Recognition— 26 min., "the struggle to preserve one’s culture and homeland in a society bent on erasing them," an episode length documentary about the Ohlone struggle for survival in the East Bay. [film website]
Ariel Luckey: Shellmounds— 4 minutes, 2007 excerpt from the longer hip-hop theater performance series Free Land: The Shellmound Story— Part 1 / Part 2.

West Berkeley Site information

12/15/2017 Statement of Ohlone Family Bands opposing any development at 1900 4th St.
3/13/2017 Vincent Medina, Chochenyo Ohlone— Comment Letter regarding 1900 Fourth
May 2018: Historic Maps of the West Berkeley Shellmound and Village Site
May 2018—Sacred Land Film Project blog: Propaganda vs. Facts at West Berkeley Shellmound
Why Here? Settlement, Geoarchaeology, and Paleoenvironment at the West Berkeley Site— by Christopher Dore, Stephen Bryne, Michael McFaul & Garry Running; Proceedings of the Society for California Archaeology, Volume 17, 2004.
3/13/2017 DEIR Comments on the West Berkeley Site by Kent G. Lightfoot, Professor of Anthropology at UC Berkeley
2000 Landmark Application: The Site and Remnants of the West Berkeley Native Shellmound (CA-Ala-307), Willow Grove Park and Lower Strawberry Creek (97 pages)
Garcia and Associates, Jan. 2002— Cultural Resources Inventory, Significance Evaluation, and Effects Assessment for Capital Improvement Projects in Public Streets in the West Berkeley Redevelopment Area (redacted)
3/2/2017 DEIR Comments on the West Berkeley Site by Christopher D. Dore, Ph.D., Registered Professional Archaeologist
3/13/2017 DEIR Comments on the West Berkeley Site by Stephen Bryne, Registered Professional Archaeologist
Recorded sites and historical data within and around CA-Ala-307— by Berkeley historian Richard Schwartz
3/16/2017 Confederated Villages of Lisjan DEIR Comment Letter
1/5/2017 DEIR Comments from Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
Indian People Organizing for Change: West Berkeley Shellmound page
Sacred Sites International: West Berkeley Ohlone Shellmound, Village & Burial Site

1900 Fourth proposed project

6/5/2018 City of Berkeley: City Staff Analysis of Consistency with SB 35 and City’s Objective Criteria
City of Berkeley: 1900 Fourth, application ZP2018-0052— new project, submitted under the terms of SB-35
City of Berkeley: 1900 Fourth, application ZP2015-0068— originally submitted (2015) project.
Comment Letters re: original 1900 Fourth project (PDF volumes)— Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5.
1900 Fourth— the developer’s official website
8/23/2018 West Berkeley Investors, LLC Quitclaim Deed and letter from Ruegg & Ellsworth to City of Berkeley (PDF)

Relevant laws and policies

Relevant City of Berkeley documents

2000, City of Berkeley Landmark Application: The Site and Remnants of the West Berkeley Native Shellmound (CA-Ala-307), Willow Grove Park and Lower Strawberry Creek (97 pages)
2/7/2000: Landmarks Preservation Commission Notice of Decision re: West Berkeley Shellmound Site
10/17/2000: Resolution 60,806— "Designating the Berkeley Shellmound as a City of Berkeley Landmark by Operation of Law"
11/13/2001: Resolution 61,334— Amending the Boundaries of the West Berkeley Shellmound Landmark
12/15/2015: Resolution 67,328— "Implement UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as Municipal Policy"
1/19/2016: Resolution 67,353— "Honor Berkeley Shellmound Indigenous Sacred Site, Return Ancestral Remains[…]"
1/19/2016: Resolution 67,352— "Recognizing the Ohlone Peoples"

Shellmound info

Indian People Organizing for Change: Save the Shellmounds!
Shellmounds of the Bay Area
9/21/2003 East Bay Express LTE: The shellmound: more than a parking lot (by John Curl)
Shellmound at San Bruno Mountain: a historical essay by John Dury and Laird Townsend. Shaping San Francisco project.
I’m an Indian, but Who Am I? (PDF) by Patrick Orozco— a story from the book A Gathering of Voices detailing Orozco’s recollections and reflections on the 1975 occupation at Lee Road in Watsonville to protect an Ohlone burial site.
Indian People Organzing for Change (IPOC) and the Sogorea Te Occupation: A Historical Essay— by George Cheng, Mayra Herrera, Paula Kahn, So Jeong Yoon with Marissa Friedman, August 2014. Shaping San Francisco project.
IPOC’s Shellmound Peace Walks— A Historical Essay— by Jacob Sheynin, 2015. Shaping San Francisco project.
Bay Radical History 11/16/07: The Emeryville Shellmound
3/16/2002 Berkeley Daily Planet: Emeryville replaces historic shellmound with street mall
Map: Shellmounds in the SF Bay Region (PDF)— the 1909 Nels Nelson map, adapted and modernized by John Blanchard of the SF Chronicle.

Ohlone tribal websites & campaigns

Sogorea Te Land Trust
Contemporary Ohlone History (from Sogorea Te Land Trust)
Indian People Organizing for Change
Protect Sogorea Te— Karkin Ohlone shellmound and sacred burial site in Vallejo
Protect Juristac: No Quarry on Mutsun Sacred Grounds— active campaign in Gilroy, CA by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
Amah Mutsun Land Trust / Amah Mutsun Tribal Band
Beyond Recognition— “A film exploring the quest to preserve one’s culture and homeland in a society bent on erasing them”— directed by Michelle Grace Steinberg, 2014. 25 minutes. Available via streaming and DVD.