TWH – The years-long struggle over the West Berkeley Shellmound has ended. It will be returned to an Indigenous people, the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. On March 13, The Mercury News reported on its US$27 million settlement. At issue is the ownership/guardianship of the parking lot covering the West Berkeley Shellmound.
The Indigenous people of the eastern San Francisco Bay (the “East Bay”) called themselves the Ohlone. More than 5,700 years ago, they built the West Berkeley Shellmound. It represents the earliest known human habitation in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Don Frew and Anna Korn, of the Adocentyn Research Library in the East Bay, spoke with the Wild Hunt. “We are very glad to see this victory for local indigenous people. It’s been frustrating that, for many years, when people would go to look for the Shellmound, they would instead find a parking lot. We hope that the local peoples’ plans for …