Online Sacred Land Film Festival!
Celebrate Earth Day with free online screenings of the four films in our Standing on Sacred Ground series, one per week, with discussions with indigenous leaders featured in the films.
Hopi Prophecy—A Timeless Warning
As translator for Hopi elders, Thomas Banyacya Sr. (1909-1999) traversed the globe for 50 years sharing the Hopi Prophecy. In November 1995, we filmed Thomas’s presentation in Las Vegas. As a fearful pathogen sweeps the planet, his warnings seem more timely than ever.
Shellmound Victory
A California judge ruled that the West Berkeley Shellmound is a “historic structure,” exempting the sacred site from a fast-track building permit under SB35, and saving it (for now) from a five-story condo-retail-parking development.
Biodiversity Thrives on Indigenous Sacred Lands
What is the relationship between sacred places and biodiversity? Project Director Toby McLeod reports on a three-month research project by six U.C. Berkeley students…
We Can Save the West Berkeley Shellmound
After a two-year battle, developers have withdrawn their plans to build a 5-story condo complex at the West Berkeley Shellmound. We are not calling this a “victory” because the land owners say they’ll try to move ahead—but now is the time to advance another vision for the site.
Redacting Inconvenient Facts at the Shellmound
There is very clear evidence of cultural artifacts beneath the pavement of Spenger’s Parking Lot at 1900 Fourth Street, no matter what the developers may claim.
Propaganda vs. Facts at West Berkeley Shellmound
An expensive public relations campaign cannot obscure the fact that an important cultural landscape and designated historic landmark — a sacred site — still graces Berkeley where Strawberry Creek once flowed into the bay and a 5,000 year-old Ohlone village built a massive mound of shells and revered ancestors.
Assault Begins on West Berkeley Shellmound Site
The Ohlone campaign to protect the West Berkeley Shellmound and Village Site suffered a setback last week as the developer invoked a new state law that takes control of housing project approval away from local zoning boards and requires over-the-counter rubber stamp approval by planning departments.
West Berkeley Shellmound Battle Continues
When a developer proposed a 5-story condo-commercial complex on the site of a 5,000-year-old Ohlone village site known as the “West Berkeley Shellmound,” fierce opposition grew in support of local leader Corrina Gould.
Ohlone Burial Disturbed in Berkeley
It was a sad, sunless Sunday at the corner of 4th Street and Hearst. Few shoppers—or Berkeley residents for that matter—are aware that an ancient Ohlone village once graced this sprawling site around…