Bay Area Indigenous leaders to hold ‘Black Friday’ prayer walk by shellmounds
(BCN) — Bay Area Indigenous leaders and community members plan to convene at the intersection of Fourth Street and Hearst Avenue in Berkeley on Friday morning in an expression of support for Palestine, to raise awareness of indigenous ancestors buried at two locations, and to protest further development of the area.
The three-mile walk takes place annually the day after Thanksgiving and is referred to as the Shellmound to Shellmound Prayer Walk.
The walk begins at the West Berkeley Shellmound, a 5,700-year-old sacred Ohlone burial ground, and goes to the Emeryville Shellmound, another sacred burial ground now covered by the Bay Street Mall. The Ohlone are a tribe of Indigenous Americans native to Northern California and the Bay Area in particular.
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The walk will begin at 10 a.m. and organizers hope to raise awareness to mallgoers on “Black Friday” of the Ohlone shellmounds and to honor ancestors buried there.
Indigenous elders, community and faith leaders as well as representatives of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan, one of many Ohlone tribes that are native to the East Bay, will speak at the event regarding their struggle to protect the West Berkeley Shellmound site and to emphasize solidarity with the people of Palestine.
“Our solidarity runs deeper than a walk… We stand shoulder to shoulder in prayer, standing against genocide, mourning the loss of innocent lives stolen and Protecting the Sacred!” reads an invitation to the event.
“As the Tribal Chair of the Confederated Villages of Lisjan Nation, Ohlone, the Indigenous stewards of the occupied lands now known as San Francisco, East Bay, the horrific violence in Gaza is heart-shattering… Genocide and occupation are not new to Indigenous peoples,” said Corrina Gould, the spokeswoman for the group.
“The blueprint used to create genocide in Gaza and throughout the world was pulled from the playbook created by the United States government on American Indians here in Turtle Island, our ancestral lands.”
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This walk was inspired by a previous Shellmound walk organized by Gould and Johnella LaRose, which ran 300 miles.
Organizers for the walk mentioned their frustration with what they say are threats from developers to expand construction at the locations — something they say could potentially damage the historically landmarked sites.
“In the coming months, decisions made by Berkeley’s City Council could have a critical impact on the sacred site,” a press release by organizers for the walk read.
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