Shellmound and Peacewalkers dinner with Winona LaDuke

Shellmound and Peace Walk kicks off with dinner with Winona LaDuke in Oakland

Article by Johnella LaRose

Photo top: Winona LaDuke, whose home burned to the ground last week, joined Shellmound Walkers Friday night at the Intertribal Friendship House in Oakland to kickoff the Shellmound Walk. Photo by Morning Star Gali; Photo 2 Shellmound Walkers, Alcatraz 2007/Brenda Norrell

http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/

OAKLAND -- On Friday, November 14, participants of the Sacred Sites/Shell mound Peace Walk gathered for a kickoff dinner to start their two-week, 250-mile walk around the San Francisco Bay. Traditional Native American leaders and the Nipponzan Myohoji Buddhists are leading the walk.

We will walk and pray with our ancestors in areas where shell mounds and sacred sites have been desecrated by development. The November 14 dinner featured Winona LaDuke, Native American leader, activist, and director of Honor the Earth, prayers, Native American drumming and prayers.

The walkers then gathered at Sogorea-te'-Glen Cove in Vallejo early on November 15, to start walking. Local native people have been fighting for years to protect this burial ground and sacred site from development.

Walkers will then travel on to Pt Pinole, El Cerrito, Alameda, Oakland, Hayward, Fremont, San Jose, and up to San Francisco to end with an educational picket at the Huichiun Shell mound in Emeryville on November 28 where a shopping mall complex was built on top of a series of shell mounds and burial sites.

Each day of walking begins with a prayer circle. Participants then walk with sacred staffs as they travel through the Bay Area past dozens of sacred sites, Ohlone village sites, and visit many of the hundreds of huge shell mounds that used to dominate the Bay area.

The largest of the shell mounds were as tall as 3 storey buildings and 300 feet in diameter. We stop to honor our ancestors and pray at the destruction of these sites.

Along the way we are fed and housed by various community groups, churches, and a Sikh temple.

This year is the culmination of four years of Sacred Sites/Shell mound Peace Walks.
What: Sacred Sites/Shell mound Peace Walk Kickoff Dinner with Winona La Duke
When: Friday, November 14 at 5:45pm
Where: Intertribal Friendship House, 523 International Blvd; Oakland, CA 94601
Who: The walk includes traditional Native Americans, Nipponzan Myohoji
Buddhist monks from Japan, and supporters from across the country and
around the world.
Why: We are walking to honor our ancestors and
1.To have land that is accessible for reburials at any development,
public or private.
2. For the reparation of our ancestors and sacred objects that are
being held in museums and universities.
3. For the recognition of the Ohlone Nation by the US Congress and all
other tribes not recognized by the federal government.
4. To have California history curriculum rewritten by native people and
approved by the California Department of Education to meet State
standards. Federal testing must reflect these changes. There must also
be changes in teacher training.
5. To educate the public about the ancient sites that have been
desecrated throughout the Bay Area and to ask support in ensuring
these atrocities do not continue to happen.
6. To pray for peace and justice for all people everywhere.
Sacred Site/Shell mound Peace Walk Schedule
Sponsored by
Indian People Organizing for Change, (IPOC),
SSP&RIT, and Vallejo Intertribal Council
November 14-28, 2008 Beginning at Sogorea-Te` Shell mound - Glen Cove - Vallejo, CA
traveling through the Bay Area and ending at the Emeryville Huchiun Shell mound (Bay Street Mall) Community Potluck and Blessing for the Shell mound Walk
November 14, 2008 5:30-8:30 pm
Intertribal Friendship House
523 International Blvd
Oakland California
Walk Schedule
Date: Leave: Arrive:
Nov 15 Sogorea-te` Shell mound-Glen Cove Pt. Pinole
Nov 16 Pt. Pinole El Cerrito
Nov 17 El Cerrito Alameda
Nov 18 Alameda Hayward
Nov 19 Hayward Coyote Hills
Nov 20 Coyote Hills Mission San Jose
Nov 21 REST DAY Coyote Hills program
Nov 22 Mission San Jose (Fremont) Alviso
Nov 23 Alviso – San Jose (Ryland Park) – All together
San Jose – San Francisco - Spirit Runners
Walkers -Transport to Temple - Walk to Candlestick Point, SF
Nov 24 San Francisco San Francisco
Nov 25 San Francisco San Francisco
Nov 26 San Francisco San Francisco
Nov 27 Sunrise Ceremony – Alcatraz Intertribal Friendship House
Nov 28 IFH- Huichiun Shell mound - Closing Gathering Berkeley
Call 510-575-8408 for route updates and information.