The Birthplace of Berkeley

Surrounded by boutique storefronts in the upscale Fourth Street shopping area of Berkeley sits an unassuming 2-acre parking lot. For 5,700 years this was an Ohlone village where two massive shellmounds grew—sites of burial and ceremony.

For the past four years, Lisjan Ohlone leader Corrina Gould has been fighting a five-story retail and condo project proposed for this historic sacred site. Corrina and her allies won the battle when developers dropped the project in August 2018. When the landowners came back and tried to fast track a permit for affordable housing (using a new, untested law, SB35), Corrina and the City of Berkeley said no. A judge agreed.

Although the owners of the land have vowed to find a new developer, have sued the city of Berkeley and appealed the judge's ruling, this is the time to fight for a new vision. Recognition of the archaeological significance of the West Berkeley Shellmound and Village Site by the National Trust for Historic Preservation will add momentum to the movement for social justice right here in Huichuin—the ancient sacred site that was the birthplace of Berkeley.

This is a revised and updated version of our earlier short film "A New Vision for the West Berkeley Shellmound." WIth thanks to Carla, Desiree and Brenda Munoz (Rumsen Ohlone of Carmel) for the beautiful opening song, and to Chris Walker for the amazing animated sequence.

Видео The Birthplace of Berkeley канала Sacred Land Film Project