On March 29th, construction workers at West Berkeley’s Fourth Street commercial development found something unusual in the dirt: human remains. Work was halted, an osteologist was called, and suspicions were confirmed: the bones were not only human, but belonged to pre-European contact Native Americans. But this isn’t the first time digging up Ohlone remains has happened in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Of the more than 400 shell mounds surrounding the Bay, the Emeryville shell mound was the largest. Home to the Ohlone people for over 3000 years, the 60-foot tall heap of shell remains was a mark of their lengthy presence. But the mound wasn’t just a trash pile, it was the resting place for hundreds of Native Americans. (Anthropologists believe that memory of the burial places were lost to the Ohlone people, who covered resting places with food waste). Yet when human remains were discovered in 1999, construction of the modern Bay Street shopping district continued.
Today, the only existing reminder of the reality underneath Emeryville’s shopping district is a noncommittal memorial tucked away at one corner of the district. It features a large basket, a small stone waterfall and a set of archways. Nowhere are shoppers reminded of what lies underneath their feet. Rather, the memorial seems to be a reluctant compromise by developers who, in an apparent attempt to respect native culture, have failed to recognize it. Perhaps neglecting to mention the controversial past of the Emeryville shellmound makes business sense, but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
As unsettling as the Bay Street shopping district is, it is here to stay. However, Berkeley’s Fourth Street development is still under construction. Are we willing to repeat the past, however regrettable? In public school history classes, we denounce our country’s attitude towards Native Americans. We recognize that many Californian missions enslaved Native Americans, attempted to erase their culture and mold them into Hispanicized servants. We acknowledge the thousands of Cherokee who died along the Trail of Tears because of our country’s desire for gold. So, in the question of whether Berkeley should respect the burial grounds of native Ohlone people, who will you support?
