Alex Darocy Photography

Linda Yamane constructs a traditional tule boat at Ohlone Day. Photo: September 10, 2011. Linda Yamane, who is of Rumsien Ohlone ancestry, is an Ohlone basket weaver and cultural preservationist who lives in the Monterey Bay Area. She spent years researching Ohlone basketry before producing her first traditional basket in 1994. Yamane's were the first Ohlone baskets to be made in over 150 years. She and her students are the only authentic Ohlone weavers alive and working today. A young person sits in a tule boat on display at Ohlone Day. Photo: September 10, 2011. Yamane is also the author of  the book, "When the World Ended, How Hummingbird Got Fire, How People Were Made: Rumsien Ohlone Stories." For more information about Linda Yamane, see: Tule Boat (donated to the Oakland Museum of California by Linda Yamane and others) The Ohlone Basket Project (Oakland Museum of California) Linda Yamane (Alliance for California Traditional Arts website) Lin...

On May 2, Native American community members and Interfaith supporters, including clergy leaders, demonstrated outside of Mission Dolores in San Francisco to oppose the impending canonization of Junipero Serra by the Catholic church. Pope Francis has reaffirmed his decision to name Junipero Serra a saint, despite strong opposition from Native Americans who say the man is responsible for the killing of hundreds of thousands of Indigenous people when he helped to establish and then presided over the California mission system in the 1700s. "My ancestors were directly enslaved at Mission Dolores here, and at Mission San Jose in Fremont, and I want to make sure that the Vatican knows that we, and Native people allies, do not agree with the canonization of Junipero Serra," said Corrina Gould, who is of Karkin and Chochenyo Ohlone ancestry. Individuals of Coastal Miwok and Chumash ancestry, two other Californian tribal groups gravely affected by the establishment of the mission syste...

Today on Earth Day, April 22, members of San Benito Rising will submit nearly 4,000 petition signatures to the San Benito County elections office in order to qualify a local initiative to ban fracking and other extreme oil extraction methods for the November 2014 ballot. Since March 21, San Benito residents have been collecting signatures to ban fracking in their county, and volunteers secured twice the number required to qualify the initiative in less than two weeks. The five original proponents of the initiative will deliver the signatures this afternoon in Hollister using Native American baskets. This will be preceded by a short Earth Day ceremony lead by Ann Marie Sayers, a local Ohlone tribal leader, and one of the original proponents of the initiative. San Benito Rising has organized the local ban on fracking in order to "protect local groundwater, residents’ health, agriculture and tourism," the group stated in a press release. The initiative, if approved by vote...

On February 17, individuals gathered in Monterey for an Idle No More flash mob held in solidarity with First Nations and Chief Theresa Spence. Organizers described the flash mob as an opportunity for "dance and prayer" and to educate the public. Groups represented at the gathering included the Ohlone and the Chumash, as well as a number of others. The gathering resembled other Idle No More events and flash mobs where participants sing traditional songs and join together in round dancing. Isaac Orozco, who also dances with Amah-Ka-Tura, an Ohlone group based out of the Pajaro Valley, sang traditional Ohlone songs. In addition to drumming, individuals played clap sticks, which are a traditional instrument of central Californian Indian groups. Fliers were also handed out with information about the legislation currently before the Canadian House of Commons that threatens First Nations sovereignty, which was the basis for the founding of the Idle No More movement.  The fla...

On January 27, In solidarity with First Nations and Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence, Ohlone and other individuals of Californian Native American ancestry held a flash mob in San Francisco at the Westfield Mall to show support for the Idle No More movement. About 100-150 people joined Ohlone activists at the Westfield Mall on a busy Sunday afternoon. At the flash mob, people prayed and shared the songs and dances of, "the People of the Roundhouse, Earthlodge, and Dance Pit," and the Yelamu were honored. The Yelamu were the tribe of Ohlone Indians that inhabited a variety of locations within the SF area before the Spanish mission system was established. The singing and dancing inside of the mall lasted for 10-15 minutes. To clear people out, security used a bullhorn, at which time the group moved outside to the front entrance and then across Market Street to the small square near Powell Street, where they continued to sing and dance. Speak...