Peace Vigil, Fasting and Prayer for Return of Native American Remains for Reburial

Buddhist nun, is fasting and praying in front of the Hearst Museum of Anthropology at U C Berkeley Nov. 30 to Dec. 4th. Her vigil calls attention to the bones of some 13,000 ancient burials removed from Shellmounds and other sites as development took over the Bay area. They are held by the Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Buried by the Ohlone and others in a sacred manner, the bones remain sacred and should be returned to Native American people. This vigil calls for recognition of the Ohlone Nation and return of the remains for proper reburial.

The vigil follows the fourth in a cycle of Sacred Site Shellmound Peace Walks organized by modern day Ohlone people and others. These walks have visited some of the 4 - 500 village sites that thrived around the San Francisco Bay for thousands of years before the devastation of the missions, ranchos, and modern development. The 2008 walk began at Glen Cove in Vallejo, where a sacred Shellmound site is currently at risk (http://www.vallejointertribalcouncil.org), and ended at the Emeryville Mall where a monument to consumerism replaces a monumental Ohlone Shellmound that was once 60 feet tall. Numerous remains from this site are held in the University collection.

The 5 day Prayer Vigil continues from 8 am to 5 pm, rain or shine. Please feel to join for a short or longer time or to sit in solidarity. And please make your views on ancestral remains known to U C Berkeley Chancellor Birgenau: chencellor [at] berkeley.edu 510-642-7464 or the Governor & Regents at.http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/contact.html