The Sogorea Te Land Trust is an urban

land trust Land trusts are nonprofit organizations which own and manage land, and sometimes waters. There are three common types of land trust, distinguished from one another by the ways in which they are legally structured and by the purposes for which th ...

founded in 2012 with the goals of returning traditionally

Chochenyo The Chochenyo (also called Chocheño, Chocenyo) are one of the divisions of the Indigenous Ohlone (Costanoan) people of Northern California. The Chochenyo reside on the east side of the San Francisco Bay (the East Bay), primarily in what is no ...

and Karkin lands in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

stewardship and cultivating more active, reciprocal relationships with the land. The land trust inspired the work of the

Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy is an Indigenous urban land trust that formed with the objective to return or repatriate land to self-identified Tongva descendants in the greater Los Angeles County area. It was inspired by the work of ...

in the Los Angeles region of Southern California.

Background

Ohlone history

The

Ohlone The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...

people have lived in what is now the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

since 4000 BCE. The arrival of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

soldiers and

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

in the 18th century disrupted and undermined the Ohlone people's way of life, and their population (along with that of other indigenous groups in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

) was reduced to a fraction of its former size. When California was incorporated into the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the Ohlone (as well as most other indigenous groups) were denied land and legal recognition by the United States.

Modern activism

Beginning in the 1970s, Ohlone descendants have engaged in efforts to reclaim historic Ohlone land, and to revitalize their languages and cultures. In the 1990s, Corrina Gould (a Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone leader) and Johnella LaRose (of

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ), also known by the endonym Newe, are an Native Americans in the United States, Indigenous people of the United States with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshon ...

–

Bannock Bannock may mean: * Bannock (British and Irish food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle served mainly in Scotland but consumed throughout the British Isles * Bannock (Indigenous American food), various types of bread, usually prepare ...

and Carrizo heritage) co-founded Indian People Organizing for Change.

History

In 2011, Indigenous People Organizing for Change led the occupation of a construction site for a waterfront property called Glen Cove Park, which was being built on the site of an ancient Ohlone village, gathering place, and burial ground, known as Sogorea Te in the

Karkin language The Karkin language (also called in Spanish) is an extinct Ohlone language. It was formerly spoken in north central California, but by the 1850s there were no more native speakers. The language was historically spoken by the Karkin people, who ...

. While the occupation was successful and development was halted, the land was not turned over to the Ohlone people, as they are denied recognition as a

Native American tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, Indigenous tribe, or Tribal nation may be any current or historical Tribe (Native American)#Other uses, tribe, band, or nation of Native Americans in ...

by the

federal government of the United States The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

. Instead, the land was transferred to the nearest federally recognized tribe, the

Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation ( ) is a federally recognized tribe of Wintun people, specifically Patwin people or southern Wintun, in Yolo County, California. They were formerly known as the Rumsey Indian Rancheria of Wintun Indians of Californi ...

, which lacked any connection to the location or to the occupation, and consequently gave significant concessions to the land developers. To prevent a similar situation from occurring again, the Sogorea Te Land Trust was founded in 2012 by Gould and LaRose as a way to collectively own and buy back the traditional lands of the Karkin and Chochenyo people. The first plot of land for the Land Trust was donated by Planting Justice, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving

food security Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy Human food, food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Simila ...

, and is located near 105th Avenue in

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

. A second piece of land, consisting of a small garden, was secured in 2018 on 30th and Linden in

West Oakland West Oakland is a neighborhood situated in the northwestern corner of Oakland, California, United States, situated west of Downtown Oakland, south of Emeryville, and north of Alameda. The neighborhood is located along the waterfront at the ...

. Another parcel of land in Southwest

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

was donated to the trust in 2022. The land has been used as a

community garden A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plot ...

since 2004, with support from the nonprofit We Bee Gardeners.

Purpose

The vision for the land trust is for it to be a patchwork of small plots of land across the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

, the traditional territory of the

and Karkin divisions of the

people, that would be available for communal use, beginning with land that is either owned by the city, neglected, abandoned, or under a

lien A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

. The organization is also in the process of building a ceremonial space at its 105th Avenue location. Long-term goals for the project include a

burial ground A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many dead people are buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ) implies th ...

for the bones of Ohlone ancestors, medicine plant gardens, and educational and cultural centers for native languages and cultures. The organization also hopes to create an opportunity for all people to develop more active relationships with the land and as a community.

Shuumi Land Tax

In order to financially support their goals, the Sogorea Te Land Trust has begun a project that it calls the Shuumi Land Tax (''shuumi'' means "gift" in

Ohlone languages The Ohlone languages, also known as Costanoan, form a small Indigenous language, Indigenous language family historically spoken in Northern California, both in the southern San Francisco Bay Area and northern Monterey Bay area, by the Ohlone peop ...

), which asks non-indigenous people living on Ohlone land to pay dues for the land that they live on. The tax has no legal ramifications and no connection with the local and state governments or the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

. The organization prefers this term (as opposed to merely calling contributions

donation A donation is a gift for Charity (practice), charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, Service (economics), services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donati ...

s) as it asserts indigenous

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

. The suggested tax amount is calculated based on the would-be taxpayer's usage of the land: renters are asked to pay a small percentage of their rent, homeowners are expected to pay based on the number of rooms (for an estimated total between $65 and $500). Those who use the land for commercial purposes are expected to make a contribution based on the size and scale of their business.

In media

The founding of the Sogorea Te Land Trust is the subject of the film ''Beyond Recognition'', produced in 2014 by Underexposed Films.

References

External links

* {{authority control Native American organizations Native American history of California Native American topics Land trusts in California Land trusts Organizations established in 2012 2012 establishments in California