The Land Back Movement, Ohlone Shellmound Site

Professor Melissa Nelson, board member, Sogorea Te' Land Trust; Corrina Gould, Co-Director, Sogorea Te' Land Trust

The speakers appeared on KQED's Forum to talk about The City of Berkeley returning sacred land, the oldest Ohlone shellmound, to an Indigenous trust. Berkeley’s mayor called it the largest urban land give-back in California history. It took nearly a decade of litigation, so it’s been a long journey. The city acquired the land for 27 million dollars, mostly with money from the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.

Professor Melissa Nelson is an ecologist, writer, editor, media-maker and indigenous scholar-activist. At Arizona State University, she is a professor of Indigenous Sustainability in the School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures. Prior to this, she served as a Professor of American Indian Studies at San Francisco State University. She actively advocates for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and sustainable lifeways in higher education, nonprofits, and philanthropy and is particularly passionate about Indigenous food sovereignty at local, regional and global levels. Melissa serves on the board of directors of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.

Corrina Gould is the tribal spokesperson for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan. She was born and raised in her ancestral homeland, the territory of Huchiun. Corrina has worked on preserving and protecting the sacred burial sites of her ancestors throughout the Bay Area for decades. She is the Co-Director for the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, a women-led organization within the urban setting of her ancestral territory of the Bay Area that works to return Indigenous land to Indigenous people.