Beginning with place based understandings
This website was conceived as a part of a public educational project to increase knowledge and understanding of place, with an East Bay Ohlone lens. This partnership between the Native American Thriving Initiatives and the ‘ottoy Initiative begins with place, and in turn, landscapes.
It is critical that people understand the unique landscapes - both historical and today - that are Berkeley and East Bay. We cannot understand the people without the land, and the language of the people create the landscape, making meaning and place.
We begin with landscapes both old and new, offering information about language of the East Bay, food that comes from the land, and the people. This project will grow to include a walking tour of the Berkeley campus and a mapping project of xučyun. It is our hope that this will support an understanding of the East Bay that is deeply rooted in the lives and experiences of the stewards and first people of the land - East Bay Ohlone people.
