A Victory of Resistance For Sogorea Te

p style="margin-top: 15px;" After 98 days and nights of a continuous prayer vigil, thebr / Committee to Protect Glen Cove is pleased to announce a victory in the struggle to protect the sacred grounds of span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="5"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="12"Te/span/Glen Cove./p p Yesterday, the span data-scayt_word="Yocha" data-scaytid="19"Yocha/span span data-scayt_word="Dehe" data-scaytid="27"Dehe/span and Cortina tribes established a a href="http://protectglencove.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/cultural_easement-and-settlement-agreement.pdf"cultural easement and settlement agreement/a with the City of Vallejo and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District (span data-scayt_word="GVRD" data-scaytid="35"GVRD/span). The agreement sets a legal precedent for granting Native peoples jurisdiction over their sacred sites and ancestral lands. The cultural easement forever guarantees that the span data-scayt_word="Yocha" data-scaytid="20"Yocha/span span data-scayt_word="Dehe" data-scaytid="28"Dehe/span and Cortina tribes will have legal oversight in all activities taking place on the sacred burial grounds of span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="6"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="13"Te/span/Glen Cove. It also represents a significant step forward in enacting tribal sovereignty, as the first such easement under CA Senate Bill 18 to be negotiated at the city and recreational district levels./p p The agreementrsquo;s terms include elimination of the formerly planned restroom facility and relocation of a downsized 2-space parking lot to an area thoroughly tested to confirm that it contains no human remains or cultural remnants./p p While the specifics of the deal leave some ambiguity about how span data-scayt_word="GVRD’s" data-scaytid="37"GVRDrsquo;s/span park development project can and cannot proceed, the Committee is hopeful that span data-scayt_word="Yocha" data-scaytid="21"Yocha/span span data-scayt_word="Dehe" data-scaytid="29"Dehe/span and Cortina will use their newfound influence to make sure that the resting place of the ancestors is not further disturbed or desecrated./p p ldquo;The cultural easement is an important victory, however we are concerned about the lack of specific language that would prevent grading on the western portion of the site,rdquo; states span data-scayt_word="Corrina" data-scaytid="38"Corrina/span Gould (span data-scayt_word="Chochenyo" data-scaytid="39"Chochenyo/span/span data-scayt_word="Karkin" data-scaytid="40"Karkin/span span data-scayt_word="Ohlone" data-scaytid="41"Ohlone/span.) ldquo;We will be communicating this to the tribes and we have faith that they will take all necessary measures to ensure that ancestral remains and cremations are left span data-scayt_word="undisturbed.”" data-scaytid="1"undisturbed.rdquo;/span/p p Gould continued, ldquo;We appreciate and are humbled by the vast support that we have received in protecting our ancestors. It is our responsibility to continue to do the work to make certain that all of our sacred places are span data-scayt_word="protected.”" data-scaytid="2"protected.rdquo;/span/p p The historical and cultural value of the 3,500-year old site has never been disputed and it continues to be spiritually important to California tribes.nbsp;On April 14th, local Native Americans and supporters began a 24-hour prayer vigil at span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="7"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="14"Te/span to prevent the Greater Vallejo Recreation District from bulldozing/grading a large portion of the sacred site and constructing bathrooms and a parking lot./p p nbsp;/p h1 class="entry-title" Day 104: Closing ceremony set for Saturday, span data-scayt_word="Yocha" data-scaytid="22"Yocha/span span data-scayt_word="Dehe" data-scaytid="30"Dehe/span representative visits/h1 div class="entry-meta" nbsp;/div p a href="http://protectglencove.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P1060497-sm1.jpg"img alt="" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3912" height="150" src="http://protectglencove.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P1060497-sm1-150x150.jpg" title="P1060497-sm" width="150" //a/p p a href="http://protectglencove.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_4785-sm-crop.jpg"img alt="" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3908" height="150" src="http://protectglencove.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/IMG_4785-sm-crop-150x150.jpg" title="IMG_4785-sm-crop" width="150" //a/p p bAnnouncement:/b A final closing ceremony for the prayer vigil encampment at span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="8"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="15"Te/span will be held on Saturday, July 30th, starting at noon. During the ceremony, long-term participants and warriors will be honored and the sacred fire that has been continuously tended for over 100 days and nights will be allowed to burn out./p p Bring chairs to sit in and food to share. Wersquo;ll be asking volunteers to take trash out with them as they leave. Also, on Sunday the 31st, we will work together to pack everything up and to thoroughly clean and restore the grounds. Extra hands will be very much appreciated./p p bOn Monday the 25th,/b a representative of span data-scayt_word="Yocha" data-scaytid="23"Yocha/span span data-scayt_word="Dehe" data-scaytid="31"Dehe/span visited span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="9"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="16"Te/span and walked the grounds with Protect Glen Cove Committee members, who pointed out all the specific areas of cultural concern. He brought with him a a href="http://protectglencove.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/yochadehe-letters-7_25.pdf"letter/a from Marshall McKay, the Chairman of span data-scayt_word="Yocha" data-scaytid="24"Yocha/span span data-scayt_word="Dehe" data-scaytid="32"Dehe/span. A personal note from McKay accompanying the letter stated that ldquo;It is with heartfelt appreciation for your dedication to the preservation of the sacred burials and sites at Glen Cove that I send this messagehellip;Please know that while I cannot attend the closing ceremony, I will be with you in span data-scayt_word="spirit.”" data-scaytid="3"spirit.rdquo;/span/p p The a href="http://protectglencove.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/yochadehe-letters-7_25.pdf"open letter/a ldquo;to our friends at Glen Coverdquo; states, ldquo;On behalf of the span data-scayt_word="Yocha" data-scaytid="25"Yocha/span span data-scayt_word="Dehe" data-scaytid="33"Dehe/span span data-scayt_word="Wintun" data-scaytid="42"Wintun/span Nation, I thank you for your efforts to protect the sacred sites here at Glen Cove in the City of Vallejo. With your help, we succeeded in securing a cultural easement that will forever ensure that Native Americans govern the protection of this area so cherished by those who gave us lifehellip; you have persevered through many difficulties and your willingness to support our efforts is so greatly span data-scayt_word="appreciated.”" data-scaytid="4"appreciated.rdquo;/span/p p The span data-scayt_word="Yocha" data-scaytid="26"Yocha/span span data-scayt_word="Dehe" data-scaytid="34"Dehe/span representatives also brought with them the news that the ldquo;reducedrdquo; parking lot still planned by span data-scayt_word="GVRD" data-scaytid="36"GVRD/span is a b2 space/b parking lot for the handicapped. Careful testing will be done to make certain that the area where they want to place this lot contains no cultural materials or human remains./p p a href="http://protectglencove.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P1060515.jpg"img alt="" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3923" height="150" src="http://protectglencove.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P1060515-150x150.jpg" title="P1060515" width="150" //a/p p This past weekend was packed with special occasions and visitors, including a contingent of island indigenous people from the iOceania Coalition of Northern California/i (span data-scayt_word="OCNC" data-scaytid="43"OCNC/span) that brought gifts and blessings, a delegation from ldquo;a href="http://sites.google.com/site/freepeltierhiphopcampaign/"Free span data-scayt_word="Peltier" data-scaytid="44"Peltier/span, Free Em All/ardquo; with a href="http://socialjustice.ccnmtl.columbia.edu/index.php/Fred_Hampton,_Jr."Fred Hampton span data-scayt_word="Jr" data-scaytid="45"Jr/span/a, and a a href="http://protectglencove.org/2011/hawaii-solidarity-statement/"group of Native Hawaiians/a who stayed late in to the evening, sharing songs and stories of Hawaiian struggles. The Vallejo Intertribal Councilrsquo;s annual Pow-Wow was held in downtown Vallejo over the weekend, and on Sunday, warriors and supporters from span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="10"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="17"Te/span came out in strong numbers to sing the AIM honoring song and span data-scayt_word="Sogorea" data-scaytid="11"Sogorea/span span data-scayt_word="Te" data-scaytid="18"Te/span song./p