Indigenous people rejoice after city of Berkeley votes to return sacred Native land to Ohlone

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Ohlone people and others are rejoicing over the return of sacred Native land dating back thousands of years. They said at a news conference in Berkeley, California, on Wednesday (March 13, 2024) that the move rights a historic wrong. The 2.2-acre parking lot is the only undeveloped portion of the shellmound in West Berkeley. This is where ancestors of today’s Ohlone people established the first human settlement on the shores of the San Francisco Bay 5,700 years ago. Berkeley’s City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to give title of the land to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust. The trust plans to plant Native medicine and food.