A Perfect June Day at the California Native Ways Festival
By Tavi Lorelle Carpenter
This past Saturday was the annual California Native Ways Festival, a free community event featuring California Indian arts and culture put together by the California Institute for Community, Art & Nature (California ICAN). This year it was once again curated by Northern Sierra Mewuk basket weaver and California ICAN Festival Curator/Co-Producer Jennifer Bates and took place at Ohlone Park in Berkeley. This event, which is in its fifth year, offers space for a variety of activities including booths featuring traditional artisan demonstrations and artisan vendors.
It was a beautiful, warm June day—absolutely perfect for an outdoor event. When I arrived, the festival was already in full swing! Having parked a couple of blocks away, I was delighted to note that the festival was attracting quite a few neighborhood attendees walking from their homes to Ohlone Park.
Immediately, I walked over to a shaded area where special events were being held. I had made it right on time to hear a discussion that was entitled, “Special Panel on the Successful Campaign to Save the West Berkeley Shellmound”. It was in March of this year that the City of Berkeley announced it would officially rematriated the West Berkeley Shellmound into the hands of the non-profit organization of Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, an Indigenous-women led organization based in the San Francisco Bay Area. This monumental moment came after years of hard work, dedication and fundraising by California Indigenous people and their allies. This panel reflected on those years of hard work and the collaborative efforts of wider community solidarity.
Due to unforeseen circumstances impacting the scheduling, the panel focused on the perspective of allies, highlighting the important role allies can play in community action. Having grown up in the Bay Area, where I attended my first anti-war protest at seven, there is a shared story surrounding the long history of activism and social justice movements particularly in Berkeley and Oakland that one comes to know from their earliest days. But this panel highlighted the nuances of how to work united with allies towards collective liberation. Advocacy and activism requires endurance wherein it becomes necessary to lean into collectivity and community as well as compassion and listening. It was also a reminder to keep going no matter what, as Claire Greensfelder (California ICAN executive director) noted, it was a fight that lasted up until the last hour.
The cultural demonstrations included voices from across California, highlighting the vast diversity of California Indigenous people. Everytime I looked around I saw groups of people listening in rapture to cultural bearers sharing their wisdom, skills and knowledge. At the very entrance of the festival were two Ti’aat plank canoes and a Tule Canoe shared by boat-builders L. Frank Manriquez and Redbird Willie. There was also “all-ages storytelling” that occurred after the panel to the delight of many attendees!
It was wonderful to say hello and visit with those I knew, as well as meeting some new-to-me people I look forward to visiting with at future events! There is something truly special about these kinds of events that bring community together as a means of connecting, celebrating and learning!
