Indian People Organizing for Change

On Friday, a group of protesters gathered on Sproul Plaza to rally against the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, or TMT, on Mauna Kea, a mountain that is held sacred by the Native Hawaiian people, who are also known as Kanaka Maoli.

Sounds of bells jingling and leaves rustling in the wind welcomed hundreds of community members to the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Pow Wow on Saturday at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park.

The developers of 1900 Fourth St. intend to sue the city of Berkeley if expedited development of their project is not approved.

Local indigenous leaders held a press conference Friday to provide updates on their continued efforts to prevent development at the West Berkeley Shellmound site at 1900 4th St., which they consider to be a sacred burial site of the Ohlone Indians.

A set of maps from the United States Geological Survey website has sparked debate about the development of affordable housing on the Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto’s parking lot, because of information gleaned about the site’s environmental history.

On Wednesday, indigenous activist groups organized a spring equinox demonstration defending the sacred site of the West Berkeley Shellmound on 1900 4th St., where developers are looking to build residential units.

A coalition of activists led by Corrina Gould, a member of the Ohlone tribe, has drafted an alternative to the commercial development plan for the parking lot at 1900 4th Street — a remnant of the historic Ohlone village and shellmound.

Human remains, possibly those of an Ohlone Indian, were uncovered last month at a Fourth Street construction site — right outside the boundaries of a city-designated historic landmark, the West Berkeley Shellmound.