Sogorea Te Protesters: "No Celebration for Desecration"

Native News Network Staff in Native Challenges. Discussion »

VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA – Leaders of last year's 109-day occupation of Sogorea Te, also known as Glen Cove, near San Francisco, feel they were double-crossed by the City of Vallejo and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District, which erected a new park there.

Withstanding 101 degree temperatures nearly 100 people protested the dedication ceremony of the new park at Sogorea Te on Saturday. Many protesters carried handmade signs that read "No Celebration for Desecration."

The protestors started a fire, prayers were offered, Mexica Azteca dancers performed and speakers spoke.

Last year Sogorea Te was the site of a 109-day occupation last from mid-April to late July 2011. Protesters waged the occupation there to demonstrate their opposition to the building of two toilets and 15 parking spaces on the site that were proposed by the Greater Vallejo Recreation District and endorsed by the City of Vallejo.

American Indians from the San Francisco Bay Area consider Sogorea Te a sacred site. They gather at the 3,500 year old Sogorea Te sacred burial site, which contains ancestral human remains, several times each year to hold ceremonies.

Protest and Ceremony Marks Events Today

In late July 2011, the Yocha Dehe Wintun and Cortina tribes established a cultural easement and settlement agreement with the City of Vallejo and the Greater Vallejo Recreation District to end the 109 day protest. The agreement was signed and protestors left.

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posted June 18, 2012 11:10 am edt