Sogorea Te Sacred Site Protest-Day 10

We Cannot Stop Now! Protesters Plan to Go to Vallejo City Council Meeting Tuesday

by Levi Rickert, editor-in-chief in Native Challenges. Discussion »

VALLEJO, CALIFORNIA -

Norman “Wounded Knee”
DeOcampo (Me-wuk)

“We are thankful for all the support we are getting, but we cannot stop now!”

said Norman “Wounded Knee” DeOcampo (Me-wuk). “We want to urge people to go to the City Council meeting on Tuesday night.”

Saturday marked the tenth day of the occupation at Sogorea Te sacred burial site in Vallejo, California by a group of American Indian protestors from the San Francisco Bay area. The protestors are adamantly opposed to plans by the Vallejo city officials that include erecting two toilets and putting in 15 parking spaces.

300 People Gathered

On Saturday, some 300 people gathered for an Interfaith Vigil to lend their support and to commemorate Indigenous Peoples Earth Day. Even Mayor Osby Davis of Vallejo attended the vigil and was provided with a guided tour of the site by Wounded Knee.

People of various races and faiths were among those who attended, according to Wounded Knee.

Speakers included Jimbo Simmons (Choctaw), Fred Short (Ojibwa), Mark Anquoe (Kiowa), Bradley Angel of Greenaction, and a Seneca man who spoke about the Great Law of Peace. Songs and dances were offered by Pomo, Ohlone, Me-wuk and Aztec people.

American Indians from the San Francisco Bay area gather at the 3,500-year old Sogorea Te site, which contains ancestral human remains, several times each year to hold ceremonies and oppose any further development of the site.

The next regularly scheduled Vallejo City Council meeting is Tuesday, April 26, at 7:00 pm pdt.