On Saturday, April 7, writer Malcolm Margolin, the Archaeological Research Facility of the University of California, Berkeley, and other project partners invite the public to learn more about the East Bay Shell mounds and California Native culture through two events. These presentations will surface images and themes from Margolin’s Creative Work Fund project with the Research Facility.
From 10 a.m. to noon, at the David Brower Center, “Native Teachings,” will feature Native cultural leaders reflecting on the value of lessons they learned, how knowledge is conveyed, and the wisdom embedded in a variety of Native institutions, beliefs, ad practices. To what degree is this knowledge trnasferable to mainstream America? Non-Indians with long and deep engagement with Indian communities will comment on what they have learned. Along with Margolin, panelists include: Jennifer Bates, Ron Goode, Frank LaPena, Kent Lightfoot, Toby McLeod, Benjamin Porter, Fred Velasquez, and Linda Yamane. Tickets are sliding scale ($10-$30) and available.
At 2-5 p.m. “Invitation to a Lost World: 5,000 Years of Art From the Bay Area Shellmounds” at the Berkeley Art Museum, invites visitors to a first-time viewing of objects from the West Berkeley Shellmound and Emeryville Shellmound. A panel of contemporary Native California artists skilled in traditional practices — Jennifer Bates, Ron Goode, Frank LaPena, Vincent, Medina, Fred Velasquez, and Linda Yamane — and special guests will discuss how these objects were made, the aesthetic principles that guided their manufacture, how they were used, their place within the culture, and their survival to this day. This event is free with museum admission, and seating is unreserved, so visitors are encouraged to come early or be flexible as people move in and out. If interested, RSVP through Eventbrite.
Margolin and the Archaeological Research Facility are collaborating to create a book about the shellmounds, sharing for the first time stories and images of objects that have long been held in storage at the University.