Initiative aims to create a ‘rightful presence’ for the Ohlone community at UC Berkeley

Nestled against the hillside behind The Lawrence Hall of Science, the winding paths and native gardens of the Karplus Outdoor Nature Lab offer visitors a glimpse of the flora and fauna that once thrived in the East Bay Hills. Now, as part of a UC Berkeley-wide initiative, the Outdoor Nature Lab also invites visitors to explore the language and culture of the Ohlone people, the original inhabitants of the land who continue to live and flourish as members of the Berkeley and broader Bay Area community.

To the right of the entrance, a cedar plank is inscribed with a land acknowledgement and welcome message in English and Chochenyo, the language of the East Bay Ohlone people. Throughout the space, new cedar posts bear the Chochenyo names for native plants along with their scientific and common names in English. By tapping a smartphone on the top of the posts, visitors can access webpages where they can learn more about the importance of each plant to the Ohlone community and hear audio recordings of the Chochenyo names. The science center has also incorporated the Chochenyo language and details about Ohlone culture into activity decks designed to help learners explore the lab.

This project is just one element of the campus-wide ‘ottoy initiative, a burgeoning partnership between the Ohlone people and UC Berkeley that aims to repair the relationship between the university and the Ohlone people and build a representative and sustained presence for the Ohlone community on campus. Led by Ohlone cultural leaders Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino, who are staff members at The Lawrence, the initiative is a collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Native American Thriving Initiatives, Government and Community Relations, the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Berkeley Dining.

“The name ‘ottoy comes from the Chochenyo word for ‘to repair,’” said Medina. “We are working as active partners to be able to repair relations between our Ohlone people and the university, and we’re seeing the blossoms of this really begin to surface.”

UC Berkeley has a complex and troubled history with the Ohlone people. In 1925, UC Berkeley professor Alfred Kroeber erroneously pronounced that the Ohlone people were “extinct so far as all practical purposes are concerned,” leading to the loss of federal tribal recognition and ongoing disenfranchisement for the Ohlone community. The campus also holds more than 9,000 ancestral Native American remains that it is in the process of repatriating. 

The ‘ottoy initiative is working to mend the relationship between UC Berkeley and the Ohlone community, and it has made great strides in increasing the representation and inclusion of Ohlone people at both the science center and on the central campus. 

“Our long term goal is for every student, every faculty member, every professor — everybody that’s engaged with the university — to have a common understanding about Ohlone people and our living identity,” Medina said. “We want people to walk away from these experiences with respect and understanding for Ohlone people and to think about our culture through a lens of strength, triumphs and victories, not losses. We’ve been here since the start and will be here in the future, as well.”

Chochenyo, native plants and mixed-reality exhibits

Standing on the patio of The Lawrence, it’s easy to get lost in the roar of animatronic dinosaurs or spectacular views of San Francisco Bay. But take a moment to look at the hillside below and you’ll spot a variety of young seedlings — including East Bay natives like milkweed, wild rose, sticky monkey flower, California goldenrod, purple needlegrass and gumplant— growing on the grassy slope. This new garden test plot was established in December with the goal of reintroducing pollinators and other native plants with Ohlone cultural significance to the hillside. 

In addition to the changes to the Outdoor Nature Lab and the hillside garden, visitors to the science center are greeted with a land acknowledgement above the main door. And, In the dining area, questions in the Ohlone language of Chochenyo are printed on the wall alongside queries in English, Spanish and Chinese, prompting visitors to ponder, “How many acorns are in a basket of acorn soup?” and “How many stars do you see up above?” 

“This is an initiative that is really focused on raising up the voices of this community and creating a sense of belonging,” said Rena Dorph, director of The Lawrence. “Because our science center is on Ohlone land, we want to be really thoughtful about recognizing that the Ohlone people have a rightful presence in this space, as well. And we’ve seen some real, tangible changes.”

To welcome more Indigenous people to The Lawrence, the science center has established a new complimentary membership for self-identifying Indigenous Californians, named the šuumin membership after the Chochenyo word for “to gift.” Further, in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s School of Information, the ‘ottoy team also is working with Ohlone youth to design mixed reality exhibits that highlight the Ohlone experience in the East Bay. 

Camie Sanchez VanKeuren, a member of the East Bay Ohlone community, reflected that the initiative “makes me feel a sense of pride, allows us to hold our heads up a little higher because people are finally recognizing our family and the rich history that came before what this land is now. My pride comes from knowing they are finally acknowledging my grandmother and my ancestors who suffered.”

Jedda Foreman, director of the Center for Environmental Learning at The Lawrence, said she has also seen the positive effects of the collaboration between the science center and the Ohlone community members who are involved in codesigning the new mixed-reality exhibits. 

“When we had the welcome event here that was our project kickoff, folks were pretty shy. Many of them had never been here before. Now we’re at the point where they feel like they belong. They have a lot of ideas [for the science center] beyond just this mixed-reality project,” Foreman said. 

Bridging Indigenous and Western science

On the main campus, Medina and Trevino provide seasonal dining experiences at ‘oṭṭoytak, or “the place of repair,” on the patio next to the Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Furthermore, as part of the Native American Thriving Initiatives, they are incorporating native plants and Ohlone cultural education into the Indigenous Community Learning Garden on the Oxford Tract. And alongside students and faculty members at  Berkeley Forests and the Cal Forestry Club, the pair has begun restoring portions of UC’s Russell Research Station, clearing invasive species like hemlock to make way for native gardens. These gardens will be used to grow basketry materials, including California sedge and willow, and ingredients for ‘oṭṭoytak meals.

Medina and Trevino are also collaborating with the Boots Lab to study how bees and other pollinators like hummingbirds, dragonflies and butterflies can benefit from native plants. 

“Ohlone scientific knowledge and Western science go hand-in-hand when approached from a place of respect,” Medina said. “For too long, Western science has dismissed Ohlone scientific knowledge as myth or folklore, when in reality our knowledge — including cultural burns, land regeneration, soil aeration, basketry and traditional medicines — is based on science.”

Medina’s Auntie Dottie, Dolores Lameira Galvan, 94, witnessed some of the difficult history between campus and the Ohlone people firsthand. Seeing her being welcomed at The Lawrence and other campus spaces is one of his motivations for doing this work.

“Now when Auntie Dottie comes to The Lawrence, the director, Dr. Dorph, walks out to greet her. When she enters the building, she sees in large letters above the doors, ‘Here we are in xučyun, within the homeland of the resilient East Bay Ohlone people.’” Medina said. “For her to see Ohlone youth being active partners in creating exhibits, and to see Ohlone land stewardship practices being respected and implemented with university partners — in a nutshell, that’s what ‘ottoy looks like.”

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