id: shellmound-walk-of-remembrance
title: Shellmound Walk of Remembrance
description: >-
  A California Native Ohlone practice of walking to and gathering at
  shellmound sites — sacred burial and village sites — to remember the
  ancestors and affirm ongoing presence. Many shellmounds in the Bay Area
  have been built over; the walk reclaims relationship with the land.
source: Ohlone and Muwekma Ohlone tradition
source_url: https://www.muwekma.org/
tags: [ohlone, california-native, remembrance, land, indigenous]
forked_from: null
image: null
steps:
  - headline: Gather at a starting point
    description: >-
      Ohlone community members and allies gather at a starting point, often
      a site where a shellmound once stood or has been built over. An elder
      opens with prayer.
  - headline: Walk to the shellmound
    description: >-
      The group walks together to the shellmound site, in silence or with
      prayer, marking the land with their presence and movement.
  - headline: Gather and remember
    description: >-
      At the shellmound, the group gathers. Speakers share the history of
      the site, the ancestors buried there, and the ongoing Ohlone
      presence that has not been erased.
  - headline: Offer prayer and song
    description: >-
      The group offers prayer and song to the ancestors and the land. The
      offering is made as relationship, not performance.
  - headline: Commit to protection
    description: >-
      The gathering closes with a commitment to protect the site and the
      Ohlone's ongoing relationship to it, often with specific actions
      named.
outcome: >-
  A shellmound site is remembered and honoured; Ohlone presence is
  affirmed; commitments to protection are made.
practice: >-
  The walk is not symbolic tourism. It is reclamation of relationship. If
  you are not Ohlone, follow Ohlone lead and do not centre yourself.