Land Acknowledgement
Recognizing the Ohlone People
We, Playwrights Foundation, respectfully acknowledge that our offices are on the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone, who are the past, present, and future caretakers of this land. We are guests here and recognize that we benefit from living and working on their ancestral homeland. It is a privilege to call this our home. We wish to pay our respects by acknowledging the Ancestors, Elders and Relatives of the Ramaytush Community and by affirming their sovereign rights as First Peoples.
The land we call San Francisco is the land of the original people referred to as the Ramaytush, a Chochenyo word meaning ‘people of the west’. The ancestors of the Ramaytush Ohlone have lived on this land for thousands of years. The Yelamu tribelet of the Ramaytush Ohlone lived on this land before they were murdered by Spanish colonists and missionaries who came to the area in 1769. There are no known living descendants of the Yelamu because of this genocide. Only one lineage of original peoples in the area is known to have produced living descendants. This lineage originated from the Arami tribe at the village of Timigtac near what is now referred to as Pacifica.
We encourage you to also find out the land you occupy on native-land.ca and join us in seeking to dismantle ongoing legacies of settler colonialism.
Learn more about the Ramaytush Ohlone People, their history, and how you can recognize and uplift them today:
Donate:
https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/shuumi-land-tax/
Learn and Explore:
https://www.history.com/news/californias-little-known-genocide
https://rootwisdom.com/support-indigenous-leadership
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SUjwYWORb4&feature=youtu.be “Living on Ohlone Land: Building Reciprocity with Indigenous Communities”
Read:
A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the Bay Area by Randall Miliken
The Ohlone Past and Present edited by Lowell Bean
The Costanoan Indians edited by Robert Heizer
We encourage you to find out the land you occupy on native-land.ca and join us in seeking to dismantle ongoing legacies of settler colonialism.