Mosaic presents
Hummingbird Circle: An Ohlone Festival
at West Valley College
Monday, May 16, 2022
Presented by Conferderation of Ohlone People
11AM & 12:45PM:
Opening Ceremony
Welcome by West Valley College
& Mosaic America
11:30AM & 1PM:
Traditional Dance
11:45AM & 1:15PM:
Q&A with Radio Host Lynn Reed, Sand City Mayor Mary Ann Carbone, Charlene Eigen-Vasquez and Teresa Reynaga
11AM – 2PM: Exhibition Stations
Station 1: Grass skirt making, Dogbane rope making, Stringing of Olivela shells, Working with pine nuts
Station 2: Furs & Feathers
Station 3: Ohlone Photo Exhibit by Ruth Morgan
Mosaic America is committed to working with Indigenous communities to actively preserve and nurture their living traditions. We have embarked on this journey by working first with the Confederation of Ohlone Peoples, with our Hummingbird Project.
Due to the staggering cultural eradication and population loss (per 2010 Bay Area Census, only 1% of Santa Clara County residents identified as American Indian), it will take an organized effort on part of the Ohlone and the larger community to nurture Ohlone arts traditions. Over the last 20 years, the Ohlone descendants have made a humongous effort to overcome fear of censure, record surviving arts practices such as songs and dances and trace original artifacts from all over the world in order to create a body of artistic knowledge and practices that they can learn from and pass on. These are currently shared in spaces and among small groups of people (comprising Native and non-Native) that provide physical and emotional safety. We see the Hummingbird Circle as a way to safe harbor, generate interest in, learn from, and most importantly, include this poignant treasure into a larger, ongoing exchange.
Designed as a 4-hour participatory and immersive experience, Hummingbird Circle will allow Santa Clara County residents to connect with Ohlone culture through regalia making (grass skirts and necklaces), visual exhibits, a talking circle, and community dance session.
Experiencing these living traditions in action are the best way to enable audiences to connect with the natural resources and artistic history of where they live, re-connect with pre-industrial life and folkways, and discover common threads with their own ancestors; while understanding the customs of the original inhabitants.
The Confederation of Ohlone Peoples
came into being in 2009. We are a cooperative made up of the descendants of Ohlone people, as well as community advocates.
Photo by Emiliana Palafox
Our common mission is to increase the visibility and interests of present day Ohlone.
The Ohlone hold a unique place in the history of the Bay Area and the surrounding counties. Supporters understand that the story of the Ohlone is often buried in history books that mostly exclude Ohlone voices, and experiences. The Ohlone cannot change this paradigm alone, so we invite community members to join us as we strive to share our culture, re-educate community members and inspire the healthy environments that are a necessary part of our shared cultures.
Photo by Emiliana Palafox
Today members of the cooperative are involved in the land acknowledgement movement, cultural revitalization, environmental justice, leveraging the arts to create visibility and tell the Ohlone story, providing mediation services, and cultural site preservation.
Portrayed: Aliks Hernandez. Photo by Krystal Harfert.
Portrayed: Aliks Hernandez. Photo by Krystal Harfert.
Today members of the cooperative are involved in the land acknowledgement movement, cultural revitalization, environmental justice, leveraging the arts to create visibility and tell the Ohlone story, providing mediation services, and cultural site preservation.
For more information, contact
confederationofohlone@gmail.com
Photos by Ruth Morgan, from the
‘Ohlone Elders and Youth Speak: Restoring a California Legacy’ project.