- Feature Links
- Shellmound Introduction
- Memorialization
Memorialization
A Mark In TIme
"Three thousand years ago, the San Francisco Bay Area was a very quiet place. …In many places, you might go for days without ever seeing another human being, but there were many animals, and lots of open space.
One day, a small group of people came down to the bay to gather oysters and mussels to eat. These were easy to collect from the marsh along the shore of the bay. At the place that one day would be Emeryville, there was a large creek where the people could get fresh water, so they decided to camp there for awhile. At that time, no one else lived there. …Thousands of ducks and geese flew over the bay, sometimes so many that they almost darkened the sky. At the edge of the bay was a huge, wet marsh. It was full of frogs and fish and the noise of red-winged blackbirds. Huge elk and many deer browsed among the tule reeds and brush.
The edge of the creek was a great place to camp…When the tide was low, anyone in the village could gather oysters from the gravelly bottom of the bay or use a stick to dig clams out of the mud of the tide flat. It was easy to get shellfish and they probably were eaten at almost every meal. This was a really good place to live, with plenty of everything people might need; water, food, space, and the materials to make shelters. The people decided to stay in Emeryville."
Elements of the Memorial
The specific elements include:
- The Master Plan which was submitted with Bay Street's Final Development Plan in March of 2000
- The plan called for participatory elements, including both graphic/art elements of the "Timeline Project", as well as special events and on-going programmatic features - such as integration with established cultural/educational resources - to be developed during the winter of 2002, with Plantain Studio and members of Bay Street's staff and interested community members
- Interpretive exhibits within a community room
- Exhibits will include Native American artifact reproductions displayed in shadow boxes, which may be part of an on-going, expanded display
- Printed information and guides to memorial and educational features
- These are included in Graphic design portion of the program with integration with "Landscape and Memory", "The Timeline Project" and the Shellmound website. There will be adult and children's versions
- A Sculpture at central entrance representing Native life
- Included in "Landscape and Memory"
- Water element or sculpture
- Included in "Landscape and Memory"
- Series of interpretive elements along Bay Street or the Creek
- "The Timeline Project" will include graphic design/interpretive signage at Old Navy wall, interpreting both the Landscape of Memory and graphically incorporating Ohlone history and that of the Shellmound over the course of history
- Depiction of the Shellmound
- The volume, height and breadth of the Shellmound will be conceptually shown, by the use of spars, within the landscape and this depiction will be explained with interpretive signage and printed materials
- Native landscaping especially around the Creek
- Is included in the palette of landscape concepts and chosen plant materials within the "Landscape as Memory"
- Name side street to honor and reflect the history of the Emeryville Shellmound
- Ohlone language experts, historians, Native American experts and anthropologists will be consulted for an appropriate and accessible name for the portion of street that borders the Landscape of Memory and that forms a major entrance to the Bay St project at Shellmound street