The Bay Area’s Overlooked Indigenous History

the vibe

🌉 What if the Bay Area's most overlooked history is also its oldest? Picture the Bay Area, an urban landscape of high rises and restaurants, tech companies and landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge and Chinatown. It's shaped by cultures from around the world. Less visible, but no less present, is a deep history of Indigenous activism rooted in communities that have lived here for thousands of years. Dr. Abel R. Gomez, Assistant Professor of Native American and Indigenous Studies at San Jose State University, studies sacred sites, ceremony, gender and sexuality, and Indigenous cosmologies. Much of his research is ethnographic work with Ohlone tribal communities across the San Francisco Bay and Monterey Bay regions. In this talk, Abel explores the often overlooked history of Indigenous Ohlone peoples in the Bay Area and their ongoing efforts to defend their homelands. We are still here, echo Ohlone leaders, despite the violence of the California Mission system and the genocide that followed statehood. This is a story of survival, resilience, and presence, hiding in plain sight beneath the region's most familiar landmarks. 🌱 *Venue Note This venue asks guests to sit on floor seats during the lecture. Comfy fold-out floor seats are provided, so guests won't be sitting directly upright on the floor. We also reserve a limited number of standard chairs for guests who prefer or need them. The venue additionally asks that guests remove their shoes before entering the space. 🕰…