What an amazing, beautiful day to drive up the coast to San Francisco! Deep into my NaNoWriMo novel, I decided I needed to sit and 'feel' the land I was writing about. Most of my story is set in today's world, but there are some flashbacks to earlier times, when the Muwekma Ohlone Indians lived in Noe (pronounce no-eee) Valley in San Francisco. Sadly, Fr Paulo enslaved these beautiful, peaceful and loving peoples to build Mission Delores. The Mission's website says over 5000 Ohlone Indians were buried there.
So! Why is it I found NO, NONE, NADA gravestones nor plaques honoring those 5000 people? The grave yard was beautiful, full of wonderful flowers and many ornate stones... none for the people who gave up their freedom to build the mission.
Here's a picture of the diorama depicting the mission's early days. You can see the simple cemetery on the left. (also the river that is now covered and gone.
Here is the cemetery today, with beautiful headstones for the Catholic families.
Here is the inside of the original Mission. It's actually the oldest building in San Francisco. Withstood the 1906 earthquake.
And here is a picture today from Twin Peaks, looking out over part of Noe Valley. This land was once just rolling hillsides of grasses, herbs and wildflowers.
Maybe I'm nuts.... but I hear their spirits, I feel their peacefulness and joy, to have lived for a thousand years or so, on this once, beautiful pieces of land. Here it is around 1890.
Please take a moment and tell me your feelings? Can you feel their energy, their spirit? I don't think they are embittered... they just want us to remember.
So! Why is it I found NO, NONE, NADA gravestones nor plaques honoring those 5000 people? The grave yard was beautiful, full of wonderful flowers and many ornate stones... none for the people who gave up their freedom to build the mission.
Here's a picture of the diorama depicting the mission's early days. You can see the simple cemetery on the left. (also the river that is now covered and gone.
Ok, well, they did put up this one display of what the Ohlone family lived in. Again, though, it was all about the construction, nothing honoring the people whose land was stolen and who were put into slavery.
Please take a moment and tell me your feelings? Can you feel their energy, their spirit? I don't think they are embittered... they just want us to remember.
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your lovely pick-me-up comment on my blog this morning. I am pushing to meet my goal for Sunday (100K - maybe too far, but I'll try), so this'll be short. A resounding agreement to everything you said in this post. I keep as many quiet moments as I can fit into the cracks for all the peaceful, caring peoples across the world that have been dismissed and destroyed by the Takers, by selfishness and greed and violence and the essential insecurity which putting oneself in a position of 'power' generates, and for especially our own Native Americans.
Love, ' Julie'