Coyote Hills Landscape

Gathering of Ohlone Peoples

Gathering of Ohlone Peoples

Coyote Hills Regional Park (Fremont)
Sunday, October 5, 2025, 10am -3pm

Connect and gain a deeper understanding of the local Indigenous Peoples past, present, and future. Join Ohlone Peoples from diverse tribal communities as they share their living history through music, song, dance, and stories. Together, we'll learn, celebrate, and honor the first stewards of this land. 

Overview

The lands currently within the East Bay Regional Park District fall within the territories of a diverse and resilient group of indigenous people who are descended from Ohlone, Bay Miwok, and Delta Yokut ancestral tribes. The Tuibun, a Chochenyo Ohlone-speaking tribe, have thrived in this area, which we now call Coyote Hills, since time immemorial, striking a balance between human needs and those of the land and wildlife. The Tuibun people possessed a vast knowledge of the plants and animals in their area and managed the land in ways that enhanced the health and numbers of both plants and animals. They valued community and built villages with numerous houses made from tule.

The arrival of Spanish and Mexican colonists in the late 1700s significantly disrupted the lives of Indigenous Peoples throughout California. These colonizers transformed much of the land into livestock grazing and agricultural farming. The nearby Mission San Jose de Guadalupe (built in 1797) introduced the Ohlone Indigenous tribes to religious conversion and indentured labor, as well as dismissing their rights to live independently on this land.

Despite this history, many Ohlone people still reside throughout the Bay Area and continue to preserve their history and elements of their traditional cultures, keeping them alive and vibrant.

We are grateful that for over 25 years, Ohlone Peoples of varied tribal backgrounds have come to the Annual Gathering of Ohlone Peoples to:

  • Share family and tribal history, music, song, dance, games, and stories
  • Discuss contemporary cultural involvements and concerns
  • Demonstrate basketry, jewelry, soaproot brush and dogbane string making.
  • Share traditional foods like native plant teas, manzanita cider, and acorn soup cooked with heated stones in a basket.

In this recording of a live virtual presentation, Ohlone Peoples from several tribes shared about their culture, history, traditions, and discussed current involvements.

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