UC Berkeley Begins Destruction of Berkeley Oak Grove and Shell Mound

By Morning Star Gali - Sept. 06, 2008

Twelve trees were cut today and the University says they will continue cutting
46 over the weekend. Four protesters remain in a single Redwood tree in the
center of the grove. Arborists trimmed most of the branches from the Redwood
tree occupied by the four remaining tree sitters. Cutting the branches made it
virtually impossible for the tree sitters to move from tree to tree. A spokesman
for the campus said that within three days, the University would no longer honor
its agreement to ensure they had adequate nutrition and water. The tree sitters
currently only have one liter of water to share between four people as they sit
in 90 degree heat.

The Memorial Oak Grove is regarded as a sacred place to Native American people
and is documented as such by UC Berkeley's own Anthropology Department. There is
evidence of 2 shell mounds sites in the area, with 19 ancestral remains found
within them. Along with UC Berkeley's attempt to develop on a sacred place, they
are guilty of housing over 17,000 sacred remains and objects. UCB currently
holds the largest human remains collection in the United States of which it is
not in compliance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Act (NAGPRA)

"I brought my five year old daughter and two month old son out today to bear
witness to the massacre of sacred life," said Morning Star Gali of the Pit River
Tribe and co-chair of Advocates to Protect Sacred Sites. "The cops responded by
yelling to move them behind the median. I asked if they would stand by as
complacent if it was their grandmother' s gravesites being desecrated. I want my
children here to witness the destruction of sacred life and how important it is
to protect it. I wanted them to witness the cops, arborists and UC Officials
that participated and cheered as the trees came crashing down from bulldozers.
This exhibits the ongoing Human Rights abuses committed by the University. They
refuse to comply with NAGPRA by holding 13,000 of our ancestors remains hostage,
they illegally reorganized NAGPRA with no tribal consultation and now they
continue to desecrate sacred burial grounds."

The Memorial Grove is a native Coast Live Oak ecosystem. Native oaks support the
most complex terrestrial ecosystems in California. The California Native Plant
Society CNPS has stated that the Memorial Oak Grove is "an important gene bank
for the Coast Live Oak." Every one of the oaks in the grove should be protect by
law and the Berkeley Coast Live Oak moratorium forbids cutting mature Coast Live
Oaks in Berkeley. UC refuses to recognize the law. The grove is also part of a
National Historic Site. The Stadium and landscape is a memorial to Californians
who died in World War I.

The tree sitters are urging people to come and show support for the trees and
bear witness to the University of California's blatant disregard to sacred sites
and native ecosystems.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/indigenous_peoples_literature/message/25454