Description
Indigenous Speakers of the East Bay
Stories of Loss & Transformation
Join Indigenous speakers living in the East Bay and hear their stories of how colonization, including discrimination, has and continues to impact them and their communities. Beyond these losses of lives, land and culture, find out how you can participate in healing and transforming these legacies. The conversation includes a Q&A and ways non-Natives can work with Natives to create meaningful social change. Inspired by their participation in the Sacred Ground curriculum, members from the Church of the Resurrection, Pleasant Hill are hosting their third forum addressing various subjects about race in America.
For this forum on Indigenous peoples, we are pleased to welcome the following panelists:
Sean Burke, Land Programs Director at Save Mount Diablo, which preserves, defends and restores the natural lands on Mount Diablo and its foothills for wildlife and people to enjoy. Burke grew up in Martinez and was a Park Ranger for the East Bay Regional Park District before joining Save Mount Diablo. He is an Alpinist who likes climbing mountains and connecting to wild, beautiful places and creatures. He volunteers with Sogorea Té Land Trust, which facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people. Burke also works with Cal State University East Bay’s Indigenous Acknowledgment Council. He is a member of the Cherokee Nation with ancestors in Oklahoma who walked the Trail of Tears and is part European.
Robert Phelps, Associate Professor of History at California State University, East Bay and Director of Cal State East Bay’s Concord campus. Specializing in California and American West history, Phelps also works in public history, advising many historical museums. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Save Mount Diablo and chairs its Education Committee. Dr. Phelps is a member and former vice chairman of the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indiansof California, part of southern California’s Kumeyaay Nation. In 2021, he was appointed by Governor Newsom to the California Truth and Healing Council, which explores the historical relationship between Native Americans and the State since 1850.
Click here for information and registration.
A recording of the previous forums, Building on Sacred Ground: Immigration and Refugee Rights in Today’s World from September 25th and Beyond Sacred Ground: Housing Discrimination, are available for viewing by clicking here.