Refined Plans for Modern Urban Village Closer to Reality

From the legislation to establish the cultural district, as linked above:

San Francisco is the aboriginal home of the Ramaytush Ohlone Peoples. There are known and documented Ohlone cultural resources and sacred sites within the District, including the home of a once-thriving Ohlone village called “E-la-muh,” which was located in the area currently known as Mission Dolores Park. Nearby within the District is Mission Dolores. Many American Indian community members see the Mission as a reminder of the painful history of the Mission Era, which lasted from I769 to 1833. The missions were created to convert American Indians to Christianity. Historical documentation of missions reflect enslavement, forced religious practices, division of families, forced labor, and cruel punishment including the use of irons and whips. The average lifespan of a Native American in the mission system was ten years. This area holds a unique historical perspective to the American Indian community. First Nations people do not just see a park and a mission, they recognize an area that started as a thriving village site and transitioned to an area of great suffering, where California Native Americans have been buried.

Following the Mission Era, government policies stripped aboriginal people of millions of acres of their land, created boarding schools that ran until the 1970 ‘s to “civilize” Indian children and implemented policies to end government assistance to tribes. In 1952, the Bureau of Indian Affairs implemented an urban Indian relocation program to assimilate American Indians into “modern culture.” This program gave Indians one-way tickets to urban areas. San Francisco was one of four counties in California to receive a large influx of American Indians from all over the United States. American Indian people waited for days and weeks at local bus stations for government representatives to meet families and carry out the promise of stable employment and success in the urban cities.

San Francisco was one of the largest relocation cities in the United States. As the urban American Indian population in San Francisco began to expand, the Mission District became a home base for that community. To remedy the lack of adequate government support, the community developed its own support systems, including social services, cultural retention activities, employment and housing opportunities. education. political empowerment. and some of the first urban pow wows. The community also came together to develop cultural programming, education courses, annual events, Native-owned and supported businesses, community gathering spaces, and an American Indian Cultural Center (AICC). These American Indian-based enterprises and the rich cultural hist01y of the area are at the heart of the proposed District.

The 16th Street corridor was home to the first AICC, located on 16th and Valencia Streets, and the second AICC, located at 223-225 Valencia Street at Duboce Street from 1969 to the 1980s. The AICC was the meeting place for Bay Area American Indian organizations and home of the United Bay Indian Council, which brought together 30 clubs into one large Council. The American Indian Movement originally held an office in the AICC before moving to the International Indian Treaty Council on Mission Street. The buildings that housed the AICC and the surrounding areas hold great importance to the community and have provided a home for historically and politically significant events.

Across the street from the AICC, Al Smith owned a trading post where the Native community came together to sell arts, crafts, and beadwork. Other meeting spots in the area included places such as Aunt Mary’s, a cafe across from the Roxie Theater where the Native community would gather for breakfast, and the Rainbow Cattle Company, a bar on Duboce and Valencia Streets. Muddv Waters and Modern Times, popular spots for artists, poetry nights, and speaking engagements, have also been located on Valencia Street. These gathering places reflect the history of a strong cultural connection to the area among Indian Americans.

The District was also at the center of the Red Power/American Indian Movement and was home to famous Native activist, Richard Oakes. Oakes met within the District regularly with Adam Fortunate Eagle, Chairman of the United Bay Area Council of American Indian Affairs, to plan the 1969-1971 occupation of Alcatraz by “Indians of all Tribes.” This movement changed federal Indian termination policies, created a new era of self-determination, and brought attention to the needs of the American Indian community in San Francisco. On February 11, 1978, “The Longest Walk,” a five-month, cross country march began in San Francisco on Alcatraz Island. The march concluded in Washington D. C. on July 15, 1978, and raised public awareness about the growing governmental threat to American Indian sovereignty. Although President Carter refused to meet with the marchers, Congress responded to the public pressure by declining to pass a proposed anti-treaty bill and passing the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Public Law No. 95-341. 92 Stat. 469 (Aug. 11, 1978).

The Redstone Building, also known as the Redstone Labor Temple (and formerly called The San Francisco Labor Temple), located at 2940 16th Street, was a hub of union organizing and work activities, historic labor communities, and various programs for over 50 years. American Indian programs that have been housed in this central space for community building include the International Indian Treaty Council, American Indian Film Institute, 500 Years Coalition, and the Big Mountain Support Group.

American Indian events and services initiated in the District continue today, including San Francisco’s first Pow Wow, which initiated at 5051 Mission Street in 1975, and the AICC, which was established in 1968. As of 2019, the AICC is in the process of re-establishing its roots in the District with a Cultural Center to bring back a space for American Indian programming, events, and community services. Other examples of American Indian services that originated and still operate in the District include The Friendship House of American Indians, the Native American Health Center, and American Indian education programs.

Which brings us back to the plans and proposed building at hand…