The Advocate

Art by @ines_ixierda San Leandro sits on the unceded land of the Lisjan Ohlone people. They have lived here for thousands of years before even recorded history as far as we have been able to discern. The Sogorea Te’ Land Trust is an urban Indigenous women-led land trust based in the San Francisco Bay Area that facilitates the rematriation of their land, with a particular emphasis on the Ohlone people.  Because of the destruction wrought on them by the Spanish, Catholic missionaries, American settlers, as well as other colonizers, the Ohlone are not part of a federally recognized band. However, they do descend from the federally recognized Verona band of Alameda County. Currently, they are holding a fundraising event this month as part of the larger land back movement to return Indigenous land to Indigenous people. Here is what they have to say: “To do Indigenous-led work in one the most expensive “real estate markets” in the world, Indigenous people have to be able to live here. Whi