In the coming weeks visitors to the Fremont branch of the Alameda County Library will be able to experience Ohlone culture in the newly dedicated space of the Ohlone Room, currently on the main floor behind the circulation desk. Permanent display cases will soon feature the cultural inheritance of the original inhabitants of the East Bay.
Examples of fine featherwork regalia, exquisite basketry and rare photographs will be among the first items to be displayed, with curatorial explanations provided by Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino, founders of Café Ohlone, and partners with the Fremont Library in this new endeavor.
Medina, also the president of the Ohlone tribe, gave a talk at the library on Saturday, Sept. 12, “Ohlone Culture Past, Present and Future.” Referring to the items coming to the library, he explicitly prefers the term “cultural inheritance” to “historical artifacts.”
“We don’t use the word ‘artifact,’” he said, “because that makes it sound like these things are part of the past, when in reality they represent the strong continuity between past and present.”
Photos by Victor Carvellas
Photos by Victor Carvellas
In 2024 Amy Hakanson and Brittany Hersh of Fremont Library began planning the new installation with Café Ohlone with the purpose of acknowledging not only the millennia-long presence of the Ohlone but their rich contemporary culture, as well.
One purpose of the Ohlone Room is to educate the public. In an interview, Medina pointed to the importance of continual learning. “In our learning culture,” he said, “it’s a philosophy. The root word is tappe, which means to learn and to teach. It’s the recognition that we are always learning and teaching.” Likewise, those who visit the exhibits and learn something new will themselves be able to share what they learn.
The display and explanation of Ohlone cultural inheritance in the Ohlone Room “is a platform,” said Medina, “where we can tell our own story with our own voices.” But it’s only one of many elements in a larger project, one that has been unfolding across the Bay Area for many years.
“We want the public to understand that this didn’t start with my generation,” continued Medina, “but the difference is that right now we’re at a time where people are more willing and eager to learn and to be receptive to this knowledge than has happened in the past.”
Ohlone culture is on display at the Lawrence Hall of Science, the California Academy of the Sciences, the Chabot Space and Science Center (the site of the first-ever Ohlone Planetarium show), the Exploratorium in San Francisco, East Bay libraries, UC Berkeley, Cal State East Bay and of course Ohlone College, so named to acknowledge and honor the original inhabitants of the region.
The purpose of educating people about Ohlone culture goes beyond a somber retelling of the consequences resulting from the appearance of Europeans in California. “We want the public to understand that colonization does not define the story of Ohlone people here in the East Bay,” said Medina. “But love for land, for culture, for family, for these traditions; those are the forces that have kept all of this protected, even through those hard moments that have come.”
He continued, “For thousands of years, people have lived sophisticated and dignified lives full of culture and full of being right here in our place, and that continues today. It’s never been lost, and we want the public to get a glimpse into the Ohlone world, shaped by our ancestors and passed on from our elders, through our eyes.”
