The story of Emeryville showcases the problem of development versus preservation. Located just east of San Francisco’s Bay, the city of Emeryville is built on Native American land. Dubbed the “Emeryville Shellmound,” this site is located on an area presently saturated with travelers, tourists, commuters, and shoppers. Given the prime position, developers stop at nothing to capitalize on the potential monetary gains that the location offers.
Three stories high and the area of a city block, the shellmound is the largest many that skirted San Francisco Bay. This shellmound is also no longer wholly intact. It is made from early populations that discard shells in their “backyard”. Shellmounds are not just trash. Shellmounds are areas of habitation. Within the layers of the Emeryville Shellmound are tools and human burials. Hundreds of burials are uncovered through the limited archaeological excavations conducted at this site.…show more content… A marsh rife with food resources, a central trade location, and fantastic weather drew in these indigenous populations. The narrator suggests the concentration of people in this site is one of the densest in North America. Key to their diet is the abundance of shellfish. The waste created from their shell-based diet led to the creation of the Emeryville Shellmound. Ohlone tribal members find their roots in this region and regard the site as sacred.
Over the last century, Emeryville Shellmound has gone through various developmental projects. In the early 1900s an amusement park was built on the mound. The crowning feature of the park is a dance hall located on crest of the mound. Detractors say this is a sickening display that literally had people dancing on the graves of natives. After half a century, the park was shut down and Archaeologists were able to come in and conduct excavations on the
