Storytelling
From Our Mothers’ Kitchen Tables: Our Ancestral Stories of Tamal-liwa (Tomales Bay)
Our Vision
As California continues its reckoning to address the injustices committed against Indigenous peoples of the state, sharing the stories of our Támal-ko ancestors of Tamal-liwa (Tomales Bay) is a strategy both to affirm our Indigenous existence and diminish the impact of settler colonialism. We make visible the lives of Támal-ko (Coast MIwok) people who lived and thrived in the Point Reyes Peninsula from time immemorial
The Attempted Erasure of Támal-ko History
For thousands of years into present day generations of Támal-ko people made their homes on the shores of Tamal-liwa, continuing the intimate relationship of the ecosystems of the Pacific coast and bays. The ancestral homelands of Támal-ko people are now part of Point Reyes National Seashore, which receives millions of visitors from around the world each year. Yet Támal-ko history and culture remains largely invisible, across the park and beyond.
Nearly 28,000 acres of the Seashore are reserved for ranching, while only 1.5 acres are dedicated to undestanding Támal-ko history and telling Támal-ko stories at Kule Loklo. Yet this site sits in ruins, waiting to be refreshed. While the 170-year history of settler cattle-ranching is honored on the National Register of Historic Places, nearly 15,000 years of Támal-ko history, culture, and land stewardship is buried–and the voices of Támal-ko ancestors silenced. Today the house at Felix Cove remains empty and vandalized, with no signage indicating its significance as the home of the last Támal-ko family, Felix Family, to live on their ancestral lands on the western shores of Tamal-liwa.
Amplifying Indigenous Narratives
At the Alliance for Felix Cove, we believe the true story of Támal-ko people must be told–and the narrative guided by descendants themselves.
Through launching an Indigenous-led public education campaign, the Alliance has been successful with increasing the public’s awareness of the cultural survivance of Támal-ko people into modernity, adding skills and technology to their ancestral knowledge and practices. By increasing media coverage, publishing editorials, and speaking at events across the region, we are amplifying Támal-ko perspectives on the vital need to protect delicate ecosystems now threatened by climate change and exacerbated by the impact of cattle ranching. By bringing Indigenous stories into narratives around California’s history and contemporary realities, we are ensuring the voices of our ancestors can no longer be ignored or forgotten.
Groundbreaking Támal-ko Digital Storytelling Project
With insight from Támal-ko/Coast Miwok descendants and Indigenous partners, we are developing a community-driven rematriation plan grounded in Indigenous practices, and ecological science.
By implementing this plan over time, we will return Felix Cove to Indigenous care–bringing Indigenous teachings and perspectives to the crucial work of protecting this sacred land and water. Our ultimate goal is to create a transformational space where all are welcome to deepen their relationship to Mother Earth, build community, advocate for justice, and honor Indigenous resilience.
Groundbreaking Támal-ko Digital Storytelling Project
Launched in early 2023, our digital storytelling project will honor the stories of the Támal-ko families of Tamal-liwa through the voices of their descendants–daughters, sons, and grandchildren.
Our groundbreaking Támal-ko Digital Storytelling project aims to unearth and make visible the lives of Támal-ko people who lived and thrived in the Point Reyes Peninsula. This initiative represents the first ever digital storytelling effort led by Coast Miwok/Támal-ko descendants and allies to support Coast Miwok/Támal-ko people in sharing their own stories and the stories of their ancestors.
Providing Innovative Storytelling Resources to Támal-ko Descendants: Working hand-in-hand with partners like Berkeley-based StoryCenter, our storytelling project will offer Támal-ko descendants with the resources to create digital videos reflecting their own stories and the stories of their ancestors. Through a series of workshops, participating descendents will receive extensive support in producing audio interviews and video content, curating and embedding archival photographs and news clippings, creating maps that are geo-located with historical information and events, and more. This work will result in a series of powerful videos that document the lives of Coast Miwok/Támal-ko ancestors and families–rematriating their histories, culture, language, and ancestral ways for future generations.
Launch of Public Exhibition Highlighting Támal-ko Storytelling: Through our partnership with Dominican University of California, we will host a major exhibition highlighting the videos produced by Coast Miwok/Támal-ko descendants. In addition to numerous screenings of the videos, the exhibition will include presentations and roundtable discussions to provide a platform for Támal-ko descendants to shed light on the stories of their ancestors.
Widespread Community Broadcasting of Támal-ko Stories: Working with media-based partners, we will launch a focused public awareness campaign, encouraging local and regional television and radio stations to broadcast the videos developed by Támal-ko descendants in storytelling workshops. In addition, we will share Támal-ko digital stories through other online platforms, including via social media channels, to reach as many community members as possible.
Our vision for this project is to significantly increase community awareness of Támal-ko history, the impact of colonialism on Támal-ko people and ancestral homelands, and the importance of rematriating Támal-ko homelands to protect them for future generations. Join us in creating a platform for Támal-ko ancestors to be heard.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit www.calhum.org
Join us in bringing justice to a stolen land.
Now is the time to advocate for change! The National Park Service is listening.
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“They [Coast Miwok/Támal-ko people] have been connected with this land far longer than the National Park Service, the ranchers and other people who got here due to colonialism.”
- Craig Kenkel, Superintendent, Point Reyes National Seashore
The Mercury News, Monday, Sept 25, 2023