The Saklan School sits on the unceded ancestral land of the Bay Miwok who have lived here for thousands of years longer than anyone else. There are six different Bay Miwok nations: Chupcan, Julpun, Ompin, Saklan, Tatcan, and Volvon. The Saklan people, whose territory is the inland valley east of the East Bay hills, includes our school site in what is now called Moraga.
Bay Miwok cultural values include a sense of humor, generosity, fair play, respect for each other and the natural world, giving back what you take, patience, and thinking about others before thinking of yourself. We can honor the Bay Miwok people by trying our best to practice these values at school.
Bay Miwok people believe we should live with the land. They have expert understanding of the animals and plants on their ancestral land and we must remember the natural world is sacred for the Bay Miwok people. This knowledge has been spread down through generations of Bay Miwok people from their elders and we have agreed to remember these things and walk softly on the land.
In the late 1700s the Spanish forced the Saklan people and other California Indians into the missions and they were not allowed to leave. The Saklan people fought back and resisted the Spanish but many people died and harmful treatment of California Indians continued.
This school moved to its present day location on Saklan land in 1966. In 1991 the name was changed from Carden School of Moraga to The Saklan Valley School to honor the Saklan people’s historical presence on this land. We hope this acknowledgment will be a regular reminder that Saklan and Bay Miwok people are still here and we remain guests on stolen land.
This land acknowledgment is a living statement, and only one step in doing our part. It’s ALL our jobs to be truth-tellers, to lift Bay Miwok and Ohlone voices when we are teaching and learning in our classrooms, and to work together towards repairing injustices.
This land acknowledgment was written by the 2022-23 third graders in collaboration with their teachers and other staff using the East Bay Regional Parks curriculum and Cafe Ohlone visit presentation from Vincent Medina (East Bay Ohlone) and Louis Trevino (Rumsen Ohlone). Additional review was provided by staff at The Sogorea Te Land Trust.
