August 4, 2005


Neighborhood group to restore Ohlone Indian
burial ground desecrated by recreational vehicles

Work to begin mid August at Almaden Hills Estates

By Sheila Sanchez
Staff Writer

After 15 years of watching an Ohlone Indian burial ground be desecrated by irreverent motorists, the Almaden Hills Estates neighborhood is working with the city to protect its human remains and artifacts.

The city-owned one-acre site is located inside the affluent community at the intersection of Mazzone and Cross Springs drives, next to Los Alamitos Creek.

The mound is considered by some young people as a recreational spot, particularly after it rains in the winter, when they’re reported to drive their four-wheel-drive vehicles up the hill at alarming speeds, coming down with even faster force sliding in the mud and scaring nearby pedestrians and homeowners. Neighbors report there have been three near-miss fatalities and many cars have already hit a fire hydrant on Mozzone Drive and the curve across the street.

“It’s like somebody is driving over the graveyard where your grandmother is buried. It’s really sad. The remains belong to people who are someone’s ancestors,” said Alex Fraser, vice president of the Almaden Hills Estates Homeown-ers Association, who’s spearheading the restoration project. “Word apparently has gotten out that it’s the cool thing to do. We’ve been trying to stop it.”

The neighborhood has been working with the city and the Santa Clara Valley Water District to stop the hill’s desecration with moderate success.

In February, however, it decided that, “enough was enough,” said Fraser, raising money to purchase materials to protect the site from further destruction.

Andrew Galvan, an Ohlone descendant, historian and curator of Old Mission Dolores San Francisco, said the group’s effort sounded proactive in protecting archeological resources. “I would hope that if human remains are disturbed at any time that the proper protocols, as outlined in the law, be adhered to,” he said.

The association, which represents about 130 households or about 300 members, also hired a landscape architect and will spend about $4,000 on protecting the hill. About $1,800 will be spent buying plants that match the area’s natural vegetation to cover the hill’s dry bush with pink-rock roses, blue wild lilacs, daisies and day lilies. Several oak trees, a redwood and shrubs will remain.

The group is planning to strategically position 22 tons of boulders around the hill’s perimeters with the help of the city’s Department of Transportation. The collaboration was made possible through the work of Councilwoman Nancy Pyle’s office, which represents the valley.

“It’s important to help preserve our past and our history. It’s important to make amends. It’s what our valley and early culture are all about,” Pyle said. “To do anything else would be to dishonor them.”

Glenda Garcia, co-owner of Almaden’s The Golf Club at Boulder Ridge, will donate a six-ton boulder to the effort, which could become the landscaping design’s centerpiece.

The hill’s top, an area approximately 1,000 square feet, will continued to be fenced off with a 6-foot-high chain-link fence and barbwire as it’s believed to contain one of the first burial grounds in the valley, Fraser said.

“The only bad guys in this problem are the self-centered, inconsiderate idiots who think that everything exist for their benefit. They’re the people who knowingly destroy and deface property that belongs to someone else with no concern for the property or those that take care of it or use it,” added Fraser, a retired Hewlett Packard international business manager who has lived in the neighborhood for eight years.

According to the state health and safety code, the public must respect such sites as they’re considered cultural resources. When builders discover human remains during construction, they’re to immediately stop the work and report the findings to the Santa Clara Coroner’s Office, which then notifies the California Native American Heritage Commission to help identify descendants.

Debbie Treadway, environmental scientist with the commission, praised Pyle’s office and the association for protecting the site. “It’s morally wrong to destroy the property,” she said. “The city has a responsibility to protect an archeological site.”

Treadway added the commission keeps information pertaining to the location of Indian burial grounds confidential. “I wasn’t aware that there was a problem in Almaden hills,” she said. “They’re sacred sites.”

The association needs help moving the six-ton boulder from the golf course to the Indian burial ground. Anyone interested in helping the group, please e-mail Fraser at alex.fraser@pacbell.net.