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Indigenous Activists Succeed in Monument Removal, Urge End to Genocide Symbols

As the re-creation of the 90-mile Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail is on its way, Indigenous activists are working to remove associated statues and plaques.

Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 15, 2024—one day after Indigenous People’s Day—to recognize an historic victory that took place earlier this year.

In the summer of 2020, as discussions about racial justice gripped and inspired the nation, a plan to recreate the route Gaspar de Portolá was being finalized. At the same time, a petition was being circulated to remove a statue of the Spanish explorer.

Here is an excerpt from the petition.

“We, the undersigned, are calling for the removal of the statue memorializing colonizer Gaspar de Portola. The highly visible statue is located in one of the most frequented public spaces in Pacifica, next to Highway 1, Linda Mar Beach and its Community Center.

“Gaspar de Portolá was not the hero that people were led to believe when his statue was first erected. He was a colonizer born of Catalonian nobility. He was commissioned by the Spanish Crown to create a route for the Spanish settlement in California. The intent was to remove Native Americans from their ancestral homelands. The route Portola is given credit for was established on pre-existing Native trails. He did not “discover” Pacifica, nor did he “discover” the San Francisco Bay. The San Francisco Bay region had been inhabited for thousands and thousands of years by Native Americans before the arrival of Portola.”

On the morning of Thursday, January 18, 2024, Caltrans quietly removed the Portolá statue from its property beside Highway 1, without any public announcement. But more work remains to be done.

By Naomi Friedland

Nov. 1, 2023—The Ohlone-Portolá Heritage trail will run through 90-miles of San Mateo County from Año Nuevo to Sweeney Ridge, commemorating the 1769 journey of Spanish Explorers to the “discovery” of the San Francisco Bay. Beginning to build the historical trail project in 2019, San Mateo County Parks is working with the Ramaytush Ohlone who are indigenous to the San Francsico Peninsula to provide the Native perspective of the story. However, despite these efforts, many Indigenous activists still struggle to be heard. The removal of statues and plaques that commemorate Portolá’s feat is on the top of their list of actions to take to respect their traumatic history with Spanish colonial figures including to the mass-removal of their ancestors.

Jonathan Cordero, the chair of the Ramaytush Ohlone peoples and Assistant Professor of Sociology at California Lutheran University, is still concerned that Indigenous perspectives added to the trail will not sufficiently tell their story, since the trail and narrative is still centered around the Spanish expedition. “The trail project was prompted by the 250th anniversary of the Portolá expedition, and the Native story is additive, not primary or even equivalent,” he says.

While Cordero and other local Indigenous leaders lost the battle to prevent the building of the heritage trail, they are still fighting to remove statues and plaques that honor Portolá and his “discovery.” Cordero and other activists petitioned to get the Portolá statue in Pacifica removed. Danielle Redlin Gustavson, Pacifica resident and artist who is Indigenous to Mexico wrote the petition. “The pedestal is so large and it can be seen from Highway One and everywhere,” Redlin Gustavson says, referring to the Portolá statue. It is a daily visual reminder to her of the atrocities Portolá’s expedition led to.

"This person was part of a genocide as like an ethnic cleansing. And we’re gonna name our streets after him. We’re gonna have this statue here. And we’re never going to talk about the native people that have been here, hundreds if not thousands here,” says Gustavson.

CalTrans is reviewing the request to remove the Portolá statue in Pacifica (update: removed in January 2024) and the Junipero Serra statue on Interstate 280 at the rest stop near Lakeview. “The state moves very slowly, especially with requests of this nature for which there are no official policies and procedures,” Cordero says. “That said, the state is moving forward with the removal of both statues, and it will probably take another year.”

Another physical commemoration of Portolá’s discovery, a plaque on Sweeney Ridge, was reported to be vandalized in the summer of 2020 according to Golden Gate National Recreation Area after the interpretive panels sharing both Spanish and Indigenous perspectives were installed.

“Given the complexity involved in addressing the damage to the monument, which is made out of stone, we continue to evaluate available options,” says a representative from the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The plaque is not just going to go away, but the Golden Gate National Recreation Area will change the language of the official designation on paper. When asked if the plaque will be removed, Gregg Castro, the Culture Director of The Association of Ramaytush Ohlone said there is “No plan. [It’s] extremely expensive. I'm not saying it won’t happen. It’s just that they first have to change the paperwork."

Despite these concerns, the Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail is still seen as progress by many in recognizing Indigenous histories. “San Mateo County Parks is in the process of receiving a half million dollars from Sen. Josh Becker to update State Historic Landmarks right next to county park sections of the Ohlone-Portolá Heritage Trail, setting the template for future work,” Herzberg, a senior planner with San Mateo County Parks Department, says. The Juan Bautista de Anza Trail, is a similar route, tracing Spanish commander Juan Bautista de Anza’s path to California, commemorating the first mission and presidio in the San Francisco Bay. The Ohlone-Portolá planning committee is working with the De Anza Expedition to include Indigenous history by 2025.

“Everybody I talk to says it's about time,” Herzberg says. “It’s about time the truth is told about what California history was.”

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