Place of the Bees
The land once known as The Ashby Community Garden was returned to the Sogorea Te Land Trust in 2022.
The garden was made up of two privately owned side-by-side lots on Ashby Ave. tended to by Berkeley residents since 2004. When the first lot went up for sale, the organizing group, We Bee Gardeners, launched a campaign to buy the land. They were able to reach a substantial amount of donations, unfortunately not enough to cover the high asking price.
Supporters reached out to several land trusts, including the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust.
A meeting was held with STLT and the We Bee Gardeners to discuss land return and what that would look like. After an agreement was made, an anonymous donor was able to buy the land of both lots on behalf of the trust and return the land to indigenous stewardship.
When the Land was Rematriated to Sogorea Te’, the We Bee Gardeners were able to continue to tend to the land. In February 2023 We Bee Gardeners offered to hand over all funds raised for the lots and officially close down as a 501c3 non-profit organization.
The land has been named Pinnantak, which means “place of the Bees” in Chochenyo. We at Sogorea Te’ are excited about our future here working collectively with the community.
In the News:
‘This land is coming back to us’: Berkeley community garden gifted to Ohlone land trust