Corrina Gould facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Corrina Gould
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Corrina Gould is an important leader and spokeswoman for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone. This is a non-profit group that works to protect the history and land of the Ohlone people. Corrina is a Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone woman. She has been an activist for a long time. She works to protect, save, and get back the lands that belonged to her Ohlone ancestors. The Ohlone people live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Corrina Gould's group is in the East Bay, in places like Oakland and Berkeley today.
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Corrina Gould's Early Life
Corrina Gould was born Corrina Emma Tucker on November 12, 1965. She grew up in Oakland, California. Later, she married Paul Gould Jr. and took his last name.
What Corrina Gould Does
Corrina Gould worked full-time at the American Indian Child Resource Center for 12 years. There, she ran an after-school program. This program helped Native students in Oakland.
She has also helped start and work with many activist groups. She is the Tribal Chair for the Confederated Villages of Lisjan/Ohlone. She also helped start the Sogorea Te Land Trust and Indian People Organizing for Change.
Corrina Gould also produced several documentaries. These films are about Ohlone people and other Native peoples. Her films include Buried Voices (2012), Injunuity (2013), and Beyond Recognition (2014). She is also on the board of directors for the Oakland Street Academy Foundation.
Important Work and Campaigns
Protecting Ancestral Lands: IPOC
Corrina Gould is a main organizer for a group called Indian People Organizing for Change (IPOC). For more than 20 years, she has worked to protect Ohlone Shellmounds. These are ancient burial sites of her ancestors. She helped start IPOC.
IPOC organized the Shellmound Peace Walk from 2005 to 2009. Today, the group works to protect the West Berkeley Shellmound. Corrina Gould has also led a campaign to collect a "Shuumi Land Tax." This tax helps buy back land to return it to Indigenous people through the Sogorea Te Land Trust.
Saving the West Berkeley Shellmound
Corrina Gould is currently focused on the West Berkeley Shellmound. This site is where the earliest known people lived in the Bay Area. Parts of it are now covered by a parking lot. A company wanted to build many homes on this spot. But the City of Berkeley stopped them because of Corrina Gould's activism.
In 2000, the Berkeley City Council called the spot an historic landmark. In September 2020, the National Trust for Historic Preservation said it was one of the 11 "most endangered historic places" in the United States. The company tried to get quick approval for their building plans. This would have meant less public discussion. But the City did not agree, and a judge supported the City in a lawsuit. Corrina Gould and IPOC continue to work hard to save the remaining parts of this sacred site.
The 2011 Sit-in for Sacred Land
In April 2011, Corrina Gould, Johnella LaRose, Wounded Knee De Ocampo, and others held a sit-in. This happened at Sogorea Te, a sacred site in Vallejo, California. The sit-in lasted for 109 days. Because of this protest, the City of Vallejo, the Greater Vallejo Recreation District, and two Native American tribes made an agreement. This agreement helps protect the cultural importance of the land.
