Dear Hikers, Explorers, and History Buffs,
Today we are pleased to announce the release of a new online edition of Native American Indian Sites In The East Bay Hills A Guidebook. Our online version of the Guidebook is designed to work with GoogleEarth.
If you’re not using this program already, you can download it from GoogleEarth.com, for free.
Then go to eastbayhillpeople.com and download the .kmz file you’ll find under “New Sites”.
Open this file in GoogleEarth and start to discover the great wealth of cultural resources to be found right here in the east bay hills.
Although there appears to be an interest group that would deny you the right to even know about these places, we side with David Whitley, noted native American Indian archaeologist, who states in his seminal publication A Guide To Rock Art Sites (Mountain Press Publishing, 1996) “By exposing more people to and educating them about rock art sites, our ability to preserve these…will be enhanced. The simple presence of responsible and informed visitors, especially at remote sites, will serve as a deterrent to vandals…”
He further states “rock art still lacks a vocal constituency that urges land management agencies to place a high priority on the preservation, protection, and study of theses sites.”
We feel the same way about the native American sites we have discovered in the east bay hills. Preserve, Protect, and Study.
The aforementioned “kmz” may take you a little time to learn how to navigate (just start clicking!) but once you do it may be hard to tear yourself away from it. But do so anyway. Go for a hike and spend some time at any of these unique and important sites.
James Benney and Bob Bardell September 2008
eastbayhillpeople.com