“We’re fighting to save our home and ancestral land so that
future generations can walk in the footsteps of
our Tamal-ko ancestors.”
Theresa Harlan, Founder & Director

As the movement to return Indigenous lands into Indigenous hands continues to grow, in Northern California, the Alliance for Felix Cove is fighting to protect, restore and rematriate the ancestral homelands of the Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko Felix Family at Felix Cove.   Theresa Harlan, a descendant of the last family to live freely on Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko lands until their removal in the 1950’s, launched the Alliance for Felix Cove to shed light on that injustice–and to honor the lives of her family who persisted and thrived despite settler colonial forces intent on erasing their existence.   As an Indigenous-founded, Indigenous-led organization, the Alliance is committed to restoring the last remaining Tamal-ko home at Felix Cove and reclaiming access to that land for the Felix Family and to ensure that this story of resilience is shared widely and told accurately; and to create spaces for descendants and all people to know themselves as relatives with relationships to water, land, plants, and animals as relatives–so that we provide healthy ancestral homelands for future generations. Like many Indigenous nations fighting to reclaim access to traditional lands, the Alliance understands that restoring connections to ancestral lands is central to healing and renewal for the future.

Photo credit: Hewitt Photography

“All across the Americas, Native peoples are leading the shift toward reaffirming ancestral relationships with public lands and honoring the sacred. We do this work to honor our beloved ancestors and heal the separation from our family’s home. We do it so that future generations will know the resilient legacy of past generations and continue the Indigenous cultural and ecological practices of Tamalko people, people of Tamal-liwa (Tomales Bay).” - Theresa Harlan

Our Vision

Reclaim Our Ancestral Home - Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko Felix Family must have regular and unhindered access to the cove and home–as a path to healing from the trauma of being removed and blocked from their ancestral homelands.

Restore Our Indigenous Narrative - The true story of Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko people must be told–and the narrative guided by descendants themselves.

Rebuild Cultural Pathways - The ancestral heritage of the Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko people must be preserved, honored, and shared with future generations.

Our Work

In just over a year, the Alliance for Felix Cove has garnered a strong and rapidly growing network of support for our mission. Founder Theresa Harlan works side-by-side with our advisors–called the Strawberry Leadership Circle after the cherished food and medicine plant at Tamal-liwa–whose members are all Indigenous women committed to the Alliance’s mission.

Creating Powerful Cultural Programs - We have launched a number of culturally-grounded programs focused on building community knowledge of our plant relatives, as intimately as our ancestors, commissioning Indigenous artist Redbird Willie to teach workshops leading to the building of a traditional tule canoe/sáka. We held two celebrations of our tule canoe, “Re-Indigenizing Tamal-liwa: Welcoming Our Relatives Back to Tomales Bay'' and “Reconnecting to Our Ancestors”, and are currently planning an Indigenous Youth Kayak Program on Tamal-liwa in 2023.

Addressing the National Park Service - We have met multiple times with the National Park Service, Point Reyes National Seashore Superintendent and the Point Reyes National Seashore Association Executive Director to articulate our concerns and attempt to build toward a mutual understanding of the importance of preserving the Felix Cove home and ensuring all Coast Miwok/Tamalko people have access to their ancestral lands and for the public to access the true story of the Felix Family cove.

Building Partnerships - Since launching we have created valuable, supportive partnerships with Indigenous organizations like Sogorea Té Land Trust, The Cultural Conservancy, Native American Media Resource Center, Coast Miwok Tribal Council of Marin, and the Museum of the American Indian among others, as well as with non-Native entities like the ACLU-Northern California Foundation, Resource Renewal Institute, Dance Palace, and Blue Waters Kayaking, and others who stand with us in our mission to re-Indigenize Tamal-liwa.

Telling Our Story - In the last year we have garnered local attention through news articles, resulting in a podcast from Emergence Magazine on the Felix family, “Coming Home to the Cove”, which then led to an op-ed published by the Los Angeles Times and multiple local radio interviews. Watch for a new story in High Country News.

To take the next steps toward achieving our mission, we need financial support to grow our team and build our organizational infrastructure. Will you join our community of committed funders and supporters? Donate today in support of restoring Coast Miwok/Tamal-ko Felix Family history and to save the Felix Family home and ancestral land so that future generations can walk in the footsteps of our Tamal-ko ancestors at Tamal-liwa. Wali ka molis.

DONATE

Donations can be made to our fiscal sponsor, Community Initiatives , a 501c(3) Non-Profit Organization. The full amount of your contribution is tax-deductible within the limitations of the law. Consult your tax advisor regarding how these rules affect you.

To Donate by Check

If you prefer to pay by check, please make checks payable to Community Initiatives and include “Alliance for Felix Cove” in the memo.

Mail check to: Community Initiatives/Alliance for Felix Cove, 1000 Broadway, Suite 480, Oakland, CA, 94607

To Donate by Donor Advised Fund

Please provide your fund administrator with EIN# 94-3255070 and our address: Community Initiatives/Alliance for Felix Cove, 1000 Broadway, Suite 480, Oakland, CA, 94607