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xuyčun ruwway Community at UC Berkeley Honors Tribal Sovereignty and Stewardship
In 2024, the University of California Berkeley held a grand opening for its newest and largest dedicated graduate-student apartment complex and the first UC Berkeley building with an Indigenous-language name. xučyun ruwway (pronounced HOOCH-yoon ROO-why) Apartments – a beautifully designed five-building complex – honors the heritage of the East Bay Ohlone people while providing a unique living experience for over 700 grad-student residents.
“From an Indigenous perspective, naming is a sacred act with deep cultural, historical and spiritual significance,” says Dr. Nichole S. Prescott, Principal of More Than An *Asterisk consulting services. Prescott was engaged by ACC to help facilitate coordination among all the community stakeholders. “The gift of this name signifies deep trust, mutual respect and relationship-building between the Ohlone peoples, UC Berkeley and ACC. And its use acknowledges the Ohlone communities’ enduring presence, sovereignty, and contributions to this region.”
The name is only one Indigenous element ACC intends to incorporate into the community. Through design elements, signage and educational programming, the Ohlone story will be woven into the identity of this housing community.
“xučyun ruwway seeks to be more than a place to live – it’s a space of acknowledgement, learning, and belonging,” Prescott explains. “The East Bay Ohlone people, which include the Ohlone Indian Tribe, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and Confederated Villages of Lisjan, are the original stewards of the xučyun territory, having lived in the region for more than 12,000 years. I’m working to sustain strong relationships among all the different stakeholders while moving the project forward with cultural respect and responsibility.”
The next step is a series of commemorative elements – including a mural, a garden and naming of interior rooms – that tell the story of the East Bay Ohlone people as the traditional stewards of the land. These elements will focus on native plant life.
“Land is incredibly important to Indigenous peoples,” explains Prescott. “If you’re a native person, the land and its natural resources are what give you life – shelter, food, clothing, medicine, everything. So native plants seem like a natural means for telling the Ohlone story. We plan to create a garden with native plants and markers you can scan with your smartphone and immediately go to a website with the Chochenyo, English and scientific plant names, as well as the cultural uses of the plant by Indigenous people.”
A future mural at xučyun ruwway will incorporate the same native-plant motif, as will other wall art being sought for the buildings’ interiors. Additionally, interior study and meeting rooms will be named for native plants. All elements will be mutually referential and consistent with the ‘ottoy Initiative, UC Berkeley’s campuswide Indigenous cultural education, community engagement and visibility efforts.
“Frequently, companies collaborating with Indigenous people try to move too fast, and they get focused on deliverables rather than relationships,” notes Prescott. “You have to move at the speed of trust. This work can benefit everyone involved, if companies are patient, engage the right people and are willing to invest in these relationships.
“This community is an awesome opportunity for a student-housing company to showcase true consideration and authentic relationship-building with Native Americans,” she concludes. “The East Bay Ohlone people are the traditional and the contemporary stewards of this land – this land is part of who they are, and who they are is part of this land. And ACC is moving with intention and integrity, honoring Indigenous language, history and traditional knowledge within these shared spaces.”
xučyun ruwway is located on the unceded homeland of the Ohlone communities so, in their native language of Chochenyo, xučyun refers to the name of the ancestral territory, while ruwway means home(s).
“From an Indigenous perspective, naming is a sacred act with deep cultural, historical and spiritual significance,” says Dr. Nichole S. Prescott, Principal of More Than An *Asterisk consulting services. Prescott was engaged by ACC to help facilitate coordination among all the community stakeholders. “The gift of this name signifies deep trust, mutual respect and relationship-building between the Ohlone peoples, UC Berkeley and ACC. And its use acknowledges the Ohlone communities’ enduring presence, sovereignty, and contributions to this region.”
The name is only one Indigenous element ACC intends to incorporate into the community. Through design elements, signage and educational programming, the Ohlone story will be woven into the identity of this housing community.
“xučyun ruwway seeks to be more than a place to live – it’s a space of acknowledgement, learning, and belonging,” Prescott explains. “The East Bay Ohlone people, which include the Ohlone Indian Tribe, Muwekma Ohlone Tribe and Confederated Villages of Lisjan, are the original stewards of the xučyun territory, having lived in the region for more than 12,000 years. I’m working to sustain strong relationships among all the different stakeholders while moving the project forward with cultural respect and responsibility.”
The next step is a series of commemorative elements – including a mural, a garden and naming of interior rooms – that tell the story of the East Bay Ohlone people as the traditional stewards of the land. These elements will focus on native plant life.
“Land is incredibly important to Indigenous peoples,” explains Prescott. “If you’re a native person, the land and its natural resources are what give you life – shelter, food, clothing, medicine, everything. So native plants seem like a natural means for telling the Ohlone story. We plan to create a garden with native plants and markers you can scan with your smartphone and immediately go to a website with the Chochenyo, English and scientific plant names, as well as the cultural uses of the plant by Indigenous people.”
A future mural at xučyun ruwway will incorporate the same native-plant motif, as will other wall art being sought for the buildings’ interiors. Additionally, interior study and meeting rooms will be named for native plants. All elements will be mutually referential and consistent with the ‘ottoy Initiative, UC Berkeley’s campuswide Indigenous cultural education, community engagement and visibility efforts.
“Frequently, companies collaborating with Indigenous people try to move too fast, and they get focused on deliverables rather than relationships,” notes Prescott. “You have to move at the speed of trust. This work can benefit everyone involved, if companies are patient, engage the right people and are willing to invest in these relationships.
“This community is an awesome opportunity for a student-housing company to showcase true consideration and authentic relationship-building with Native Americans,” she concludes. “The East Bay Ohlone people are the traditional and the contemporary stewards of this land – this land is part of who they are, and who they are is part of this land. And ACC is moving with intention and integrity, honoring Indigenous language, history and traditional knowledge within these shared spaces.”
