Vincent Medina

narrator

Vincent Medina strives to keep his Ohlone identity strong. Medina is Chochenyo Ohlone, the indigenous people of the East Bay. Through years of in-depth research with ethnographic and linguistic notes that were recorded by ancestors in his community, Medina has gained fluency and teaches the Chochenyo language to family – which was dormant for generations as the result of the harmful aspects of colonization. Medina also serves on the Board of Directors for the Advocates for Indigenous California Language Survival, a statewide organization that works to strengthen Indian languages across California. He works as a Curator at Mission Dolores in San Francisco, where he works to change the narrative of how missionization impacted Indian communities to focus on the strength and persistence of Native agency. Medina is a member of Slow Foods Turtle Island, a group of Indigenous people who work to decolonize diet and strengthen traditional foods, and he also serves as a radio host on KPFA’s Bay Native Circle.