Makkeweks
"Makkeweks" Ohlone/Rumsen for "Sea Monster"
Lake Merrit, once a tidal marsh system and estuary with an inlet to the Bay, was home to a variety of wildlife including leopard sharks and bat rays. Sightings of these creatures likely inspired the stories of sea monsters in the Lake. Such stories originated with the Ohlone and persist in our imagination today.
As Lake Merrit's habitat is enhanced and tidal
exchange increases, marine wildlife will become
more abundant. Makkeweks is an homage to
the Lake's renewal and a harkening of the return
of resident fauna. Inspired by the bat ray, leopard
shark, pipefish and goby, Makkeweks is a sea
monster perhaps as imagined by the Ohlone or
by early European settlers, or by future generations
upon glimpsing a mysterious fin or hump rising
from the estuary.
Erected 2019.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Animals • Environment • Indigenous Peoples and Communities.
Location. 37° 48.47′ N, 122° 15.837′ W. Marker is in Oakland, California, in Alameda County. It is in Downtown Oakland. It can be reached from the intersection of Harrison Street and Lakeside Drive. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Oakland CA 94612, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in California’s San Francisco Bay Area and on the Coast Ranges. It is also on the American Pacific Coast. Globally, it is in North America, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, in the Western Hemisphere, in the Western World, and in the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also Mexicos Alta California.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within
this page online
More about this marker. The marker is mounted to a waist high monument in Snow Park directly in front of the Makkeweks sculpture, just steps away from Lake Merrit.
Also see . . . Measure DD at Work: Lakeside Green Streets Project Grand Opening (City of Oakland, June 2019). "The Bay Area artist team of Wowhaus (Scott Constable & Ene Osteraas-Constable) created a monumental bronze sculpture for the Measure DD-funded Lakeside Green Streets project, located adjacent to the new Snow Park Promenade at 20th & Harrison Streets. Sited in a sunken rain garden that reclaims and treats storm water runoff, the 16 long sculpture depicts a fantastical sea monster inspired by an Ohlone folktale. Sculpted by Scott Constable, Makkeweks combines elements of the leopard shark, bat ray and other species common to the Bay, in celebration of Lake
Credits. This page was last revised on February 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on December 22, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 660 times since then and 52 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 22, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
