Administered by Marin Municipal Water District San Rafael California
Located San Geronimo Water Treatment Plant Sir Francis Drake Boulevard South side, after Railroad Avenue San Geronimo California
Date:
1984-1986. Dedicated July 12, 1986
Notes:
Public Art Works, San Rafael, CA, 1991.
Save Outdoor Sculpture, California, San Francisco survey, 1994.
Summary:
This large earthwork was designed as a tribute to the Miwok Indians of the San Geronimo region. It consists of five earth mounds planted with low-growing, native plants. The area between the mounds is covered with redwood bark and protruding from the top of the hills are poles, semicircular disks, and trees. Part of the earthwork illustrates the Miwok legend about the establishment of the San Geronimo region. According to the Miwok legend, Coyote Man created a dome-shaped sky and then shot two arrows into the ground to establish the first inhabitants, known as Hail and Rain. This portion of the legend is told in the center of the earthwork where there is the "Dome of Heaven" represented by a round earth mound with four openings to symbolize the cardinal points. At the eastern end of the earthwork is the "Monument to the First People" which consists of two twenty-foot steel poles protruding from an earth mound. These poles represent the arrows Coyote Man shot to earth to create the first people, Rain and Hail.
Evergreen trees which provide the link between the earth and the sky, and help the Miwok hear the song of the wind, are planted along the length of the earthwork. Oak trees which provide acorns, a Miwok Indian food source, are planted on two tear-drop mounds. Elderberry trees used to create flutes played at night to keep the stars awake are planted on a ramp-shaped mound at the western end of the earthwork. The end of each section is walled by concrete disks buried in the ground so that only half a circle is exposed. The disks appear to be faced with metal plate which has been wire brushed in circular patterns.
