San Francisco Shamans: Monarch Bear Film Prospectus

Film Content and Purpose
This film is intended to be a documentary which demonstrates and explores the past, present and future history of a very special place within San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, called Monarch Bear Hill. Monarch Bear Hill is located in Golden Gate Park, centered between the National AIDS Memorial Grove to the east, the baseball field and Lincoln way to the south, the current building of the Academy of Sciences to the west, and the De Young Museum and the Conservatory to the north.

For more information about the Monarch Bear, please click here.

The Monarch Bear Hill & Monarch Bear
Monarch Bear Hill is named after the famous Monarch Bear. Monarch Bear Hill is where the Monarch Bear resided in a bear-pit from approximately the 1890's until 1917 when he died. He currently resides in the Academy of Sciences. He is very important in terms of California and San Francisco History being the model for the bear upon the California state flag. He is promoted as the last wild grizzly bear of California, and was captured in 1887 under the auspices of William Randolph Hearst.

In addition to being the home of the Monarch Bear, Monarch Bear Hill throughout time has been important for the land that is called San Francisco. Monarch Bear Hill is one of only five remaining ancient oak groves which predate the city, and the coming of European peoples to America. The gardeners of Golden Gate Park recognize the importance of preserving this ancient native Oak Grove, and have recently cut down non-native pine trees and eucalyptus trees which were threatening the oak grove. They have also planted many other native California plants, to help restore and preserve the natural ecology of the grove.

The Native American peoples of San Francisco, who were referred to as the "Olone", by the Spanish Conquistadors, had resided in the Bay Area for over 5,000 years. They were a Mayan people and spoke a version of the Mayan language, and worshiped in and honored the oak groves of San Francisco Bay as sacred. The Oak Groves were particularly sacred because they provided the Oak Mast which was a staple of their diet from which they made cakes and bread. The Oak Groves in Ancient Europe and the Mediterranean were also sacred for the same reason, in that the Oak Trees were a primary source of sustenance for early man.

Monarch Bear Hill and the National AIDS Memorial Grove (de Laveaga Grove) have a long history of interconnectedness within Golden Gate Park. Historically, when the Monarch Bear was present, the San Francisco Zoo was located in the area of de Laveaga Grove (AIDS Memorial Grove) and Monarch Bear Hill. There are stories of the Monarch Bear roaring and wanting out of his cage when the wind was blowing from the east to west, and he could smell the elk and deer in de Laveaga Grove.

The Chapter House Stones of the Abbey of Santa Maria de Ovila
Synchronistically, after the bear died, and his pit was taken down in the 1920's, William Randolph Hearst donated thousands of ancient sacred stones to the De Young Museum and Golden Gate Park. These stones came from a twelfth century Cistercian Monastery which had been located 80 miles northeast of Madrid, which was called the Abbey of Santa Maria de Ovila. Monarch Bear Hill became one of the two primary storage sites within Golden Gate Park for these sacred stones. Hundreds, if not thousands of stones were piled up upon Monarch Bear Hill. Over the years, it became a wilderness of embedded stones and vegetation. This wild place with the embedded stones attracted many San Franciscans to worship and meditate there.

In 1931, William Randolph Hearst purchased parts of Ovila, including the entire Chapter House, dismantled the stones, and shipped them to the United States. Hearst intended to use the stones to construct a swimming pool and bowling alley at this Wyntoon Castle on the McCloud River in Northern California. Financial problems led him instead to donate the stones to the City of San Francisco in return for a cancelled debt. The City moved the stones to Golden Gate Park, where they fell victim to a series of fires, theft, and vandalism that destroyed the identifying numbers that provided the code to reconstruct the Chapter House.

In 1980, Dr. Margaret Burke, an art historian in medieval architecture, surveyed all the stones, revealing that the beautiful Chapter House stones had survived the fires and vandalism and proved to be salvageable, even though their identifying numbers were gone. The abbey of New Clairvaux acquired the Chapter House stones in 1994, after more than 30 years of attempts.

Abbott Thomas, of the Abbey of New Clairvaux, which is a Cistercian Abbey located in Vina, California, some three hours northeast of San Francisco, through 30 years of requests and efforts, was able to convince the city of San Francisco to give the Chapter House Stones to the Abbey of New Clairvaux, under the condition that they reconstruct the original Chapter House and have it open to the public. Father Thomas has done research and fundraising since 1994 and the groundbreaking - and the foundation for the chapter house was done in the spring of this year, 2003.

Dr. Rodney Karr, the director/producer of this film, who has served as the steward (caretaker) of Monarch Bear Hill, since 1992, contacted Abbott Thomas, when all of the stones were being removed from Monarch Bear Hill, to inform him that many San Franciscans came there to worship and meditate with the stones, and their removal was causing deep spiritual loss to many people.

Abbott Thomas and Officials from the De Young Museum and Golden Gate Park were unaware that many San Franciscans were using Monarch Bear Hill and the stones as a temple. Abbott Thomas and Park Officials and City Officials responded with support and empathy when they were informed by Supervisor Tom Ammiano and Assemblywoman Carol Migden of the importance of Monarch Bear Hill and the sacred stones to people in the community. Abbott Thomas agreed to allow many of the stones from the Chapter House to remain on Monarch Bear Hill in order to support it's continuance as a sacred place within San Francisco.

In October of 1994, Abbott Thomas came in person and met with Dr. Karr, at Monarch Bear Hill. Hundreds of the stones had been piled up upon palettes in the street and were ready to begin their 3 hour journey to Vina California. Abbott Thomas blessed all remaining sacred stones in Golden Gate Park and Dr. Karr blessed the stones which were leaving on their journey north, to the Abbey of New Clairvaux.

The AIDS Memorial Grove
Synchronistically, since 1989, the National AIDS Memorial Grove has unfolded and blossomed adjacent to Monarch Bear Grove in Golden Gate Park. de Laveaga Grove which has become the National AIDS Memorial Grove by the 1970's had become a neglected abandoned and derelict part of Golden Gate Park, inhabited by homeless people, drug addicts, and litter. Over the last 12 years, the grove has been transformed through the efforts of the Board of Directors of the National AIDS Memorial Grove and thousands of volunteers from diverse communities in San Francisco, into a place of beauty and wonder. de Laveaga Grove / National AIDS Memorial Grove has become a deeply spiritual place, where the ashes of the dead have been spread, and memorials are performed for those who have died of AIDS. The National AIDS Memorial Grove and adjacent Monarch Bear Grove are interconnected by pathways and spirit. Mourners walk from the AIDS Grove into Monarch Bear Grove, and the Board of Directors of the National AIDS Grove, and their gardeners have been involved in the current restoration of the adjacent Monarch Bear Grove. Topographically, the valley composing the National AIDS Memorial Grove flows up and into Monarch Bear Hill creating unity.

Native American and Gold Rush Californian History
One can't look at the history of California and the extermination of California's grizzly bears without looking at the mass genocide of California's native peoples and the massive destruction of the land itself, which was a direct result of the greed and madness associated with the discovery of gold in California in 1849. In a very short period of time, hundreds of thousands of people came to California, and totally changed California's topography, ecology and population. Ultimately, the Monarch Bear's capture as the last wild Grizzly bear of California was the direct result of the 1849 Gold Rush. For Native Americans in California, the land, the people, and the creatures were one. In telling the story of the Monarch Bear, one has to include the story of the destruction of Native American peoples throughout America.

Jessie, a Native American man from the southwest, is one of the homeless inhabitants of Monarch Bear Grove. He was attracted to the grove because of its spiritual nature and because many birds, ravens, and animals live there. He is an artist of note - being an expert carver of Kachina Dolls, sketch artist, and painter. He has drawn for Dr. Karr, wonderful pictures of the stones, creatures, and spirits of the grove. He is an alcoholic and Viet Nam Veteran who is in poor health from years of destruction. He exemplifies the martyrdom of our Native American artists. He desperately wishes to go home to the Southwest, but finds himself unable to do so. We have filmed Jessie in Monarch Bear Grove, discussing what the grove means to him. We will be going to Jessie's homeland in the Southwest, and with the aid of Native American contacts, shall be filming the ancient Anastazi and Hopi cities and lands and people.

We have also filmed many other frequenters of Monarch Bear Grove. For example, we filmed Matthew, who is an ex-convict and drug addict who volunteers weekly to clean and care for the grove. We filmed Maria, an East-German refugee who is a well-known storyteller and whose parents were Christians who were exterminated in a Nazi concentration camp for harboring Jews during World War II. Maria also brings children from war-torn countries, who have lost their parents to America and raises them as her own.

We shall be filming in Downieville, Sierra County, California, one of the few remaining Gold Rush towns. We shall be filming the Downieville cemetery and township. We will also be filming an area of the Downieville river where the mines were, and where the placer mining operations extensively destroyed every form of life on the river in the 1850's. It is inspiring to see the regeneration life and trees on the Downieville River since that time. In visiting the Downieville cemetery, one is inspired by the California pioneers buried there and the hardships and sacrifices they made to create California as it is today.

Purpose of the Film:
Reawakening Californian's memory of the importance of the Monarch Bear

There is an amazing synchronicity in how much history activity and energy has occurred at Monarch Bear Hill / AIDS Memorial Grove over the last 100+ years since the coming of the Monarch Bear. This location housed the bear, and brought thousands of visitors every weekend. Later, the sacred stones from Spain came to this place, drawing others. When the San Francisco Zoo was moved from the park, de Laveaga Grove became desolate and neglected. Few people came there any longer. However, with the restoration of de Laveaga Grove as the National AIDS Memorial Grove, thousands of people have returned to this special place. The National AIDS Memorial Grove and it's reclaiming of de Laveaga Grove is an international model for how a non-profit organization can take responsibility for restoring and maintaining public park lands which have been neglected or abandoned. People now come here for healing, mourning, and celebration. The Monarch Bear is an essential aspect of this mythic story. The mythic story of the Monarch Bear has been unfortunately lost for most San Franciscans and Californians. During his lifetime, he was a great star in San Francisco and throughout California. He was constantly in the press with countless photographs and thousands of visitors. He was so famous that his visage was chosen to be placed upon the state flag and be the state symbol of California.

The major purpose of this film is to remind and help Californians to remember our Monarch Bear. When Californians are told that the Monarch Bear was a living bear who appears on our State Flag, most don't believe this. Most Californians have forgotten the history of the Monarch Bear. It is our purpose to help Californians remember the Monarch Bear, and other aspects of our California history. In remembering the Monarch Bear, the last wild Grizzly Bear of California, and honoring him, we hope to facilitate people remembering the incredible wonder of pristine California, and the creatures and native peoples who lived here in harmony in this paradise on earth. The Bear is the most ancient and worldwide symbol of the wild. Early humans worshipped bears, because they had watched the bears and learned how to survive in the wilderness by observing them. This worship and honoring of the bears resulted in some of the earliest cave drawings being of bears. Mankind has had a long and powerful love/hate relationship with the bear. Bears are heavily featured in Northern Hemisphere mythology, and found in stories like Goldie Locks and the 3 Bears, Smokey the Bear, Gentle Ben, Winnie the Pooh, and currently Brother Bear. A lot of lessons will be taught us by continuing to explore and understand our complex relationship with the bear and the rest of wild nature.

Because the intention of this film is to restore the fame of the Monarch Bear, it's possible that the Academy of Sciences would benefit by having a new resurgence of visitors to view the Bear. This film may then be an opportunity for the Academy of Sciences to use it for fundraising and attention for the rebuilding for the new Academy of Sciences, utilizing the charisma and the fame of the Monarch Bear. One of our interests is where and how the Monarch Bear will be shown and honored within the new museum.

Progress of the Film
For over 12 years, Dr. Rodney Karr has been performing the role of steward (caretaker) for Monarch Bear Hill. He is there twice weekly, cleaning and maintaining the space, and telling people about the Monarch Bear, the sacred stones, and the history of Golden Gate Park. He has developed a close working relationship with the Board of Directors of the National AIDS Memorial Grove and various Golden Gate Park gardeners and officials over this 12 year period. He has gained the support of the National AIDS Memorial Grove, and park officials in the restoration of Monarch Bear Hill which has occurred. In March of 2003, he was inspired to create a documentary film to document the importance of Monarch Bear Hill / National AIDS Memorial Grove and the sacred stones. Through his many connections within the arts community of The Bay Area, he has been able to inspire a number of professional film volunteers to participate in this film project since March 13, 2003. To date we have completed 9 film shoots which include 2 days of filming and interviews of the Board of Directors and volunteers of the National AIDS Memorial Grove, filming of the trees, stones, ravens, animals and people who frequent Monarch Bear Grove, the filming of Abbott Thomas and the Monastery of New Clairvoux, the stones there, and the Chapter House Rebuilding project, and the filming of various well-known artists, poets and musicians performing in the sacred groves.