This past Sunday I volunteered to work at the Fifth Annual Chumash Day, held on the soccer field at Bluffs Park. Except for parking problems occasioned by the record crowds, it was a wonderful experience. The Indian dancers from various tribes were breathtakingly beautiful. And it was truly a karmic experience, set where it was at Bluffs Park on a clear day with magnificent views of the ocean, coast and mountains, and with the crowds and participants (real Indians and otherwise) having a great time.
While living through this experience, I came to realize that such a pow-wow had to have occurred many times before, and for many years, on this exact spot. A Chumash tribe member confirmed to me that this was the probable spot of a Chumash settlement many generations ago, with its beautiful vistas and natural fortifications (the Bluffs).
People also asked me if I thought we would be here next year to celebrate our city’s Indian heritage, or would the state of California take it from us in the interim? Given the state’s interest in preserving California’s heritage, it would be a tragic mistake if the state evicted us from Bluffs Park and plowed this hallowed ground under to return it to “open space,” or paved it over to make a parking lot (as they did in the 1980s with the original Little League site) for whatever they plan for this site, if they even know.
Ted Vaill