California IN BRIEF : SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Indians to Protest as Swallows Return

The annual return of the swallows to Mission San Juan Capistrano was expected to be marked this year with a peaceful protest by local Indians whose ancestors built the church while the Revolutionary War was being fought. About 300 Juaneno Indians live in the south Orange County area around the mission, and many planned to join in a march and sit-in today at the historic mission grounds to protest what they say is the Roman Catholic Church’s insensitivity to Juaneno traditions, which are “fast disappearing,” tribal chairman David Belardes said.