Gadfly Rallies Indians to Save Encino’s ‘Lost Village’

Arguing that the full extent of a major archeological find on Ventura Boulevard is still undetermined, an Encino slow-growth gadfly has rallied state Indian leaders and an archeologist to help him block construction of two office buildings at the site.

The core of the argument by Gerald Silver, president of Homeowners of Encino, is that more of the “Lost Village of Encino,” discovered in 1984, must lie beneath two redevelopment sites on the north side of the boulevard between Balboa Boulevard and La Maida Street.

To date, the presence of additional Indian remains is unconfirmed, but the archeologist who excavated the “Lost Village” says she is certain it extended over a greater area than has been excavated.

“For sure there is an archeological site over there. It’s part of the same village complex,” said archeologist Nancy A. Whitney-Desautels of Huntington Beach.

The redevelopment sites are located on the same block as Los Encinos State Historic Park and across the street from an office building erected atop the “Lost Village” site after it was excavated.

When the commercial complex at the southeast corner of Ventura and Balboa boulevards was under construction six years ago, more than 1 million artifacts and the remains of at least six people were unearthed. The $1.7-million project, paid for by the developer, became one of the largest private archeological excavations ever tackled in California.

Described two centuries ago by Spanish explorers, the site of the village had been lost and became the subject of a years-long hunt by modern historians.

The Los Angeles Building and Safety Department found no need for a full environmental impact report, with an archeological survey, on the proposed construction sites nearby. So Silver alerted regional Indian leaders, Whitney-Desautels and the state Native American Heritage Commission, who have joined him in appealing the city’s decision to the Building and Safety Commission.

Developer Maurice Cohen of Studio City accused Silver of “very poor judgment to use other people’s culture and heritage as a means of getting his point through.”