Parking Plan Gets Stalled by Artifact Search : Archeology: Land used as a neighborhood garden at Cal State Long Beach is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Development of the two-acre parcel will be delayed indefinitely.

Construction of a parking lot on the site of the Cal State Long Beach Organic Garden will be delayed indefinitely while university officials determine whether an American Indian village once stood on the land.

An archeological dig will begin this spring to determine whether bones or artifacts are preserved in layers beneath the garden. The dig will be monitored by representatives from the Native American Heritage Commission, university spokeswoman Toni Beron said.

The garden is on a strip of land along Bellflower Boulevard that may have been part of an ancient Gabrieleno Indian village called Puvungna. It is one of three archeological sites in Los Angeles County that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The site was listed in 1974 under the category “information potential,” indicating that it contains significant clues

about the lifestyles of ancient peoples, officials said. National Register Director Carol Schull said information about what is buried on the site is restricted to help protect it from looters or vandals.

“This is not a site that might have historic value,” she said. “It does have historic value.”

However, restrictions placed on the site because it is listed on the National Register only apply to construction projects using federal money.

Gardeners who grow vegetables on the land hope that the historical significance of the site could keep them from being evicted next month from the lush two-acre parcel of land that has been farmed for two decades. University officials say the gardeners must leave by Feb. 28.

Administrators say the area is needed to provide 450 parking places during construction of a sports complex and parking structure. About 2,200 spaces will be lost during the construction, which is scheduled to last into 1995. The university then plans to develop the land.

Local American Indian leaders have joined the urban farmers in their fight to stop the proposed development.

Indians consider the area sacred because it is the birthplace of the god Chunquichnish, said Vera Rocha, the leader of the Gabrieleno Nation of Southern California. Across the street from the garden, a wooden sign pays tribute to the people who once lived on the site.

The proposed construction at the gardens would desecrate sacred land, Rocha said. It is “like Bethlehem or Jerusalem to our people,” said Rocha, known as Chief Ya-Anna.

For centuries, the Gabrieleno Indians roamed the coastal areas of Southern California and Catalina Island, according to materials at the American Indian Resource Center at the Huntington Park Library. Tens of thousands of tribe members lived in permanent settlements, such as Puvungna, until the early 18th Century. Today, fewer than 1,000 Gabrielenos remain in the area.

Indians believe that a garden is the proper use for the land, Rocha said.

During a stormy public meeting in December, university officials acknowledged that archeological discoveries have been made on campus, but said no artifacts have been found on the garden site.

Later, Planning Director Tom Bass received dozens of letters pointing out that the spot was listed on the historic register.

Officials at the state Office of Historic Preservation also are reviewing the university’s proposal to build the parking lot.

No state or federal laws prohibit construction on a historic site, but state agencies--like the university--must comply with a state law that requires consideration of environmental and cultural consequences of a proposal.

“Sometimes (historic importance) carries a little more weight than other issues they consider,” said Dwight Dutschke, who handles American Indian issues for the state historic preservation agency. “But there’s nothing to say they absolutely cannot build.”

Dutschke said that, if human remains are buried on the site, the university must contact the county coroner to exhume the bones. The remains are then turned over to a representative of the Gabrielenos.

Critics are skeptical that additional studies--no matter what they uncover--will change the university’s construction plans. Eugene Ruyle, co-chair of the university’s anthropology department, said the relationship between the university and archeologists has traditionally been tense.

But Beron, the university spokeswoman, said that, when American Indian remains were found on the campus in 1975, they were dug up and “respectfully reburied” at another site on campus, which has been marked and left vacant.

She added that about five years ago evidence of prehistoric life--shucked shells--was found at another site. That site was later paved for a parking lot.