JAUNTS : Culture Center Keeps Indian Tradition Alive : Public Hears Stories, Views Artifacts of Tribal Life

Marty Meeden, a Paiute-Washoe Indian who can weave a basket so tiny your finger can barely fit inside, was displaying his work and talking about his American Indian heritage on a recent Sunday at the Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

Meeden, a Palmdale kindergarten teacher, is among several area American Indians who take turns as guest host during a free Indian program every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The center, a small ranch house operated by the National Park Service and Friends of Satwiwa, was spared during the recent fires that devastated the Santa Monica Mountains. Although the fire blackened the surrounding Rancho Sierra Vista area, Satwiwa is now open for its regular weekly program on Sunday.

Satwiwa, which means “bluffs,” was the name of a nearby Chumash village. Built in 1985, the center is off the beaten track. The parking lot is a quarter-mile down a dirt road off Potrero Road. It’s another quarter-mile hike to the center, which is in a secluded grove of trees.

Here, on a Sunday, you might find Jane Cazabat, a Creek-Seminole storyteller, entertaining audiences under the trees. Or, another time, it might be Dolores Rivera sharing blankets, pictures and other family heirlooms from her Apache-Pueblo ancestors. Sometimes, a ranger is host.

This Sunday, the guest host will be George Dancinghorse, a Dakota Sioux who specializes in leather crafts. Although there is no admission to the center, he is also teaching a workshop that day on beginning beadwork for $45.

The modest center has some artifacts in its two visitor rooms, but the material is sparse. On Sundays, about 100 visitors stop by, according to Park Service Ranger Jaquie Stiver. During the week, schoolchildren visit.

Behind the ranch house is a replica of a miniature Chumash home, built from tules and cattails wrapped over a frame constructed from willow branches. A stone’s throw away is a pond and a grove of willows. An old Chumash trade route went through the area.

Meeden, a regular, talks as much about American Indians of today as the past. He said there are still 200 to 300 Paiute-Washoe, a small tribe that once inhabited the Mono Lake area. They have been actively fighting for national tribal recognition for 15 years.

“To be recognized, you have to prove the culture is still alive,” said Meeden, who grew up in the Palmdale area.

His band apparently was a hearty, resourceful lot. Their food staple was cutzavi , fly larva found in Mono Lake, he said.

Meeden has been making beaded jewelry since junior high school, sometimes taking as much as five hours to string a pair of earrings with an intricate design. He doesn’t stick solely to Indian designs, though. At Halloween, he strings orange-and-black jack-o’-lantern earrings or silvery ghosts. His work is sometimes on display at the center and is shown and sold elsewhere.

If you visit the center on a Sunday, you can combine it with a hike, although the area is charred. The Satwiwa Loop Trail is a 1 1/2-mile stretch through grasslands and chaparral in the Native American Indian Natural Area, a spot set aside for preservation. (Horses and bicycles are not permitted.) Construction is expected to begin in January on a new Native American Cultural Center near the present center.

Among other trails that tie into the area is the eight-mile Big Sycamore Canyon Trail that runs from Rancho Sierra Vista through Point Mugu State Park to the coast. (This trail is open to horses and bicycles.)

Jane Hulse, who spends as much time as possible out of doors, is a regular contributor to Ventura County Life. If you have any outdoor recreational news, send it to her at Ventura County Life, 5200 Valentine Road, Suite 140, Ventura 93003 or fax 658-5576.

Details

* WHAT: Satwiwa Native American Indian Culture Center.

* WHEN: Guest American Indian host from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

* WHERE: Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa, 4126 Potrero Road, Newbury Park. Located in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.

* ETC.: Be prepared to walk a quarter-mile from the parking area to the center. For information, call (818) 597-9192.