Kids Visit Park They Named ‘Juanamaria’

The first new neighborhood park in Ventura in 11 years will officially open next week and be christened “Juanamaria,” in honor of the Indian woman left behind on San Nicolas Island.

The park sits on a 4 1/2-acre site at Loma Vista and Kimball roads. Built by the housing development company of Kaufman and Broad, the park contains tennis and basketball courts, native plants and landscaping, restrooms, picnic areas and a huge grassy lawn.

In a contest last fall, Ventura residents submitted more than a dozen possible names, ranging from the practical (Loma Vista), to the dreamy (Someday), to the informative (Faultline, because it is right on top of a Ventura fault line).

The winning name--Juanamaria--was proposed by a team of nine fourth-graders from nearby Juanamaria Elementary School. Tuesday afternoon, they turned out with their teacher Joanne Frazier for an early glimpse of the park.

The students studied the story of the real Juanamaria. Heroine of the beloved children’s book, “Island of the Blue Dolphins” by Scott O’Dell, the American Indian girl once lived on San Nicolas in the Channel Islands.

The island was settled by Native Americans around 2000 B.C. and discovered by Europeans in 1602. The island and its waters are a sanctuary for dolphins, otters and birds. When the Spanish evacuated the Indians from the island, legend has it that an Indian boy fell overboard.

The boy’s sister leaped into the water to save him, and both were left behind. The boy was devoured by wolves, but the girl lived alone on the island for 18 years, until she was rescued in 1853.

She was found living in a hut with a dog and wearing a skirt of green cormorant feathers. She was taken to the Santa Barbara Mission, where the fathers named her Juanamaria. But after a lifetime of eating roots and berries, she could not adapt to the mission food, and she died shortly after her rescue.

The jubilant students said they could not believe they had won the citywide name contest.

“We jumped out of our seats when we heard,” said 10-year-old Julia Wittlin from her perch atop the new sign.

Frazier, the teacher, said this particular group of students is very socially conscious. The girls especially seemed enamored with Juanamaria’s courage and compassion.

“She cared very much for her brother, so she went after him,” said Kathryn Olmstead, 10.

“She survived on an island by herself,” said Alyson Wightman, 10.

“She was an independent woman,” added Morgan Harvey, also 10.

The official dedication ceremony for the park will be at 10 a.m. May 22 and will be attended by all 200 Juanamaria Elementary students. That will be followed by a performance of the famous story of Juanamaria by a Chumash storyteller and a dancer.