New University, Ancient Roots

The nonprofit Wishtoyo Foundation proposes that a Chumash Indian studies program and demonstration village be created at Cal State Channel Islands, the fledgling university being developed at the site of the former Camarillo State Hospital. Wishtoyo’s backers would like to see the village established at the foot of Round Mountain, a 520-foot-high hill just east of the intersection of Lewis Road and Potrero Road at the west end of the campus. The hill was identified in a 1933 report by archeologist John P. Harrington for the Smithsonian Institution as a site associated with traditional Indian ceremonies during summer solstice, when sunset and sunrise observed from the hill occur at distinctive points in relation to surrounding geographical features.

University academic planners received the suggestion in response to requests for input from hundreds of individuals in the region representing the sciences, commerce, education, the arts and the area’s cultural and ethnic groups.

Native people also have a unique interest in campus development because state law requires that in any project, they work with archeologists to document pre-construction discovery of artifacts and that they then monitor building activity. However, university President Handel Evans said that no significant construction is anticipated on the campus for at least a decade, when a parking structure may be needed to accommodate enrollment growth.

Even so, an archeological survey--short of digging--will be part of an environmental impact report on the development that is being prepared by Rincon Consultants Inc. of Ventura. That report, too, will include input from members of the Chumash community.

Times staff writer MICHAEL P. LUCAS discussed some of these issues with two Chumash leaders who have differing views on the importance of developing a Chumash village on campus: Mati Waiya, executive director of Wishtoyo, and Paul Varela, executive director of the Oakbrook Regional Park Chumash Interpretive Center at Thousand Oaks, which is developing a traditional village about 15 miles from the new university.

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Paul Varela, 41, is the principal signatory of the petition for tribal status filed by the Oakbrook Chumash People. He has been affiliated with the 422-acre Oakbrook Regional Park since it was established in 1983 and lives with his family at the park.

Question: What clan do you belong to?

Answer: We call ourselves the Ish Panesh, the Acorn People.

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Q: What is your involvement with the university development?

A: In the past they would notify us when the final EIR [environmental impact report] had been dumped, and tell us this is what is going to happen to you, this is how it is going to directly affect your culture. And then you hold your breath and do what you can. Now we are involved before even the draft is written, so this is exciting. We are going to see what’s going on before it is even put on paper; we have our input. This is very encouraging. We are confident that anything that comes up, we can deal with.

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Q: What is the advisory role you are playing in the Cal State Channel Islands EIR process?

A: Raudel--I call him “Mookie”--Banuelos [a state employee] is keeping us informed as to what is going on and what the archeologist is doing. So we are going to know right away what has happened. Mookie is a Chumash person and a close friend. He has been in the [state hospital] maintenance department for 20-some years. If there would have been a problem, with people moving pipelines and digging, he would have known about it, I feel. Because the first thing that spreads around is word that they found bones or pots, whatever. I feel confident that that area is not going to be a problem.

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Q: So you are not aware of any artifact sites on the university land?

A: No, not at all, in the complex of the university. Outside, probably. Inside that area where the university is now, I don’t believe there are any.. . . The big burial is on Broome Ranch. There are three large areas around there, but they are not on the hospital site.

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Q: How far are the nearest significant Native sites from the university?

A: Maybe two miles away, you would have a substantial site.

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Q: A burial site?

A: Probably. There was a village there; I’m sure there was.

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Q: What is the importance of Round Mountain?

A: It is mentioned in some of the notes as being a sacred place. John Harrington talked about a lot of different areas like Point Conception being the western gate to a way to all of the heavens for all the Chumash people. But that was proven not an ancient belief of our people. That doesn’t make it incorrect, but it doesn’t make it part of the ancient beliefs, and so Round Mountain could be in the same category. But it was mentioned in John Harrington’s notes, so it was of significance. But now you have a great relearning of our own culture, so that is what this is all about.

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Q: Do you support a Native American studies program at the university?

A: A native studies program might be pretty interesting. I have not talked too much about that but I talked to [senior academic planner Robert] Peyton. . . . UCLA has a great native studies program; USC has a great one. Those are options, but one at the state university would be pretty interesting to see.

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Q: What do you think of the proposal by Mati Waiya to put a demonstration village and interpretive center at the university?

A: We already have one of those. That is all I am going to say about that. We don’t need another one. . . . What the kids need is an opportunity to go to school and learn the scientific world. We are going to teach our children about their own culture and themselves; we don’t need them to go to college to teach them that. I want to emphasize a way of getting our children into school and the way to help them pay for it.

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Q: Tell us about the artifacts on display at Oakbrook Regional Park.

A: We have 400 or 500 objects. About half are borrowed from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History on a year-to-year basis. There are baskets, arrow points, a lot of beads, bowls, all kinds of things. From the early period, 6,000 to 8,000 years ago, to the present time. Some of them are re-creations. We are acquiring more all the time from archeology, from whatever construction is going on. And people bring us things they’ve picked up over the years.