Paul Pommier, a member of the Barbareno Council, wrote me confirming this his advocacy of a homeland for the Santa Barbara Chumash on California's Gaviota Coast. The Barbareno Council will be meeting soon, and the seashore planning process will be on the agenda. Discussion will include the need for a general meeting of non-reservation Chumash, to discuss this matter collectively. (Email to John Anderson, May 28, 2001).
"This is a very important issue because these federal hearings will affect the remaining Chumash sites on the Gaviota Coast, where we have many burial sites and historical villages. The various non-reservation councils need to join together to try to stop the desecration of our ancestral sites. Developers must know that we oppose disturbing our ancestors, who lay to rest on this coast." (Email to John Anderson, May 25, 2001)
The Coastal Band just contacted me to confirm that they want to participate in future federal hearings on the Gaviota Coast. [Email to J. Anderson, June 7, 2001].
Mark Vigil, spokesperson for the SLO Council [the northwestern-most Chumash] contacted
me today, to confirm its support for a coastal reservation for the Santa Barbara Chumash
families. (Email to John Anderson, May 28, 2001) [Note: Chumash families living in San
Luis Obispo County are also seeking a federally protected homeland of their own. ].
Tarren Collins, Chair of the SLO County Sierra Club chapter, wrote to confirm that
preservation of the Gaviota Coast was a priority for her organization. She is fully
sympathetic to the need to join together with the Santa Barbara Chumash families to
discuss their role in any national seashore planning, including the issue of a homeland for
these native peoples. "My concern is that the Chumash issues need to be in the forefront
soon..." (Email to John Anderson, May 23, 2001) For related information on Tarren Collins, see: Chumash Law
Bob Hazard of the board of directors of the Conservancy wrote: "Protecting a home for
original Americans within a National Seashore should be a consideration" [Comment
entered into the Gaviota Coast Discussion Board, May 27, 2001; you can read associated
discussions at Coast Discussion Readers can read about the environmental advocacy
efforts of the Conservancy at Conservancy
Paul Pommier -- "This area of the coast under study is contains many Chumash heritage
sites of great importance to the Barbareno Chumash Council, and to the other Santa
Barbara Chumash who are not part of our council. This study area is our home where our ancestors
were born [Paul is a descendant of a Dos Pueblos Chumash family].
f we could work with the non Indians in a joint planning process, I believe we could come to an agreement that
could protect the environment of the coastline while providing us with our first permanent
land base. The Santa Barbara Chumash could then seek grants to put our people to work
in various programs including educational outreach projects, and we would then have a
means of providing low income housing for our people to live who cannot afford the high
rent and mortgages of the nearby Santa Barbara, Gaviota, Montecito, etc.
The Santa Barbara Chumash are prepared to work hard to move from the poverty of the
past. Some of us have hopes of building a senior care home for our people, which is badly
needed. I am willing to do all I can to work with others so that we may improve our way of
living. " (Email to John Anderson: May 28, 2001).
See HOMELAND PRESERVATION for the official statement of the Barbareno council on a Gaviota Coast homeland.
Mike Khus - - Wrote to say that he agreed with the goal of integrating a homeland for the
Santa Barbara Chumash families into any future plans for the Gaviota Coast. "Tarren
Collins' comments are quite valid..." (Email to John Anderson, May 26, 2001. Note Mike
Khus is a past tribal historian for the Coastal Band).
See HOMELAND PRESERVATION for the official statement of the Coastal Band on a Gaviota Coast homeland.
Newspaper Article On Competing Factions In Gaviota Coast Study
