The Moon, Mars,
And Chumash Traditionalism

"I am writing to ask you and the Los Padres division of the Sierra Club to join me and a growing number of Chumash Indians in speaking out against the situation on the Vandenberg Air Force Base, where the California Spaceport is being developed.

I recently submitted my report called "Identifying the Old And the New Jonjonata" to Caltrans, the California department of transportation which is responsible for the archaeology and ethnohistory at the western Chumash site called Jonjonata. In that report I discuss the current turmoil that has been generated by the Wilcoxon and Haley article which appeared in a recent edition of the journal of Current Anthropology. In my conclusion to this report, I suggested that the working relationship between the Chumash and university trained scholars has been seriously damaged. A wider spectrum of views is needed, to ensure a fair hearing for Chumash Traditionalism in future Caltrans hearings.

Within a short period, I will release a second paper which also addresses the issue of the impact of the Wilcoxon and Haley article. This report will focus on the California Spaceport, and it will be entitled: "Will the Aerospace Industry Promote Destabilization of the Chumash Indians?" In this second paper, the responsibility of Caltrans is again addressed, because Caltrans has a primary role in the developing of this spaceport which is being constructed on the western Chumash coast. Many concerns are raised in this paper, including environmental impacts of this spaceport if it succeeds in its stated goals of growing into an international leader for commercial space activities.

The Sierra Club should be concerned about the potential negative impacts of a world class spaceport being developed on the relatively undeveloped western Chumash coast. But the issues are larger than impact on plants and animals. They include emotional controversies relating to cultural genocide against the traditional Chumash people.

On June 25, 1968 David Brower who was the Executive Director of the Sierra Club wrote a forward to an important book by Theodora Kroeber and Robert Heizer called Almost Ancestors: The First Californians. His statement was short but powerful in its commitment. He lamented the extermination of many of the First Californians by white civilization. He spoke of the tragedy of being one of the last persons to speak a native language, knowing that when you die your descendants will lose a precious part of their heritage. "Perhaps we can wonder a moment what it might be like, for example, to be the last man on earth who could speak French. Man has been forgiven often for knowing not what he does. For the kind of error that wiped out this kind of uniqueness there cannot be much more forgiveness. There isn't enough of it left, any more, to let die or to kill or to poison or to pave over. Too many species are down to the last that speak their language, and organic wholeness will be lessened when they go, on whatever part of this planet they inhabit. What lessens them diminishes us, for there is no island."

The Chumash people have survived, but their struggles for justice continue. Powerful economic and political forces have joined together, for the purpose of building a massive spaceport on the western Chumash coast. California state law protects many of the rights of the Chumash, including their religious rights to sacred sites in the vicinity of the spaceport. Point Conception is one major site of contention, which may become a rallying point. *

The Chumash are concerned about endangered species living in this pristine region, and they are also worried about their religious traditions. Contemporary Chumash value this area because their ancestors venerated it as a sacred place...

I have proposed that every Chumash group have input in all future development planning in the Point Conception region, including the Traditionalists. Will you join me in speaking out on these issues?

John Anderson, March 28, 1998

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Point Conception
California Spaceport