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Concerns over the history of Indigenous people, the need for diverse education courses on Indigenous communities and representation in government were areas worthy of focus for participants of BenitoLink’s most recent Community Vision listening session.
Tribal Chairwoman of the Indian Canyon Nation Kanyon Sayers-Roods, said there is a lack of diversity education in schools and awareness of the existence of Indigenous people.
“I’m concerned many people don’t know we exist,” Sayers-Roods said. “When I was little, a little boy said, ‘If you’re Indian, you’re dead!’ He denied my existence from the gate.”
“San Benito County serves an Indigenous population that is huge, though many of us don’t even know it because of cultural denial,” Sayers-Roods continued. “So, lack of education; our school systems need an up-to-date curriculum and more culture sharing opportunities.”
Executive Director of WildFarmers, Veronica Stork, who has worked with Sayers-Roods’ mother, Ann-Marie Sayers, agreed with Sayers-Roods.
“Everywhere you go, pretty much, outside of Hollister is a sacred place,” Stork said. “And we do not give it the kind of attention it needs.”
Richard Perez Sr., a direct ascendant of the Chiricahua Nation said his biggest concern was the lack of resources and opportunity for Indigenous people.
“A lot of times, the federal government treats reservations and tribes as though they are a separate country, even though they share the same land,” Perez said.
Another concern Perez brought up was the lack of history and representation.
“A lot of times, we gloss over the fact that history has been very abusive to the Indigenous people. Not just Indigenous, but people of color, minorities. The lack of representation is becoming evident in our government.”
Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Chairman Valentin Lopez said the history of the Indigenous people in San Benito County has been covered up and erased.
He said in the early 1800s soldiers, or scouts, were sent to identify villages, then raid them in the early morning.
“They targeted the women. They would capture the women and they would tie their thumbs together,” he said.
He added the scouts marched women out of the villages, and their children would follow their mothers. Lopez said the women and children would be whipped and beaten for refusing to march with the scouts.
“After three, four days, the captain said, ‘Kill them all and spread the remains,’” he said, when the women and children refused to walk to the missions.
“And this is not an isolated incident,” Lopez said.
Conditions at the San Juan Bautista Mission were “horrendous” Lopez said.
He added that 26 years after the mission opened in 1797, it was reported that 19,421 Native people died at the hands of the mission and its leaders, but the cemetery, located on the north side of the church, claims to contain the remains of less than 4,000 Native Americans and Europeans.
Blanca Alvarez Stransky, superintendent of Pinnacles National Park said the lack of Indigenous representation and diversity in the county and federal government is concerning.
“Having been in the National Park Service as a Hispanic, native Spanish speaker, I’m seeing the effects of this lack of representation in our decisions and how we manage national parks,” she said.
“I’m trying to change that. It’s definitely a problem.”
Working with the Chalon Indian Nation, Stransky said she hopes to bridge the gap between Indigenous culture and the younger generations.
A representative from the Chalon nation was invited to the session but lives out-of-state and was unable to attend.
Several participants in the listening session said the county needs a community center for Indigenous people.
According to the participants, which included members of the Amah Mutsun and Oaxacan communities, the worst possible outcomes if these issues aren’t addressed include more incarceration of Indigenous people, more violence and the destruction of cultural and sacred sites.
“There will be a lack of education in different areas from math to real history and that can also lead to incarceration if children aren’t able to learn and figure out what their gifts are to the world,” Jeanette Neal, a parent education coordinator and organizer with Youth Alliance said.
Principal of Willow Grove Union Grove District, Linda Smith agreed: “We’re going to see more gang work here and more violence,” if the general population is not educated on different cultures.
Lopez said in order to bring solutions, healing must happen.
“The perpetrators need a hell of a lot more healing than the Indigenous people,” he said.
“They need to heal from their acts of being perpetrators and the destruction of the Indigenous people.”
The participants added that the best possible outcome would foster inclusion, more educated people and the embracing of all cultures.
“There has to be a spirit of collaboration,” Perez Sr. said. “The best outcome possible would be for things to happen, so that everybody has a seat at the table.”
BenitoLink’s listening sessions are a continuation of those done by the Community Foundation for San Benito County. Several notable results followed the foundation’s 2011-12 listening sessions.
- The founding of BenitoLink, a nonprofit news organization serving the residents of San Benito County with local and regional news and information.
- The REACH Parks Foundation, which has been central to the development of parks and walking trails in San Benito County.
- The Community Foundation Women’s Fund, which has helped women with financial support and educational programs.
- Local nonprofits such as the San Benito County Farm Bureau identified the need for leaders to have a better understanding of agriculture, and worked to bring qualified team members into leadership positions.
- RSVPs to attend the listening sessions are required.
The 2024 Vision San Benito County listening sessions are supported by the Calhoun/Christiano Family Fund and the Community Foundation for San Benito County. BenitoLink is reporting back the results in articles about each session.
There is an upcoming listening session scheduled for February 20, 2024 on issues and solutions from Spanish-speaking residents of the community. To learn more, please email corinnekappeler@benitolink.com or noemagana@benitolink.com
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