Wishtoyo - News & Publications

Newsletter ~ Vol II, Summer 1998

On-going Projects

Living Language Program.
This is in collaboration with Liz Dominguez, Chumash from the Santa Ynez Band.

On-line Chumash Virtual Museum
This would include an interactive viewing of local and foreign collections of Chumash artifacts via the Internet. Please visit our current exhibit on this site!

Chumash Demonstration Village and Cultural Center
In association with local university.

Chumash Museum
Working closely with other agencies trying to retrieve and house Chumash artifacts that have been removed from archaeological sites.

Wishtoyo Internet Web Page
With the help of volunteers and staff, we are designing a web page that will offer viewers information about us and what we're about!

Children's Educational Manuals/Video
Introducing how people of the past regarded the natural resources of our planet.

Environmental Protection
Work with local environmental advocacy groups.

Kelp Bed Restoration
Currently working with Santa Monica Baykeeper organization to preserve the kelp beds in the coastal waters.

Educational Programs
Crafts, songs and dance. Demonstrate traditional customs of the Chumash.

Wishtoyo Membership

Wishtoyo would like to thank all the membership contributions thus far. We are pleased with the response to our first newsletter. We have a great deal of work ahead of us, but we are encouraged by the interest expressed to us by all of you!

We truly appreciate and welcome your ideas and comments on how we can move forward, develop new programs, and reach the community with our goals for preserving our environment and cultivating our culture.

Xew, a Chumash dancer, was one of the many storytellers at the California Indian Storytellers Gathering held at Satwiwa, a site in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, on April 25-26.

The Drum

Wishtoyo would like to thank Guillermo Martinez for the drum he made for us. Guillermo is a traditional drummaker and flutemaker. In ancient times he would have been called a "Tolteca" which is a specialized craftsman. His specialty is musical instruments. He is a descendent of the Tarascan Indians of the highlands of Michoacan, Mexico.

Guillermo shared with us what making the drum entails. These big drums first have their start in Taos, New Mexico with extended family members he knows there. They harvest the big cottonwood trees every year to make the traditional drums Taos is famous for. They hollow out the log according to Guillermoís specifications, then send it to him. When he orders the log, he begins locating hides. He prefers Buffalo and likes Elk and somtimes uses cow hides on the drums.

The hide is very important. It must match the log as well as the use of the drum and who it is being made for. When the day comes to make the drum, at least half a day is necessary to build it undisturbed. The day begins with prayers and tobacco offerings to the tree people, the four leggeds and also the four directions. Everything must be smudged and purified because the drum is the voice of Earth Mother and it must be pure and good. As the drum is being made, only good thoughts and good words are used. Finally, the drum is together and it is blessed and set aside in a dry cool place for 4 days undisturbed. After the fourth day it can be awakened. Everybody will hear its voice! "I was chosen to this and to do it well", Guillermo said.

A Vision of a Living Language
By Liz Dominguez

I would like to introduce myself. My name is Onok'ok Colocutayuit, most people know me as Liz Dominguez. I am Chumash from the Santa Ynez Band and am also Yowlumni/Tachi Yokuts, and Luiseno. I would like to share with you my vision of a living language. My vision began 4 years ago when I came upon a cassette tape of songs sung by ìIshiî the last of the Yahi peoples. It was a wax cylinder recording done in the ë20ís by an anthropologist named Kroeber.

It brought chills to me when I listened to the songs and stories that Ishi shared. It was as if he was trying so hard to leave something behind, to say to all, that he and his people had been here. As if leaving a legacy in exactly the way he had been taught to do and that being oral tradition. It then saddened me to think that there wasnít any Yahi left to learn from this legacy that was left behind by this courageous man. There wasnít anyone around that could translate anything Ishi was trying to say. After Ishi learned a little English, he then was able to translate some of the words of his language. Then he succumbed to European diseases, taking with him a culture to never be taught again.

I then began to think how wonderful it would be if one of my ancestors had left behind a legacy like this for me and my people. I did some research, and lo and behold! I got copies to the Chumash wax cylinder recordings. And what was even more of a gift was that my great-great-great grandmother Maria Solares was one of the singers on the tapes. The first time I heard her sweet, shy voice and at the same time looking at a photo of her, it was as if she was alive again! I saw my grandmother in my mind, reminiscing about the old ways, the songs that they used to dance to all night long, the stories they would share in a language that belonged to them, a culture full and complete in every aspect. It was then that a man named John Harrington approached her with a five dollar bill in his hand and asked her if she would share with him all of her memories of her culture. Yes, that five dollars sure would come in handy, but most of all, John said everything she tells him will be preserved for generations to come...Bingo! Maria thought, maybe one day as sure as the circle will complete itself, there will be one of my relations that will find these treasures, and all that has past, and all that has been held dearest to the ancestors, the blood, sweat and tears that the ancestors endured to keep this culture alive, will not have been in vain.

That was four years ago. Today I am a beginning speaker of two Chumash languages, a singer of over 100 songs, a dancer in fashion of the old ways. Someone once told me I live in the past, they had it wrong, I live for the past. Now it has become my responsibility to carry on the legacy of my grandmother and the others left behind, to share as I learn, with all others in hopes that one day when the cycle of the circle has come to it's completion, we will all be in it together, a living language, a living culture. Thank you Ishi, your message came through.

Educational Programs

Throughout the past year, Wishtoyo has achieved part of its goal by presenting numerous programs for approximately 4,000 children and adults. The response from the schools and community has been overwhelming and all have expressed their appreciation and hope for a continued effort to increase the number of programs to benefit the children in the future.

The UCLA Elementary School located in Los Angeles reported the following comments made by 7-9 year old children after Wishtoyo performed storytelling, dancing and songs over a campfire for them:

"Happy to know that someone wanted to bring back the Indian ideals. Because without the Indians, we wouldn't have a lot. They need to get the credit they deserve."

"It was nice of them to come and share with us. I liked the instruments and everyone touched them - they trusted us!"

"It was so great meeting someone who know so much about the Indians. I was amazed about how long Indians lived here."

"I learned that what you make and give to someone is always special because it comes from the heart."

"I was impressed by all the artifacts they made.î ìI liked the storytelling. He (Mati Waiya) put it in his words and acted as the eagle."

Educators at the school expressed the following: "Obviously, from the student comments, Wishtoyoís presentation had a big impact on everyone, Focus was put on how the Indians took care of the Earth and how we can continue to preserve our Earth today. Everyone enjoyed realizing the tribal traditions and contributions they play in our everyday lives."

Environmental View

The Baykeeper's Polluter of the Month for April 1998: The Tapia Water Reclamation Facility

"Malibu Creek is not a sewer pipe," declared Captain Terry Tamminen, the Santa Monica BayKeeper, at an Earth Day press conference on April 22, 1998. "Tapia refuses to find an alternative to dumping its wastewater, up to 8 million gallons a day, into Malibu Creek. To me, that makes them the polluter of the last two decades, but today we're awarding them our first "Polluter of the Month" award. The Tapia Water Reclamation Facility was found by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) to be:

A major contributor of pollutants to Malibu Creek & Lagoon;

A major source of unseasonal water flow in Malibu Creek, causing toxic water to flow onto Surfrider Beach, proven to cause illness to surfers and swimmers;

A major source of destruction of endangered fish, bird, and plant habitat.

Therefore, on November 3, 1997, the RWQCB ordered a prohibition of Tapia's discharge in Malibu Creek between the normally dry season of May 1-Oct 31 annually. Tapia was ordered to find other ways of recycling or disposing its water. Did Tapia comply? No they did not. Instead, they begged the RWQCB for relief, offering no plan for future compliance. They hid behind a vague reference by a federal agency about steelhead trout habitat as an excuse for continued dumping, at the same time ignoring their destruction of endangered tidewater goby and its habitat. Did RWQCB stand its ground? No they did not. Tapia was essentially given a blank check to pollute, destroy critical habitat, and continue to harm swimmers and surfers at Malibu beaches.

"Polluter of the Month" awards will be given by the BayKeeper each month to those who harm our coastal environment for "Exceptional Achievement in Destroying Our Coastal Water", culminating in a "Polluter of the Year" award for the regionís #1 polluter of the year.

Contact:
Terry Tamminen, BayKeeper
P.O. Box 10096
Marina del Rey, CA 90295
(310) 305-9645
Email: SantaMonicaBay@Keeper.org
Pollution Hotline: 1 (800) HELPBAY

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