State Panel Backs Native Americans Battling Bolsa Chica Project
After local Native Americans and the Bolsa Chica Land Trust lost their bid before the California Coastal Commission last month to halt Brightwater/Hearthside Homes construction on the Bolsa Chica mesa until they could be satisfied Indian bones were being handled properly, Anthony Morales said the last hope "for dignity" rested with the California Native American Heritage Commission.
Late Friday night, the commission voted unanimously to give the tribal leader of the Gabrielino-Tongva Mission Indian group that dignity.
More specifically, the six commissioners huddled in San Juan Capistrano City Council chambers voted unanimously to help strengthen the Coastal Commission's efforts to force Hearthside to speed up the Native American-monitored sorting of 5,500 bags of remains--crushed bones, teeth, artifacts and soil that Morales says contain "the DNA of our ancestors"--so they can quickly be reburied.
The Coastal Commission first ordered Hearthside to deal with the remains there "in a timely manner" two years ago, and made that plea again at their meetings in November and again this week.
"This is egregious," said Native American Heritage Commissioner Laura Miranda.
That summed up the feelings of the 70 people in the room. Representatives for the developer were no shows.
The commission will also send letters to the City of Huntington Beach and the County of Orange expressing concern over the handling of remains at Bolsa Chica in the past and--as it concerns a six-acre parcel adjacent to the Brightwater project that the city is annexing from the county--the future.
Now that the six-acre property is on the commission's radar, Commissioner James Ramos said, "we're going to keep our eyes and ears on it" so the same chain of events that happened with the Brightwater project does not happen again.
Commissioners seemed dumbfounded how something like what has been happening at Bolsa Chica could be possible since most likely descendents (MLDs) of the Gabrielino-Tongva and Juaneño-Acjachemen tribes supposedly monitor grading, excavations and reburials at the Brightwater project site. These MLDs have the power to shut down construction until their concerns are dealt with.
This seemed to get to the heart of the problem at Bolsa Chica: a schism between different groups from the two tribes, each of which has its own idea who the rightful MLD is. Juaneños have at least four MLDs, and Hearthside--in the long tradition of other Orange County developers--has been able to achieve its building goals by using tribal disagreements to its advantage. For instance, Hearthside's vice president Ed Mountford just told the Coastal Commission his company has not turned over remains for reburial because different MLDs cannot agree on whether to quickly rebury remains or first sort through them.
His company's MLD of choice, San Juan Capistrano-based Juaneño leader David Belardes, received many hisses from other Native Americans in the crowd and dismissive tones from at least two commissioners. Belardes said he has served as the MLD at the site for nearly 30 years.
Ancestors of the Gabrielino-Tongva and Juaneño-Acjachemen groups lived on the Bolsa Chica mesa as long as 8,500 years ago, and many older members of those bands say they have always been told there was a village and cemetery there, long before white settlers arrived.
More juicy stuff to come in a later post.
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RP in FV says:
I'm really starting to wonder who exactly the Coastal Commission is supposed to represent. It seems they are experts at foot-dragging to delay controversial decisions until the developers, corporations eventually get what they wanted in the first place.
As for Bolsa Chica, the developers feel confident in finding enough gullible schlubs to buy over-priced property in a buyer's market. Rising sea levels due to global warming? I can hear the real estate agent now:
"Don't worry, they can always drain the swamp, uh... wetlands to put up a sea barrier to protect your new, ocean-front house. Nah, the association dues won't go up, the taxpayers will pay for it. Now, sign here, and here, and here..."
Posted on Saturday, Dec. 13 2008 @ 11:22AM
Alex Brant-Zawadzki says:
Can some of that additional "juicy stuff" concern David Belardes?
Seems like this guy might have sold his blood and heritage in order to get as much money as he can. Didn't the Transportation Corridor Agencies pay him off so they could claim support from Native American groups for their nightmarish 241 (foothill-south) toll road?
What a waste of $350,000
From the LA Times, June 14, 2008:
A faction of a Native American tribe against a proposed toll road through south Orange County has agreed to drop its opposition – and stands to make $350,000 because of it.
David Belardes, who heads one of four Juaneño groups, said he signed a letter of intent with the Transportation Corridor Agencies by which the toll road operator would help pay for a tribal museum and genealogy studies to further the tribe’s efforts to gain federal recognition.
Posted on Saturday, Dec. 13 2008 @ 4:00PM
JOE SERRANO says:
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Posted on Sunday, Dec. 14 2008 @ 11:03PM
Matt Coker says:
Hey, Alex:. As you'll see in the next post, Mr. Belardes does figure into it.
Posted on Sunday, Dec. 14 2008 @ 11:29PM
Matt Coker says:
Mr. Pena: Should we slip into our matching Nikes and track suits and join Mr. Serrano in the bunker waiting for the comet?
Posted on Sunday, Dec. 14 2008 @ 11:32PM
Native American Advocate says:
It is outrageous that the company will not even take the time to see if the bones are Native or not. I guess they are going to get a lot of bad karma out of this construction project.
Posted on Tuesday, Dec. 16 2008 @ 6:26AM
Alex Brant-Zawadzki says:
Native or not? Whose bones could they possibly be if not native?
"A lot of the town's problems get solved in the wetlands. There's a lot of holes out in the wetlands."
Casino? Anybody? Anyone?
Tough crowd.
Posted on Tuesday, Dec. 16 2008 @ 5:25PM
Matt Coker says:
You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little fucked up maybe, but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to fuckin' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How am I funny?
Oops, sorry, that's not Casino, that's Goodfellas.
Posted on Wednesday, Dec. 17 2008 @ 11:30AM