Some members of the Juaneño, Gabrielino-Tongva and other tribes want the Coastal Commission to revoke Hearthside-Brightwater’s permit for 300-home development.

BY CINDY CARCAMO, The Orange County Register

HUNTINGTON BEACH – American Indians and their supporters will gather at the Brightwater Hearthside Homes site Wednesday to protest what they say is the developer’s disrespect toward their ancestors and lack of transparency about archeological findings on the Bolsa Chica Mesa site.

The same group is also in the midst of gathering signatures to petition the California Coastal Commission to hold a hearing on whether to revoke the developer’s permit.

“I just don’t like the way the whole thing was handled,” said Linda Candelaria, a member of the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe who plans to attend the protest. “This is not only of concern to Gabrielinos but all Californians. This is part of California history. I believe the protest will make some people aware.”

The rally and signature gathering are just the latest twists in the saga for the embattled 300-home project, which sits on a site believed to be an ancient burial ground and village once shared by the Gabrielino-Tongva and Juaneño Band of Mission Indians.

Over the past 30 years, archaeologists hired by the developer discovered 174 sets of ancient human remains, half of them unearthed in the past 21 months. Human remains can mean a full skeleton or fragments.

Ed Mountford, vice president of Hearthside Homes, said the developer has followed every regulations and condition for the permit.

“They’ve tried this before and the commission denied it,” Mountford said, referring to actions by the Bolsa Chica Land Trust. He said he believes the organization is behind the protests and revocation petition.

“Just because you have more people on the signature line doesn’t mean their request has more merit,” he said.

Paul Moreno, a board member with the California Cultural Resources Preservation Alliance, is helping spearhead the effort of contacting several American Indian groups to support the petition.

“When you find that many remains in a certain location they should be protected and preserved instead of unearthed,” said Moreno, a Mission Viejo resident who is a member of the Micmac nation

As of Tuesday afternoon, members of the Juaneño, Gabrielino-Tongva, Chumash and other tribes had signed on.

The project has come under fire recently from the state’s Native American Heritage Commission, which has accused the developer of not appropriately documenting all grave items found on the site.

Commission officials have also alleged that the developer is not being forthcoming about its archaeological findings on the Bolsa Chica Mesa site.

A plan to rebury the last 87 remains was postponed after the Coastal Commission intervened and began a review into whether the developer provided proper documentation, specifically regarding grave goods.

Since the 1970s, activists and tribal members have pushed for preservation of the site that they said belonged to an ancient Indian village.

After a flurry of lawsuits and heated disputes over a plan to develop the site, Hearthside Homes won permission to build. A condition on the project was that any discovered remains would be reinterred elsewhere in the area and appropriately documented.

Joyce Perry, cultural resources director for one faction of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, said her group sides with the developer. Perry, who has served as a monitor on the Hearthside site, said her group asked the developer not to tell the public about the site.

“We’re not in the business of telling people where our burial grounds are. It’s again our religious practices,” Perry said. “I’m tired of our ancestors being used as pawns.”

The protest is scheduled for 5 to 6 p.m. on the corner of Warner Avenue and Bolsa Chica Street.

Contact the writer: 714-445-6688 or ccarcamo@ocregister.com
Copyright 2008 Orange County Register Communications

Posted on May 27th, 2008 by hunwut
Filed under: Culture, Healing, Repatriation