The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band has received national recognition for its work at Pinnacles National Park in collaborating with the Universities of California, Santa Cruz and Berkeley to conduct two research projects that took an innovative approach to habitat restoration. The projects integrated traditional Native American land management practices with contemporary techniques to restore and protect the natural and cultural processes in the unique California grassland system.
Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar said the National Park Service is striving to become a place that is more inclusive and the redesignation ceremony Monday surely reflected that effort.
A landmark event for a local Native American tribe whose roots to this area track back nearly 3,000 years is approaching Saturday, when Bishop Richard Garcia of the Monterey Diocese will offer a mass of reconciliation at the San Juan Bautista Mission and “apologize for the tragic events which occurred during mission times.”
The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, which has deep historical ties to Gilroy and San Benito County, has forged an agreement with the Sempervirens Fund to work together to protect the natural and cultural resources of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The core dispute surrounding 6,400 pristine acres just south of Gilroy – a magnet for real estate developers, a Holy Grail to nature conservationists and “most sacred grounds” to a local Native American tribe – could unravel in court this month if the property’s dozens of investors find common ground.
A “big event” for the Amah-Mutsun Tribal Band took place inside the San Juan Bautista City Hall Tuesday night, when roughly 20 members drove from surrounding cities to witness the issuing of a formal proclamation recognizing the current-day tribe as “the historic and continuous Amah-Mutsun Ohlone Tribe that existed before Spanish contact.”
When sightseers tour the centuries-old Spanish mission tucked off Highway 1 in Carmel-by-the-Sea, it’s likely they’ll admire the red-tiled roofs, the chapel’s aesthetic facade, the prominent dome bell tower, the exquisite gardens or the vast collection of liturgical art.