Indigenous arts part of CSUSM California Indian Day celebration

By: COLLEEN MENSCHING - Staff Writer

SAN MARCOS -- Two local artists and activists wove human history and ecology into their demonstration of traditional American Indian basket-making Tuesday at Cal State San Marcos.

The university is celebrating California Indian Day, which is Friday, with a full week of campus activities. San Diego County is home to more American Indian reservations than any other county in the country --18 that cover about 193 of the county's 4,205 acres.

On Wednesday, Rose Ramirez, of the Chumash and Yaqui tribes, and Lydia Vassar, a Luiseno member who teaches on the Pechanga reservation in Temecula, arrived on campus laden with traditional baskets and the makings of traditional baskets: native plants such as juncus textilis, deer grass, rhus trilobata -- a nonpoisonous sumac -- and yucca whipplei.

"Some of these plants -- you can use just about every part of them," Ramirez said, using the yucca plant as an example.

Yucca petals are edible, as are their seeds, she said. The long stalks can be woven into baskets or cord. Indigenous people used to submerge yucca roots, which contain a toxin, in water to sedate fish and make them easier to catch.

But even yucca has its limits. Vassar recommended using no more than a dime-sized circle of it to start a basket because it isn't as durable as juncus.

"If you wanted something to last 100 years, you wouldn't put something at the heart of it that was only going to last five," Vassar said.

In some cases, it's the plants themselves that are having trouble standing the test of time. Changes in the environment, from development to rerouting of waterways, has affected their growth patterns. This comes after centuries of sustainable agriculture by indigenous people who depended on the plants' success for their own survival, Ramirez said.

"They had to make sure that whatever they did with the plants was never too much," Ramirez said.

Cultivating a broader interest in basket weaving could be a way to preserve the plants and the craft. Vassar, who teaches basket weaving to Pechanga children and the San Pasqual elders, wants to make weaving as accessible as possible.

"I'm not really concerned with pattern because I am not trying to sell and make someone stop and say, 'Oh, look at that,' " she said.

That concept appealed particularly to Ashley Kingsbury, a Cal State San Marcos junior who plans to go into elementary education and wants to make the arts part of her curriculum.

"I like how Vassar is making baskets that are durable that children can touch and not worry about breaking," Kingsbury said.

Kingsbury planned to attend another of the week's special events Tuesday night -- a performance by the Intertribal Drum Group, which features local and national tribal performers.

Becky Munoa, a university alumnae and Pechanga tribe member serving as the school's tribal liaison, said students were riveted by the three-hour kick-off event with spiritual leader Robertjohn.

"Nobody got up even to use the bathroom," Munoa said.

The celebration of Indian culture continues today with Michael Wilken, who founded the Native Cultures Institute of Baja California will present a slide show and lecture on the revival of native handcrafts. The presentation will be from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in Arts Hall, Room 111.

At noon Thursday, Bird Singers will perform at Forum Plaza.

The week's events close Friday with storytellers from the Native Talk program and with a performance by the Lake County Pomo Dancers. The back-to-back events begin at 5 p.m. in the Library Plaza.

Deborah Small, professor of visual and performing arts and a member of the committee that planned the observance of California Indian Day, said the local Indian community is integral to making the week a success.

"The folks in this region are so willing to share what they know," Small said.

For more information about California Indian Day events, contact Gloria Wallner, (760) 750-4137.

-- Contact staff writer Colleen Mensching at (760) 739-6675 or cmensching@nctimes.com.