OC Returns Bolsa Chica Mesa To Indigenous Communities

A parcel of land in Huntington Beach was recently returned to the local Indigenous community, a first in Orange County.

The Acjachemen Tongva Land Conservancy now holds title to the Bolsa Chica Mesa, which sits just above the Bolsa Chica wetlands along the coast.

LAist 89.3 host Sharon McNary spoke with Tina Calderon, the board treasurer of the land conservancy, on plans for the mesa and the importance of returning lands to Indigenous communities. The following interview has been edited slightly for length and clarity.

Can you describe the mesa for us?

It's a place that has amazing energy. You could just feel the ancestral ties to the lands. It's 6.2 acres, and although the location is just amazingly ideal, it's been disrespected and disregarded for a very long time. So there's going to be big work ahead of us to rematriate the land.

It was once an ancestral village of these peoples. What's the significance of this land transfer back to the Acjachemen and Tongva people?

It is huge. It's the first land back opportunity within Orange County, and it's something that's happening across California slowly, bit by bit. But this particular site is a 9,000-year-old village site. It's a place where remains have been found, as well as cogstones, which are stone tools. They're round and they have these etchings all around the edges, and they're each different, so they kind of look like stars or maybe even the sun. A lot of people don't know exactly what they were used for, but in my heart I do believe that they were to read the stars, and they were a tool.

How was this land disrespected?

No one has been caretaking the lands for a very, very long time. There is a fence that's partially complete around the site, but the neighboring people enjoy the property and walk on it. That's perfectly fine. But the disrespect part comes in where they have made these BMX bike jumps. And it's a sacred site. And I don't think they understand the significance of it. You can literally see the shell midden embedded into these ramps that they've created. For us, it's like taking our bicycles into the cathedral.

What plans does the Land Conservancy have for this area?

We think of it as a place of knowledge and healing. Our plans are to what we call rematriate the land — bring it back to its health. [To] get rid of the invasive species that are there and plant the plants that should be there, which will help the ecosystem thrive. [We'll be] bringing the soil back to health and educating the people that live there. It's not about keeping people out. It's about educating them to approach it in a respectful manner. Hopefully they'll even want to join in and help us attend to the lands.