California, Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians Partner To Protect Tribal Homelands

California State Parks and the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians are joining forces to manage and protect natural and cultural resources at several state parks within the tribe's territory.

The announcement came on Wednesday when the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding at Siutcanga, or the “place of the oaks” — known today as Los Encinos State Historic Park.

The parks include:

• Los Encinos State Historic Park
• Malibu Creek State Park
• Malibu Lagoon State Beach
• Castaic Lake State Recreation Area
• Verdugo Mountain
• Topanga State Park
• Santa Susana Pass State Historic Park
• Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve
• Antelope Valley Indian Museum State Historic Park
• Arthur B. Ripley Desert Woodland State Park
• Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area
• Saddleback Butte State Park
• Red Rock Canyon State Park

Pamela Villaseñor, executive director of Pukúu' Cultural Community Services and tribal citizen, said her family's reservation was at Siutcanga.

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"This (memorandum of understanding) with California State Parks is restoring previous harm and giving our tribe, my family, our villages, rights and access back to our homelands," Villaseñor said.

California has signed 10 memoranda of understanding with tribes. While the agreement doesn't return land, it cultivates a collaboration between the two sides to take care of local landscapes with traditional ecological knowledge.

State Parks Director Armando Quintero said state parks serve as a reminder of the deep human history of the lands.

"The rich and diverse cultures of the earliest ancestors of these lands are alive today in the cultures, traditions, and languages of the Fernandeño Tataviam people," Quintero said.

Villaseñor said she now looks forward to celebrating, singing and uniting with tribal children and elders at the first community gathering in their villages in the near future.

“One hundred eighty years ago, my great grandmother stood here defending this village from settlers. Fifty years ago, my father stood here defending our cultural resources from a construction project," said Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians President Rudy Ortega Jr. "For the first time since colonization, I stand here in celebration of a monumental moment: an agreement that sees us as a tribal government, but more importantly, as people.”