05/10/04

LC040510

Val Zavala>> Tonight on Life and Times --

Digging on sacred ground. What happens when a major development
encounters an ancient Indian burial ground?

Robert Dorame>> That is an intact cemetery. This is a village
site. This belongs, and always has been respectively belonging,
to the Tongva people.

Val>> And then, remembering Cesar Chavez. He had a huge impact
on the health and welfare of farm workers, but is his legacy
still intact?

All that and more straight ahead on tonight's Life and Times.

Life and Times is made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

Val>> What happens when a construction crew unearths a sacred
Indian burial ground? Well, that's what happened last fall at
the huge Playa Vista development near Marina Del Rey.
Construction crews uncovered an Indian cemetery. It wasn't a
big surprise. After all, the Tongva-Gabrieleno Indians had
lived in that area for centuries. But what to do with the
remains sparked an intense battle not only between Native-
Americans in Playa Vista, but within the tribe itself.

The west side development called Playa Vista is the biggest
mixed-use project built in Los Angeles in fifty years. For more
than a decade, it has been the focus of intense controversy over
wetlands and other environmental issues and now, even as it
nears completion, there is yet another controversy underway. It
has to do with an Indian cemetery and a water drainage system
that's being dug on the southern border of the project.

The waterway is needed to carry runoff into Centinela Creek, but
last October, construction crews encountered substantial remains
from a Gabrieleno-Tongva Indian burial site. The Tongva were
Southern California's first inhabitants. They lived in an area
stretching from present-day Malibu to San Bernardino and south
into Orange County. Steve Soboroff is spokesman for Playa Vista
and says Indian traditions are being respected.

Steve Soboroff>> We're following the rules. We're in fact not
only following the rules, we're above and beyond the call of
duty. We're a great neighbor. We're very proud of the way
we're handling this. These excavations are being done with
spoons and toothbrushes and brushes, not with bulldozers.

Val>> When the remains were found, Playa Vista hired an
archaeological company and, for the past several months, more
than forty archaeologists and technicians have been mapping and
excavating the area. So far, they've found the remains of about
165 Tongva. But some members of the tribe are very upset over
the handling of the remains.

Kimberly Johnson>> I saw very young archaeologists working on
the site with no regard. I saw brushes on the bones that were
breaking the bones as they were brushing away. I saw bones that
had accidentally been stepped on and broken. It made me sick
that they just absolutely dismissed any idea that this was a
cemetery.

Val>> The Tongva Indians requested that no video be taken
inside the site, so we confined our camera to the hill above
Playa Vista. Robert Dorame is the designated Most Likely
Descendant, or MLD. That means he can make recommendations as
to how the remains are handled.

Robert Dorame>> I have been on the site and the last site
visited was with the Native-American Heritage Commission. I
have made recommendations to Jeff Alschultz, who is the owner of
Statistical Research --

Val>> -- who's doing the excavation?

Robert Dorame>> Who's doing the archaeological work. He has
refused my guidelines.

Val>> He and his supporters have gathered letters demanding
that Playa Vista stop the digging immediately and meet with them
to discuss preserving the cemetery.

Robert Dorame>> They got human burial 165. This is an
extremely high number because it is an intact cemetery. This is
a village site. This belongs, and always has been respectively
belonging, to the Tongva people.

Val>> But Playa Vista says they are working with Tongva members
and are handling the remains according to a detailed agreement,
an agreement that had the concurrence of Tongva leaders.

Steve Soboroff>> The community has signed an agreement that was
ratified three years ago of how to deal with these. This has
been going on for over a decade, but we've got to make sure that
the water going into that Santa Monica Bay is clean and, if that
corridor is slowed down or stopped, that hurts the Santa Monica
Bay and that's not what we're prepared to let happen under the
condition that we follow the guidelines, the respect and the
dignity to the Native-Americans.

Val>> The one thing to understand about Native-American
politics is that there are various councils and groups within
any one tribe, so while one group of Tongva is protesting Playa
Vista, another group headed by Tongva tribe member Martin Alcala
is working with Playa Vista.

Martin Alcala>> "Spirits of the West." I am on the site daily
to make sure that my ancestors are respected. What we do is we
have an orientation every Monday morning before any work where
we gather around in a circle and I request that the people who
will be working on my ancestors treat them like their own, like
their great-grandfathers, and that philosophy has worked very
well where I am very satisfied with the way they're being
handled.

Val>> But Robert Dorame points out that the agreement governing
Native-American remains expired three years ago and, although it
was renewed, he doesn't consider it valid.

Robert Dorame>> I'm not sure who signed that and, again, who
the signatures were, but the question is, was in fact the
Native-American community of the government notified about the
situation here?

Martin Alcala>> A notice went out both in 1991 and 2001 when it
was re-ratified to all tribal organizations. That would have
been the time for them to respond and to bring forth their
complaints then.

Val>> It's clear that the divisions between tribal councils can
get very emotional and attacks at times get personal.

Martin Alcala>> I feel the ancestors especially here at Playa
Vista are a lot more closely related to my portion of the family
than Mr. Dorame's. He in fact is Gabrieleno and Apache and it's
the Apache you're seeing in him now, not the Tongva.

Robert Dorame>> Our personal ancestry from my lineal
descendants also goes across right straight to the highland of
Pima. We have family records of family being buried on Catalina
Island.

Val>> Dorame, in turn, is critical of Alcala because he's paid
by Playa Vista for monitoring the project.

Martin Alcala>> That's correct. Like I said, Mr. Dorame's a
monitor at times and they are certainly paid for.

Val>> One of the reasons for these intense feelings has nothing
to do with ancestral bones. It has to do with the right to open
a casino. Casinos are run by Native-Americans, but only if
they've received official recognition from the Bureau of Indian
Affairs. Whichever particular group of Tongva wins recognition
also wins the right to run a lucrative enterprise, and the more
authentic a council is, the more likely it will earn federal
recognition.

Martin Alcala>> Once we're federally recognized, then this
problem sort of goes away because suddenly we'll be able to
declare ourselves a sovereign nation and perhaps throw up a
casino to help us out of a couple hundred years of grinding
poverty and maybe even buy back the land to treat it the way we
want it to be treated.

Val>> As for Playa Vista, it plans to house the Indian remains
in a Native-American Cultural Center that will be built near the
site.

Steve Soboroff>> We're doing an interpretative center right
near this area that's going to celebrate the history of the land
in partnership with LMU and the Gabrieleno-Tongvas, so we're
doing numerous programs with them to celebrate their history and
their heritage.

Val>> But that may not satisfy those Tongva members who want
the cemetery left intact.

Robert Dorame>> I will persist and, as an MLD, I have not made
any recommendations for further re-interment of these people.
They are staying right here.

Kimberly Johnson>> Historically, what they've always done is
just move the Indians out of the way so that they can develop
and that's what they're continuing to do.

Val>> The one thing all sides share is the desire to see this
controversy resolved and the ancestral bones of the Gabrieleno-
Tongva Indians resting peacefully.

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Toni Guinyard>> The name and likeness of Cesar Chavez can be
found throughout the state of California. The founder of the
United Farmworkers of America died in April 1993, but his work
lives on. We got the chance to speak with his son, Paul Chavez,
and spoke about his father and his legacy with Life and Times.

Paul Chavez>> It's interesting what time can do, right, to a
person's legacy. You know, I think that during his lifetime,
you know, he was very controversial and he really forced people
to pick sides through his actions and his campaigns, so there
were very hard feelings on both sides. People loved him and
others thought he was the devil incarnate.

Cesar Chavez>> "We can't picket here because, if we do, we'll
go to jail. We said, fine, we'll go to jail together. You pick
up a picket sign..."

Paul Chavez>> But I think one of the things that we've seen is
that there's been a softening. I've even seen this from some of
his former adversaries that will say that, you know, while we
don't agree with his tactics, the values that he stood for that
are commendable, you know. I think time has stopped in peoples'
view on his life and his work. But even with that said, there
still are a lot of folks that, you know, have some very strong
feelings towards my father's work and would even question his
legacy.

Cesar Chavez>> "The boycott, the strike, has been a costly
thing not only to us, but also to the employers."

>> I think they're used to treating the Mexican-Americans and
the Philippino like a slave. They don't want to treat us like
humans.

Paul Chavez>> You know, when my father and Dolores started in
the early sixties, every attempt to organize farmworkers had
been brutally depressed. So there was kind of a belief that it
couldn't be done and I think that, here you are, you have these
two young folks in their early thirties that are saying we know
about the history, but we think that if we work hard and if we
remain committed to nonviolence that we can make a difference.
More importantly, if we can involve the American consumer,
things will be different this time.

So I think what happened was that, while his work happened in
the rural parts of this nation with Latino farmworkers, the
example was occurring to everybody, that if the poorest of the
poor in this nation stood together, worked nonviolently and
didn't give up, change could be made. I think that his example
in the areas that he did his work really inspired people from
all walks of life to go out and believe that they could make a
difference.

Cesar Chavez>> "Every labor union guy knows that, when you're
talking about recognition, you're really talking about the guts
of the union. We're not striking for really a wage increase or
for a pension fund. We're striking for the very elemental
things of labor."

Paul Chavez>> One of the things that my father did that I don't
think people recognize is that he really created an
infrastructure for a movement. You know, the folks that are
running the different parts of the farmworker movement, you
know, we're in our mid to late forties, but we all had over
twenty years working side by side with him. So he really left a
second generation to continue some of the work. I think that we
see a lot of the work continuing. Granted, there are new
tactics and you have to make the adjustments for a different
time period, but the organizing of farmworkers continues to be
an important part of our work.

Cesar Chavez>> "You've got to get out there with a picket sign
and get some action going. When you put all those things
together, then nonviolence works."

Cesar Chavez>> "We know that those of you who came from the
outside, from distant places, to be with us have come here and
sacrificed yourself and your families."

Cesar Chavez>> "It doesn't matter now how much money they're
offered. They wouldn't go back because what they want is a
union before they go back."

Paul Chavez>> But apart from the work and the jobsite, you
know, my father believed that workers just aren't workers, that
when they go home at night, they're parents that are concerned
about educational opportunities for their children, that they're
consumers that are in need of affordable healthcare, that
they're parents that are concerned about what their kids are
listening to and watching on the radio and TV. So the whole
movement was designed and developed to address the different
needs that farmworkers have because, whenever everything is said
and done, we're just not farmworkers.

Shortly after my dad passed away, we were invited to participate
in different commemorations throughout the nation. While we're
very appreciative and proud to be there, we also knew that, you
know, to some extent his legacy was a street named after him or
a library or a holiday and if people didn't understand his life
and his work and the meaning behind it, then it would be
shallow. So what we did, because of all the other work that we
have to do, we set up an organization, the Cesar Chavez
Foundation, to ensure that future generations appreciate and are
inspired by his life and his work. We have different programs
to help people understand not just who he was, but more
importantly to understand some of his values and some of those
things that he held very dear to him.

Cesar Chavez>> "The part of nonviolence really rests on the
reservoir that you have to create in yourselves of patience.
Not of being patient with the problems, but being patient with
yourselves to do the hard work."

Paul Chavez>> If we can teach future generations of kids to go
out and be their brother's keeper, then we think that that,
along with the naming of streets and holidays, will ensure that
my father's legacy really continues to burn brightly in the way
that is really fitting of his legacy. You know, if you look at
my father's life, they were born on a small homestead in
Arizona. He didn't have a college education. He only went to
the eighth grade. He never earned a lot of money. Yet he was
able to go out and really transform society.

So I think the message there is that everybody has the ability
to go out and make change if you stick to it and you don't give
up and if you remain committed to the principles of nonviolence.
I think that those are things that really apply to people from
all walks of life, that you have a moral obligation to help
people and you can make a difference.

You know, he had a tremendous amount of confidence in me. Not
just me, but in everybody around him. I would love to say that
it was something that he had for me, but it was bigger than
that. Many times, he had more confidence in myself than I did
and I saw it with other folks. I think what I remember the most
was him always believing that I could make a difference and
believing that farmworkers can make a difference and believing
that somebody who came maybe from the wrong side of the tracks
could make a difference. I think that's what inspires me,
believing and knowing that we can make a difference.

Cesar Chavez>> "But I think that, because however unfortunate
the experience might have been and the struggle on both sides,
that because of that experience, we have created the foundation
to what I think is going to be a very good working relationship
with the growers' community in Delano."

Paul Chavez>> I think that my father showed us that, if we work
hard and we don't give up, we can make a difference, so our job
is to keep on struggling.

To send a comment or a question to our program, you can reach us
by mail at this address:

Life and Times
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Los Angeles, California 90027

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contact us the fast way by e-mail at kcet.org.

Val>> We've told you about solar panels that run businesses and
solar technology that can power a home, but how about an eco-
musician? If you visit the Farmer's Market in Glendale, you're
bound to meet him and, as Toni Guinyard tells us, he hits all
the right notes even if his methods are a little unusual.

Toni Guinyard>> Listen. You hear the music long before you
pinpoint its source. Follow the melody and you'll find a
musician performing. His stage? A bus stop tucked in between
the sidewalk produce stands at the Glendale Farmer's Market.

[Film Clip]

Toni Guinyard>> This is Jon Sherman. His music provides
shoppers a break from the normal everyday sounds of the city.
He is the ecology-minded pied piper of Brand Boulevard. Each
note seems to draw the curious a little bit closer and that's
when you notice that the music is being amplified by a portable
solar-powered generator.

Jon Sherman>> It's on right now, but you don't hear it. You
hear the traffic. You don't hear this generator, but it's
generating right now. I'm plugged in to it. My sound system is
powered by it. So it's quiet, non-polluting and it's a
renewable source of energy from that yellow star in the sky.

[Film Clip]

Jon Sherman>> So even if this were a cloudy day, I could power
all day on just the stored energy in the batteries.

Toni Guinyard>> Sherman says it only makes sense that he set up
shop here at a Farmer's Market. He considers himself to be an
eco-musician putting equal emphasis on the ecology and on his
music.

Jon Sherman>> What I sell on the street here is a homegrown CD.
I'm doing everything myself as an independent artist growing
this product with solar power, with the sun, just as all the
fruits and vegetables have been grown. So I think I fit in to
the concept of the Farmer's Market in the sense that I'm growing
my own music and selling it here on the street.

Toni Guinyard>> Inspired by nature, Sherman writes his own
music, produces his own CDs and, using solar power, records,
duplicates and prints them at his home studio. His mantra is
"Energy Independence" and, if you ask about his instruments --

Jon Sherman>> This is a bass recorder.

Toni Guinyard>> -- or the solar-powered generators, there's a
good chance he'll stop performing long enough to explain how it
all works.

Jon Sherman>> The concept of a solar generator is basically
very simple. You've got the photovoltaic panels soaking up the
light of the sun and storing that as electricity in these deep
socket batteries. The twelve-volt system, these invertors
convert the twelve volts to regular house voltage that you can
plug into for usable energy. What I've discovered works with a
battery system is car audio, so these are car amps. They're
wired directly to the batteries. I think I'm the only solar-
powered sound in town. I don't have a lot of competition. I'm
hoping to make it so that everyone is on to it.

Toni Guinyard>> So it's not such a novelty?

Jon Sherman>> Yeah. As an environmentalist, that's my
objective to make solar power more popular and I do that
demonstrating it through the music.

Ricardo Guimet>> Beautiful. Very touching. I'm from South
America, so I know all the sounds of the flutes and that touches
me a lot.

Jon Sherman>> Sometimes just playing a few notes on the flute
touches people and it's what they need to hear that day.

Bunk Gardner>> Oh, what I heard, excellent, excellent,
excellent. You don't see those kind of instruments to begin
with. You very seldom see a bass recorder or even a tenor
recorder. You know, it's like voices in a chorus where you have
a soprano, alto, tenor and normally you wouldn't see something
like that, but it's very earthy. I'm an earth sign, so it gets
to me right away.

Jon Sherman>> Sometimes walking by and they see, oh, solar
power, wow. It's powering the music. That's what they need to
see.

Ricardo Guimet>> Not many people like him, you know, that seems
promoted to save the nature of the oaks and stuff like that, so
I'm proud to help somebody like that and also I enjoy it.

Toni Guinyard>> Enjoy it even though each note from this self-
taught musician competes with the noise from the street.

Ricardo Guimet>> This is great. A different kind of song
(laughter), but listen to that. Just listen and that will speak
for me.

Jon Sherman>> And I think that you've got to get out here and
demonstrate the difference, show people what works as opposed to
what really isn't working, what's polluting the environment.
It's not the ideal place for me to play to be heard for my
music, but I think it's a good place to show off solar power
because it's working.

[Film Clip]

Val>> For years, Jon Sherman has been a familiar face at
Descanso Gardens in La Canada. He recently moved his act to the
Glendale Farmer's Market and we're told that he already has a
strong following there. That's our program. I'm Val Zavala.
For everyone here at Life and Times, thanks for watching.

Life and Times was made possible through the generous support of
the L.K. Whittier Foundation dedicated to improving the quality
of life by supporting innovative endeavors in the fields of
medicine, health, science and education.

Val>> Next time on Life and Times, toxic treats. Are you
feeding your children candy tainted with lead?

>> Most of the candies that are testing high are testing high
at a level that will poison the child's blood with one candy.

Val>> That's next time on Life and Times.