INDIANS FEAR NEWHALL RANCH DEVELOPMENT : CHUMASH SAY SACRED GROUND COULD BE IRREPARABLY DAMAGED.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

For years, the Chumash Indians of the Santa Clara River Valley have considered it sacred territory: two acres of hard, flat ground beside Sespe Creek, outside the tiny town of Fillmore.

There are altars for worship, a sweat lodge for a dozen or more, and a fire pit at the site, where descendants of the Chumash celebrate the naming of an infant, the spring and autumn equinoxes, the winter and summer solstices and other sacred occasions.

They also come for introspection and solitude at the place that has been home to golden eagles, bears and, at times, California condors.

Now some fear that the site will be irreparably damaged by the single largest development proposed in Los Angeles County history, the 25,000-home Newhall Ranch community.

``They're putting our ceremonial ground in danger and our people in danger,'' said John Tommy Rosas, a legal advocate for the Santa Clara River Valley Chumash.

Representatives of Valencia developer Newhall Land and Farming Co. say they are taking steps to protect the ceremonial ground and other sites which American Indians claim would be endangered.

``We're seeing the best circumstances for cultural resources we could conceivably ask for,'' said David Whitley, spokesman for the firm, Simi Valley-based W and S Consultants, hired by the developer to perform an archeological survey. ``We're seeing preservation of all the sites. That's the bottom line.''

Rosas, however, said the development would disturb prehistoric American Indian artifacts on the project site and increase the threat of flooding to the ceremonial grounds about 20 miles away by altering the course of the Santa Clara River, which links with tributaries such as Sespe Creek.

The development is proposed for 12,000 acres west of the Golden State Freeway to the Ventura County line. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will decide whether to approve the plan for construction during 25 years of five villages featuring shops, movie theaters, schools, parks and homes that could accommodate as many as 70,000 people.

The county Regional Planning Commission will accept written comments on the project until Feb. 11. A public hearing for opponents of the project has been continued until Jan. 16.

The Newhall Ranch property includes several archeological treasures, including the site of northern Los Angeles County's first European-American settlement, the Asistencia San Francisco Xavier.

Also on the site are signs of prehistoric American Indian life, including stone tools and remains of animals that served as food for the ancient hunters and gatherers.

The Chumash are worried that development of the site would harm fragile artifacts.

``All you have to do to destroy a site is to scrape the ground,'' said Charlie Cook, a Chumash hereditary leader. ``All it takes is one pass with a bulldozer to wipe something completely out.''

But Whitley said the artifacts will be preserved by covering them with earth, which will remain as open space.

``They will be protected in an adequate way,'' he said. ``It's the standard process. They would be covered with fill, used as open space and passively preserved.''

In fact, Newhall Land officials said they have gone beyond state and federal requirements to preserve the artifacts by contracting the services of the California Indian Council, which monitored the archeological survey of the project site by W and S Consultants in 1994 and 1995.

``We went above what was required by law by bringing in the California Indian Council,'' Newhall Land spokeswoman Marlee Lauffer said. ``We would be happy to respond to the Chumash Indians' concerns.''

The Chumash also worry that plans for flood-control measures along portions of the Santa Clara River, which runs through the Newhall Ranch site, would increase the flow of water in tributaries, including Sespe Creek, which runs past the ceremonial grounds.

``The channelization (of the river) that they propose will increase the flood hazard to the ceremonial site, and we will be forced to move,'' Rosas said. ``That's not something we want to do.''

Newhall Land officials have said that is unlikely. They plan to return about 500 acres of farmland to riparian habitat and place boulders, or riprap, along a five-mile stretch of the Santa Clara River to help prevent downstream flooding.

Still, Cook worries that the last remnants of his heritage will be lost to future generations.

``Any time you take something out of a village site, we lose our culture,'' he said. ``It's not an oak tree that will grow again. When they destroy a site, it's gone forever.''