LOCKED OUT OF CHUMASH CAVES : SECURITY GUARD, FENCE KEEP ACTIVISTS OFF AHMANSON LAND.Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer Environmentalists hoping to clean up a group of historic caves near the Ahmanson Ranch project were stymied in their efforts Sunday by a fence and security guard with a video camera. Friends of Ahmanson Ranch instead spruced up El Escorpion Park, a Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. city park, which is adjacent to the ``Bat Caves'' on the Los Angeles-Ventura county border. ``We wanted to clean up the trash (in the caves) to help preserve them as an archeological site,'' said Vince Curtis, head of Friends of Ahmanson Ranch, which wants to preserve the 5,433-acre property from development. But property owner Ahmanson Land Co., a Home Savings of America affiliate which wants to use the land for a 3,000-home development, posted a security guard near the mouth of the caves and repaired an existing fence that limited access to the caves. Ahmanson Land officials could not be reached for comment. In 1992, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. The Board of Supervisors is the body governing counties in the U.S. approved Ahmanson Land's proposal for 3,050 homes, 400,000 square feet of commercial space, two schools, four parks, two golf courses and a 300-room hotel for the hills between Calabasas and Bell Canyon. In return, the developers were required to obtain four ranches totaling nearly 10,000 acres and donate them to the public as park land. Ahmanson officials have said they consider the park land one of their project's biggest assets. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the environmentalists at the gathering Sunday, homes would be built in an area below the caves. Those who attended the three-hour event, loosely connected to Earth Day, got to watch a group of Chumash Indians perform dances and a purification purification, in religion, the ceremonial removal of what the religion deems unclean. The usual agents of purification are water (as in baptism), bodily alteration (as in circumcision), and fire. rite to bless bless tr.v. blessed or blest , bless·ing, bless·es 1. To make holy by religious rite; sanctify. 2. To make the sign of the cross over so as to sanctify. 3. To invoke divine favor upon. the site, which the Indians said was once a sacred religious ground and meeting place for prehistoric pre·his·tor·ic also pre·his·tor·i·cal adj. 1. Of, relating to, or belonging to the era before recorded history. 2. Of or relating to a language before it is first recorded in writing. American Indians American Indians: see Americas, antiquity and prehistory of the; Natives, Middle American; Natives, North American; Natives, South American. . ``The caves were the attraction, but I wasn't disappointed,'' said Judy Garris, a 54-year-old Canoga Park resident who leads school tours of local parks. ``The ceremony was very impressive. I'm very fulfilled ful·fill also ful·fil tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils 1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises. 2. in coming here.'' Activists want to preserve the site for archeological exploration and call attention to its historic significance. ``It should be excavated by Indians or by a scientific person,'' said Curtis, who wants Home Savings to donate the land to the U.S. National Park Service. By calling attention to its archeological significance, environmentalists hope to protect the area. ``I don't think people know that this is an important meeting place for Indians,'' said Liz Schindler, 32, of Long Beach. ``If they did, they would want to protect it.'' For Little Hawk hawk, name generally applied to the smaller members of the Accipitridae, a heterogeneous family of diurnal birds of prey, such as the eagle, the kite, the Old World vulture, and the secretary bird. , a Newbury Park resident who calls himself a Chumash priest, the site represents a link to the past. ``It's an important connection to history,'' said Little Hawk, who performed several dances Sunday. ``It's like a map, like a directional In one direction. Contrast with omnidirectional. meeting place. It's where other tribes got together and fed travelers from distant lands.'' Environmentalists, homeowners groups and other opponents filed nine separate lawsuits to block the Ahmanson development. The lawsuits were consolidated and rejected by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Barbara Lane in 1994. The opponents took the case to the state Court of Appeal in Ventura, which upheld Lane's ruling. The Ventura supervisors granted Ahmanson a three-year construction extension - until December 1998 - after Ahmanson officials said they could not complete the acquisition of two remaining parkland tracts until all legal challenges had been settled. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) Chumash Indian chief Charlie Cooke The term Charlie Cooke can refer to:
(2) Chumash ceremonial priest Mati Waiya blows into a shell during a rite at El Escorpion Park near the `Bat Caves.' Tina Gerson/Daily News |
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