SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO — Before the Spaniards, the Mexicans, the Catholic Church and U.S. settlers took away their land and left them homeless, the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians could lay claim to much of Southern California.
The ground beneath Disneyland, Camp Pendleton and Mission San Juan Capistrano belonged to them. Many Juanenos are buried under what now are strip malls and parking lots, forgotten long ago in the rush from wilderness to pavement.
But their 4,500 descendants, about half of whom live near the adobe mission here, have not forgotten. They are trying to persuade the federal government that they exist as a tribe with roots dating back 10,000 years.
That struggle for recognition is a product of the Juanenos' embattled history and the increasingly strident competition that may determine their future. They are among hundreds of Indian groups hoping to win the potentially lucrative blessing of the U.S. government. Federal recognition could bring a tribe a reservation, with schools, housing and health care provided by taxpayers. It could even mean a casino brimming with profits.
The Juanenos' campaign is also complicated by a spate of tribal pretenders inspired by what critics call "Dances With Wolves" romanticism.
"We want a place to carry on the traditions of our culture," Juaneno leader David Belardes said. "For our children, our children's children and their children. We are the indigenous people of this area."
The Juanenos formally applied for tribal status in 1982 but made their first government claim more than a century before that. In recent months, they have emerged from among hundreds of bands, rising to No. 1 on a long list trying to gain active consideration by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Their bid has been bolstered by recognition from the state, which cited an archeological history dating back a hundred centuries.
The Juanenos' lack of federal recognition is "an oversight of history," said Paul Apodaca, curator of Native American art at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana and an authority on Indian culture. "Absolutely, they're a tribe. They had their own language, their own group identity. They practiced religion in a way that was distinct to them. They were a legitimate social entity.
"You have to remember, tribal recognition is not the government granting them something. Rather, it is recognizing them as a legitimate legal entity that the government has unfinished business with. And the government has unfinished business with the Juanenos. It needs to grant them recognition."
