Chumash Indians

It's been one fight after another since the Chumash Indians began expanding their gambling casino here. The casino has been criticized as an eyesore. County officials have said it should contribute more -- up to a few million dollars -- to offset increased costs to the community. Then local leaders started questioning whether the tribe should be allowed to serve wine in a fancy steakhouse it plans to add to its growing casino. Tribal Chairman Vincent Armenta decided enough was enough.

Before the Indian casino opened here, few people had any interest in joining the Chumash tribe. But now that each member collects close to $350,000 a year in gambling revenue, nearly everyone with a drop of Chumash blood wants in. "A lot of people found out they were Indian," joked George Armenta, chairman of the Chumash enrollment committee. Infighting over lineage is tearing apart many tribes with gambling operations.

Surrounded by family, friends and scores of strangers, Abel Salazar celebrated his 75th birthday Saturday at the Oakbrook Chumash Indian Interpretive Center. But it wasn't the cake and gifts he received that made the day special for the Chumash elder. "When I was growing up, we never dreamt that the Native American people would be recognized," Salazar said. "What we're doing today is bringing back the culture."

A souvenir hunter dug up part of a Ventura County Indian graveyard that is the center of a dispute among Indians, the county government and several federal agencies, the archeologist in charge of the site said Thursday.

Jack Skene has big plans for his piece of Malibu. On five wind-swept acres, he envisions a $1-million chateau with rose gardens overlooking the winding coastline. But Skene, 43, has yet to break ground more than a year after buying the vacant site for his dream home. The mortgage broker has been battling the city over a law requiring property owners to conduct archeological studies before construction.

Vincent Armenta kept a promise to take his son to the Chumash Casino on his 18th birthday. A losing streak at a card table quickly emptied Armenta's wallet. As his losses approached $2,000, Armenta resorted to a strategy not found in "Beat the Dealer" or other blackjack bibles. "Let's put some green ones out there," he recalled telling the dealer. The dealer placed free $25 chips in front of each player at the table.

Archeologists believe that when Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered Southern California for Spain in 1542, there were more than 20,000 American Indians living in the area. And there is evidence that people lived here for at least 10,000 years. When the Spaniards arrived, they found that the two largest Indian groups in today's Los Angeles area--the Chumash and Gabrielino--were accomplished artists and skilled craftsmen, adept at making a living from the sea and land.

In a newly published paper, two scholars have revived the controversial and long-dead theory that Polynesian sailors visited the California coast centuries before the first European explorers planted their flags here. It might still be too soon, however, to swap out the Eureka on the state seal with an Aloha.

As the rainy season approaches, a race is under way to protect a large ancient Indian burial ground found earlier this month in a Ventura County flood control channel by a team of researchers from California State University, Northridge. The skeletal remains of at least 16 Chumash Indians dating back to the 5th Century have been unearthed, leading to the possibility that the human remains could be washed out to sea once seasonal rains begin flowing through the channel.

Alarmed by vandalism at an archeological treasure here, federal and state officials are studying ways to use modern technology, perhaps even orbiting satellites, to prevent destruction of ancient artifacts. Painted Rock, in the Carrizo Plain National Monument, is a world-class site of ancient Native American art, revered equally by Indians and archeologists. Its red ocher drawings of horned figures and geometric shapes dating back a thousand years attract visitors from the world over.