Juaneno Indians

Solemnly and reverently, 15 members of the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians shared with students at the UC Irvine a part of their heritage: the sacred songs of their Juaneno ancestors. "The songs are gifts to our people," said Rick Mendez, who led the ceremonial singing Thursday for an audience of about 150. "They come from our ancestors or through dreams."

Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates wants a piece of it. The Juaneno Band of Mission Indians wants it all. Homeless activists also are looking for a share. It's hard to tell by the vociferous battle over proposals for a commercial airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, but it is just one of more than 50 formal requests for a slice of the 4,700-acre base being abandoned by the military.

Of the many stories that David Belardes heard while growing up on the family ranch in San Juan Capistrano, the story of the "Rocks of Fire" seemed to promise an answer to the mystery of his people, the Juaneno Indians. "My dad always told me the story of how he and his grandfather were out on the Belardes ranch. One night they woke up and this whole ridge was on fire. My grandfather said, 'We'll just watch it, to make sure it doesn't come this way. We'll go check it out in the morning.'

Spiritual rites and modern development clashed when members of a Native American tribe condemned the way the Irvine Co. on Wednesday reburied ancient artifacts unearthed in 1994 during the building of a Newport Beach housing development. When the Irvine Co.

Descendants of the original Juaneno inhabitants of the 202-year-old Blas Aguilar Adobe are finally seeing a dream turn into reality. The newly formed Blas Aguilar Foundation, which includes descendants of the Aguilar family who once owned the adobe, has been chosen by the city as the official curator of the historic structure. The foundation's goal is to turn the city-owned adobe into a museum that will house artifacts reflecting the different periods of the city's centuries-old history.

It once served as home to the Juaneno Indians who built the Mission San Juan Capistrano. Later, it would become the focus of a battle between preservationists and developers. Today, the two acres of city-owned property straddling El Camino Real are known as the Historic Town Park, an unobtrusive and tranquil spread of grass lined with willowy pepper trees and palms in the middle of town.

Where others see sycamores and sage lining the small valley harboring San Mateo Creek, Rebecca Robles sees her ancestors. Robles is a member of the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians. The valley, where her ancestors lived 4,000 years ago in an ancient Acjachemen Nation village called Panhe, is threatened by a proposed six-lane toll road next to the site that could unearth human remains and damage a sacred spot that Juaneños have visited for generations.

Several factions of the Juaneno band of Mission Indians said Monday that they had failed, at least for now, in their bid to gain federal recognition, something the Orange County-based tribe has sought for 25 years. The Juanenos, splintered into factions for more than a decade, failed to meet four of seven criteria required to gain recognition, said an official with one of the factions.

For tribal members that had so much to gain by simply joining hands, even acknowledging one another's existence has often proved too onerous for leaders of the Juaneno band of Mission Indians. Efforts by tribal leaders to offer an olive branch to one another failed as recently as August and may have jeopardized the Juanenos' chances to gain federal recognition as a tribe and, ultimately, the opportunity to build a casino.

The skull of a Native American has been unearthed by construction workers at St. Margaret's Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, halting a chapel expansion project as archeologists sift the dirt for artifacts. The partial skull was discovered Friday afternoon and taken to the coroner's office for analysis, officials said Tuesday. A forensic anthropologist confirmed the remains were Native American and not recently buried, said Orange County coroner spokesman Jim Amormino.