We look for ways to share and educate the broader community about our elegant culture and our deep history. When we’re invited to speak to an organization or to students, we try to say yes, as we want residents to understand the amazing indigenous history of this region. We want the community and visitors to know that although the missionaries came to civilize us, the real truth is we already had a sophisticated civilization that had existed for thousands of years. Our ways included spirituality, commerce, trade routes, currency, artistic expression, music and exquisite craftsmanship with the ability to make a great variety of tools, tule rush homes and watercraft. We were weavers of incredible baskets. "Our basketry is stunning and is considered some of the best in North America and throughout the world. Their intricacy and symmetry reveal sophisticated mathematical concepts that are found in nature, further expressing our connection and relationship to our homeland," as said by Leah Mata-Fragua, Tribal Council Member. We continue today to work with natural materials to make baskets and regalia. We used effective environmental strategies so that our families and villages would thrive and we seek to continue these strategies. Fortunately, our culture endures today and remains part of our community.
We are proud of our heritage, our people and the beautiful land we call our home. We are active today in the protection and preservation of our traditional ways and places. Much of our time is spent engaging with city, county, state and federal agencies to provide guidance on protecting our irreplaceable cultural and traditional resources. We encourage you to contact us as our partnerships continue to grow. Helping each other is not only important, but vital to all.
We have met incredible obstacles in the past, but we look to our future as limitless. We are still standing in our defined place.