Village News Article
July, 2009
A Save Our Forest Pilgrimage to “The Great Oak” of Pechanga
Pechanga, in most peoples’ minds, conjures up visions of a casino, resort entertainment, new housing estates in the Temecula valley, and golf. But from now on, for me and other Fallbrook Land Conservancy (FLC) guests who took an escorted tour of the Pechanga Reservation and its famous “Great Oak” on June 19, the word has much deeper connotations. Literally, Pechanga (pe-CHONG-ah) means “place where the water drips”. It is the name of a spring at the foot of the mountains where the Pechanga band were forcibly evicted from their ancestral Temeku village in the late 1800s. Although the Treaty of Temecula, signed in 1882, set aside lands for “Indian purposes,” it wasn’t until 2002 that the 1,000-acre Great Oak Ranch was restored to the Pechanga people under a Federal land trust.
The guided
tour begins at the Great Oak monument on Pechanga Indian Reservation
Howard Sansom,, coordinator of FLC’s Save Our Forest Adopt-a-Highway effort, had
invited 16 loyal members of his monthly clean-up crew to visit this special
site. Although the Great Oak has been used by countless generations as a
gathering place, it is now so culturally and environmentally sensitive that only
small groups are permitted on escorted tours. We boarded a minibus and drove
away from the Pechanga Casino – we were all nature lovers in search of a
different type of jackpot! From the moment we set eyes on our tour guide Paul
Macarro, Pechanga Cultural Resources coordinator and brother of the tribal
chairman, it was a meeting of kindred spirits. As Macarro explained, “To the
Pechanga people, the land and the Great Oak that stands upon it carry a meaning
that transcends physical presence. The Great Oak of Pechanga has come to embody
the identity, longevity and determination of an Indian band that goes back
10,000 years. We are survivors.”
Excitement mounted as we entered the closely guarded reservation land, sharing
botanical notes along the way, identifying grasses and plants such as Dogbane,
also known as Indian hemp, and elderberries, so valuable as medicine and sacred
to the Indian people. Then came the moment we’d all been waiting for – entry
through a hidden leafy “doorway” to the high-domed cathedral quiet of the Great
Oak itself. Estimated to be anywhere from 850 to 1,500 years old, this quercus
agrifolia is an environmental wonder – and one of the oldest oak trees in the
world. At 86-1/2 feet tall, with a trunk 27 feet in circumference, it is the
largest natural-growing, indigenous coast live oak in the United States.
Standing beneath those gloriously twisted, naturally-grafted, sturdy branches
that swoop and rise from the ground but don’t take root, of gazing up through
the sun-dappled foliage, circumnavigating the forest floor and imagining the
roots that continue to expand to keep this natural giant standing tall was just
as awe-inspiring to me as any cathedral visit.
Time seemed to stand still as we gazed in reverent silence, enjoying guide Macarro’s anecdotes about the pack-rat families whose nests in the branches are
some 200 years old, and the graffiti that dates back to the era when Erle
Stanley Gardiner (author and creator of the Perry Mason series) purchased Great
Oak Ranch in 1931. Here history blends with new growth, as little red flags
beneath the branches mark seedlings that will be lovingly nurtured in the
Pechanga Tribe’s own nursery. These young oaks are highly valued nationwide for
the strength and endurance of their famous rootstock.
After leaving the Great Oak, our historical tour continued. We visited the ranch
itself, and the Erle Stanley Gardiner ranch house where he wrote so many of his
novels. Now, Macarro explained, this prime tribal land serves as the outdoor
classroom for the Cultural Center’s summer program. Here reservation children
learn more about their Luiseňo culture, from the use of a sweathouse, to
botanical lore and medicinal practices, to flint napping, basket weaving, and
rattle making.
The philosophy of the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians is outlined in their
125th Anniversary brochure: “Knowing our customs and traditions connects us to
our worldview as individuals and a community … Our approach to traditional foods
and hunting and gathering allows us to more deeply understand our relationships
with the earth, our aboriginal territory, and to all our fellow beings, animate
and inanimate. Our customs and traditions embody the wisdom handed down to us
through the ages. Passing them on is vital to our integrity as a people.”
It was a memorable experience being on the receiving end of this great lesson in
preservation, conservation and reconnecting with the natural world. Thank you
Pechanga Band!
Sue Thorne