With previous years’ events marked by weather ranging from a heavy downpour to Saturday’s triple-digit heat, the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians held its 32nd annual Heart of Tataviam Pow Wow at Hart Park — rain or shine.
Showcasing many dance numbers, including the “Gourd” and “Blanket” dances, the pow wow entailed local vendors, crafts and traditional demonstrations.
Celebrating the Tataviam ancestral land on Saturday and Sunday, every first weekend of October, the incentive of the pow wow is to “welcome thousands each year for dance, song, drumming, and community. It affirms the enduring presence of the Fernandeño Tataviam people and their deep connection to their ancestral homelands,” according to the tribe’s website.
“We definitely like this to be a community event. Definitely a time that we can share our culture and be able to bring out families. It’s a good family-friendly event. It’s free. There’s a lot of cultural items being sold, and people having a fun time dancing, sharing culture. The weather — the weather is always like, ‘What’s it going to be this year?’ One year, there was a river flowing through the circle, and then just super humid one day because there was a thunderstorm before. I think last year was pretty nice, and this year is going to be hot,” Mark Villasenor, vice president of the tribe said.
Joe Bodle, senator of the tribe, has been in charge of the dinner break for the drummers and dancers, helping ensure the program runs smoothly for the tribe members.
“We always like to point out when we do this, not only is it for the Native community, it’s for the community at large. This is a chance for them to come and experience our culture. It’s time for us to share it with them. We want you to come,” Bodle said.
“I think it’s the friendliness of everybody that comes by here, the openness, the welcoming nature of everybody here at the pow wow. The pow wow is definitely designed to be a welcoming kind of event. We want to have everyone feel comfortable and welcomed here. We want everyone to feel comfortable,” Villasenor said.
Bodle and Villasenor praised the community for always showing up no matter the weather:
“Santa Clarita always comes out, and this is one of our village sites, so it’s nice to have the community come out. Santa Clarita supports the community, and we appreciate their support,” Bodle said.
“The scale of things has been getting larger and larger each and every year. I think in the years past, the first year we saw maybe 8,000 people. I think last year we saw around 15,000 people. We’re expecting it to be larger, but we’ve been growing every year,” Villasenor added. “We just try to make sure that we plan it the best we can to accommodate the community who want to show up and come out.”
With planning for each event taking nearly a year in advance, the tribe is composed of around 950 people officially registered — excluding other members and children who have not officially enrolled.
“In the tribe, there’s three lineages, three families that everyone descends from. Two of the lineages are related through marriage, and then one of the other ones is a tribal family from a separate village. Each of these families are usually associated with a village. So then the three are each from their own village, but two of them are related,” Villasenor said.
Dennis Garcia, chair of the Elders Council, discussed his own familial ties to Hart Park years ago.
“My uncle used to live right across the street, so we would always come to Hart Park before the pow wows many, many years ago. Our people were the first people here. We try to acknowledge that and educate people about who we are. We also welcome everybody because they live on this land now. They’re part of this. We need support from them all to make this successful. Everyone is welcome.”
Garcia actively tried to visually showcase the traditions of his ancestors with a painted mask on his face and dots on his arms.
“You very rarely see a person dance like me, bare chested…We had different types of dances that honored animals and things like that,” Garcia said. “The dots recognize the ancestors. The mask is because you never know what you’re going to encounter out there. It’s for protection. I try to be traditional and learn the things that I have learned from my people to do what I do.”
