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history of newbury park Panther Prowler • Feb. 14, 2022
Emerson Fuentes-Alabanza for all graphics
Gwen Buchanan Back Cover Editor Reese Kelem Chief Photographer Dhruv Patel Entertainment Editor Sarena Kabir Sports Editor Newbury Park is a beautiful area filled with culture and history, as well as a place that 37 thousand people call home. Newbury Park is filled with historical families that originated here, and it is important to consider those that lived here in the past, and created the area we all know and love. Some of Newbury Park’s most historically-rich sites are places the public may not know much about. Specifically, the Stagecoach Inn Museum, The Native American Indian Culture Center, and the existence of Jungleland serve as reminders of the culture and history of our town. These people and events in the past paved the way for many people today.
Watch- Satwiwa is a section of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and is home to several trails that hikers walk on everyday. Satwiwa is an important part of Newbury Park’s history and is still one of the most culturally-rich sites. Gwen Buchanan/Prowler
One of the most historically-rich sites in Newbury Park is Satwiwa. This National Recreation Area is home to many wild animals, and has natural trails available to the public. However, Satwiwa also has historical value, as the area was home to Native American tribes thousands of years ago. Satwiwa is part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which was established in the late 1970s. However, Satwiwa itself was not established as a Culture Center National Park until 1980. Anna Flores, a Park Guide intern at the Recreation Area, has been working at the center for a year and a half. “What’s interesting about this park is that it’s an urban park,” Flores said. An urban park is a natural area that is in close proximity to urbanized land where humans live. “Because we live in the area that we do, you cross the street and you have neighborhoods… We’re surrounded by neighborhoods, freeways, things that affect wildlife.” Before the land transferred officially into the ownership of the National Park Service, it was home to many Native American tribes including the Chumash, the Tongva and the Tataviam. Today, descendants of these tribes still live in Newbury Park and educate the public about their culture and history through weekend workshops at the Native American Indian Culture Center, located about a fourth mile down the main trailhead at Satwiwa. The Native American Indian Culture Center serves as a small museum for the public as well as to host events and workshops. “We have either Chumash, Tongva or Tahitian elders come in, or of other tribes come in and they share their artistry,” Flores said. Alan Salazar, a member and descendant of the Tataviam tribe, explained that tribes such as the Tataviam and Chumash have been in the area for over 13 thousand years, and their culture has survived through horrific times of oppression. “We survived the Mission Period, which was extremely brutal. We were considered subhuman,” Salazar said. “Half of our population did not survive the Mission Period, and many of that half were babies and young children.” Many places in or near Newbury Park have a tragic history of slavery and abuse of Native American people. “There was a slave labor market in downtown Los Angeles,” Salazar said. “Almost every day in the 1850s and 60s in early California history.” However, the tribes that have undergone abuse in the past have survived and their culture is still present today. “By 1900, we were almost extinct…But today, both Chumash and the Fernandeno Tataviam have made a tremendous comeback,” Salazar said. Satwiwa is a place that could be considered the heart of Newbury Park, because of its beauty and tragic history. “We [Native Americans] have been involved with California history longer than anyone else. We are California. We are California history. US history is just a small anecdote. That’s all it is,” Salazar said. “Native Americans are the most important and have the most in depth connection to the land. No one can deny that.”
