Please take a moment to send the letter provided below, to protect this
sacred site!
Thank you!
Tamra
----- Original Message -----
From:
Sent: Monday, September 24, 2007 12:31 AM
Subject: [Protecting_ our_Ancestors_ Sacred_Sites] Action Alert! Save
Panhe--Write the Coastal Commission Today
Action Alert!
Help Save the Acjachemen Village of Panhe
Please Write the California Coastal Commission
To Stop the Proposed Foothill South Toll Road
LETTERS MUST BE RECEIVED BY THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 27th!
Dear Tribal/Community Leaders:
As a grassroots coalition of Acjachemen people devoted to the protection
of our sacred sites, the United Coalition to Protect Panhe requests your
support. The Transportation Corridor Authority has proposed to build a
toll road through one of our sacred sites and burial grounds and we need
your help to defeat their proposal.
Our people have called the coastlands of southern California home for ten
thousand years. Panhe is an ancient village, ceremonial site and burial
ground located on San Onofre State Park land in southern California. Many
of the Acjachemen/Juaneno tribal members can trace their lineage directly
back to the Village of Panhe, which is estimated to be at least 1,000
years old. Panhe is listed on the Sacred Lands Inventory maintained by
the Native American Heritage Commission and is part of the San Mateo
Archaeological District which is listed on the National Register of
Historic Places.
The TCA claims “there are no areas within the disturbance limits that
are currently being used by living Native American representatives of the
Juaneno,” yet our members have always used Panhe and continue to gather
for ceremony, community events and to pay respect to the Ancestors buried
there. Panhe is one of the few remaining Acjachemen sacred sites where the
people can still gather for ceremony in an area that is secluded and
exists in a pristine, natural state.
Construction of the toll road would pass within feet of our village and
cemetery, drastically interfere with traditional ceremonial uses, and
severely and irreparably damage the sacred site. In addition, the toll
road would increase public access to the village and surrounding cultural
and archaeological districts, and consequently increase the potential for
looting and vandalism. According to the toll road’s own EIR, impacts to
the San Mateo Archeological District “will be adverse, and cannot be
mitigated to below a level of significance.”
On Thursday, October 11th the California Coastal Commission will hear
public testimony and determine whether or not to certify the toll
road’s application for consistency. If you can’t attend please write
the Coastal Commission today and tell them to support the Acjachemen
people and save our sacred site!
Letters should arrive by Thursday, September 27th at the latest.
FAX is
(415) 904-5400.
Emails should be sent to the following special address:
tollroad@coastal.
ca.govPlease distribute this alert, so the Commission knows how many people
stand in support of the Acjachemen peoples’ right to access the site
and practice our religious ceremonies free from interference! For more
information contact Angela Mooney D’Arcy at angela.ucpp@
gmail.com or
Rebecca Robles at rerobles5@yahoo. com
SAMPLE LETTER
Sept. [ ], 2007
Patrick Kruer, Chair
ATTN: Mr. Mark Delaplaine
California Coastal Commission
45 Fremont Street, Suite 2000
San Francisco, CA 94105-2219RE: Foothill-South Toll Road CZMA Consistency Certification (Hearing
Date, Oct. 11, 1007) – OPPOSITION
Dear Chairperson Kruer and Members of the Commission:
The Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA) protects cultural, historical and
habitat resources along the coast, which are of great importance to me.
Due to severe impacts to these resources from the proposed Foothill-South
toll road, the Commission must find inconsistency with the CZMA.
The toll road would have devastating consequences for the Native American
sacred site, burial ground and ancient village Panhe and would seriously
impair the ability of the Acjachemen people to practice their traditional
cultural and religious ceremonies. Panhe is one of the few remaining
Acjachemen sacred sites where the people can still gather for ceremony in
an area that is secluded and exists in a pristine, natural state.
Specifically, the toll road would:
• Come within feet of the Acjachemen village and cemetery, thus
severely and irreparably impacting the ceremonial use of the site.
Currently the site is in a pristine natural state, the stars are easily
visible at night and the noise level is generally low. However, if the
toll road is built, the integrity of the site will be compromised and it
will be difficult for Acjachemen people to engage in traditional
religious practices at the site.
• Increase public access to the village and surrounding cultural
and archaeological districts, and consequently increase the potential for
looting and vandalism. According to the toll road’s own EIR, impacts to
the San Mateo Archeological District “will be adverse, and cannot be
mitigated to below a level of significance.”
The impacts of the proposed toll road on the sacred site and traditional
cultural district of Panhe should not be examined in a vacuum. By its
own study the toll road will not significantly alleviate traffic between
San Diego and
Los Angeles. The long term impact of the toll road will
not be decreased traffic, it will be increased development. If the toll
road is built, it is only a matter of time before more and more of the
land within this traditional cultural district will be developed, leaving
the Juaneno people with fewer and fewer places to engage in traditional
cultural practices.
Please protect Panhe and San Onofre State Beach by opposing the Foothill
South Toll Road.
Sincerely,
[Your Name, Tribal or Organizational Affiliation]
"Our sacred lands are all that remain keeping us connected to our place on
Mother Earth, to our spirituality, our heritage and our lands; whats left of
them. If they take it all away, what will remain except a vague memory of a
past so forgotten?"
www.ProtectSacredSi
tes.orgwww.NDNnews. com
Please join us for
A Gathering for Healing, Unity & Solidarity
Indigenous People, One Nation
At Sacred Sites all across
Turtle IslandSummer Solstice, 2007
