Gatherings from the Past and Present:

Doing Collaborative Ethnography with the Amah Mutsun

By Seetha N. Reddy, Reddy Anthropology Consulting, Inc.

The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band (Amah Mutsun) and the Land Trust have worked with anthropologists for more than ten years to study the Tribe's history and present-day life through collaborative ethnographies. Anthropology is the study of people, their cultures, and societies from both past and present times. Nowadays, it has three main areas: archaeology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology which includes ethnography and ethnohistory. Ethnography investigates how different groups of people live and understand their world, for example the Amah Mutsun. Ethnohistory examines the history of cultural or social groups by using sources like oral stories, documents from missionaries, and travel records to learn about their past.

Collaborative ethnography is a relatively recent anthropological approach. This is where Tribes take the lead in deciding what to talk about (and sometime even commission the study) and often tailoring the study to how a particular development project impacts the Tribe’s lifeways. In the past, studies about California Indigenous Tribes and their cultures were mostly done by colonists and rarely included input from Indigenous people. As a result, early studies often discussed only what the colonist anthropologists were interested in, understood, or were told by Indigenous consultants. More recently, anthropologists recognize the importance of seeking and including Indigenous knowledge into such studies.

I have been collaborating as an ethnographer with the Amah Mutsun since 2016 (Figure 1). When working and collaborating with Tribes, I adopt an ethically responsible approach to study cultural lifeways. Such an approach involves working collaboratively with living communities and their culture bearers to best understand and appropriately incorporate traditional knowledge and oral histories into an ethnographic report. Accurate and informed ethnography requires knowledge, respect, permission, and input of the Indigenous People of the area – the living community. This includes consideration of their group identity, which includes religious beliefs, ceremonies, dress, and language, is reinforced by traditional activities passed down through generations via oral or written means, images, arts, crafts, practices, and lifeways.

In my work as an ethnographer, I emphasize traditional knowledge which is the knowledge that has been preserved though a rich oral tradition and cultural expressions such as arts, crafts, ceremonies, and practice (Figure 1). This knowledge has been intentionally preserved by Indigenous Peoples, and transmitted generationally through narratives, storytelling, song, and cultural expression. Traditional knowledge is also often referred to as traditional ecological knowledge, Indigenous knowledge, or Tribal traditional knowledge. It is distinct from western knowledge because traditional knowledge is a broad and multilayered understanding of the interconnection of humans with their environment and is distinct to resources, ecosystems management, ethnobotany, non-human kin, and the many aspects of life. For example, let’s take how plants are viewed. Western worldview and knowledge considers them as resources and commodities to be studied and protected. In contrast, Indigenous knowledge emphasizes a deep reverence and gratitude towards the plants because they are "those who take care of us." (Kimmerer 2015). Traditional knowledge promotes humility, gratitude, and a deep connection with nature, leading to culturally appropriate consideration and treatment of natural resources. As such, traditional knowledge and western knowledge are different but equally important.

*Figure 1. Field interview with Chairman Valentin Lopez, 2023*

Another example of these different perspectives is how time is understood. Western knowledge views time as a continuous, linear progression connecting past, present, and future events (Bates 2007). Many Native American cultures experience time as being cyclical and associated with events, reflecting the cycle of life for all beings and forms. The phrase "since time immemorial" is often used by Indigenous people in California to describe the long history of their relationship with ancestral lands. For non-Native people, this phrase can be interpreted in various ways, potentially referring to thousands of years or just a few generations, depending on the context. There is no single concept of "Indigenous time;" it varies by Tribe and region. Native people measure time in different ways, including ancestral time, ceremonial time, renewal time, the time of the invaders, the time of rains, the time when acorns were sweet, and when the fish were abundant. Indigenous perceptions of time are diverse and are often embedded in languages, methods of discourse, and knowledge exchanges such as storytelling and explanations about relationships among things in place and events (Hatfield et al. 2018).

Tribal knowledge is held within oral histories that have been preserved and handed down for generations through culture bearers and elders of the Tribe. Native oral histories include stories, accounts, dances, songs, rituals, and cultural practices that have been and continue to be passed down from the memories of generations to the next through spoken word primarily. Oral traditions connect past, present, and future, and weave connectiveness over the community. Importantly, oral traditions connect speakers and listeners in a community which unites past and present. Oral histories have survived despite the erasure efforts of colonialism; and they are alive within the oral histories, dances, and practices today. Unfortunately, in California, and the United States in general, western knowledge has been given a higher level of importance while Native oral traditions have been devalued, and often appropriated. For example, oral traditions are characterized as folklore, myths, stories and so on. On occasion, traditional knowledge has been framed as being biased and subjective and contrasted with the objectivity of Western knowledge.

Figure 2. Ascensión Solórsano de Cervantes as an older woman.

Culture bearers or keepers are the elders in Tribal communities who carry ancestral and traditional knowledge and play an invaluable role in the cultural revitalization of Tribes. Such individual culture bearers include living and deceased elders, and they have contributed significantly to sustaining and reviving culture at the community level. Tribes often rely on culture bearers to pass information along family lines and/or on to various academic scholars (both Native and non-Native) for future generations. For the Amah Mutsun, Ascención Solorsano is an important culture bearer, and her work with linguist John P. Harrington continues to be utilized by Amah Mutsun to protect their sacred sites and traditional ways of knowing.

Information gathered by ethnographers in the 20th century from Mutsun ancestors and neighbors provides insights into traditional and changing lifeways. This information is available for archival research (process of extracting information in the historical records) and are housed at the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley and the Milliken Museum in Los Banos. Examples of specific works include those of C. Hart Merriam, John P. Harrington, Ralph Milliken and Randall Milliken, and historians such as Zephyrin Engelhardt, Ralph Milliken, Hubert Howe Bancroft, Herbert E. Bolton, and John E. Martin. More recently Randall Millikin (1995, 2006, 2010) and colleagues (Milliken et al. 1993) conducted important research about village communities of the larger San Francisco Bay area, including the Mutsun ancestral lands.

Why are ethnographies done today?

Ethnographies done in response to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Assembly Bill 52 (AB52), and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) have to identify Tribal resources and evaluate them for the California National Register (CNR) and/or the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Tribal resources have to be defined by the Tribe(s) who is the identified consulting Tribe for the particular project. For the Amah Mutsun, cultural resources include tangible and intangible elements of their culture and the world more broadly. Tribal resources include archaeological sites, burials, places where ancestors lived, prayed, celebrated gathered and conducted ceremonies, the tools, food remains and items related to ceremonial lifeways, and any items and spaces which were made by the ancestors. They also include plants, animals, fishing and gathering spots, hunting grounds, water bodies, mountain peaks, specific spaces, places in a landscape, and viewsheds. Take for example, large Native trees which have borne witness to hundreds or decades of lifeways and cultural practices (Figure 3). Such Native trees, often referred to as ‘heritage’, ‘legacy’, or ‘witness’ trees (Alec Apodaca personal communication, 2025), have been tended and stewarded by generations of Mutsun who consider them to be non-human relatives. Some Native tree, such as old large oak trees, have spiritual importance because of their association with Mutsun ancestral spirits and beings.

*Figure 3. Massive California Bay Tree (Umbellularia californica) which has been tended over generations.*

*Figure 4. View of Lomerias Muertas and Medicine Man Hill from a Project Area*

Viewsheds are another important Tribal resources; and are discussed as an example of how they are important to Tribes. Viewsheds, which are the visible areas from a certain point, are part of traditional knowledge and practices. Figure 4 shows the view of Lomerias Muertas from a Project area. Lomerias Muertas is where Medicine Man Hill (also referred to as Loma Hechicera) is located and is associated with the Mutsun healing and renewal ceremonies. The pole was documented through written description, a hand sketched map, and a photograph by Harrington; and Ascensión Solórsano recounted a traditional curing ceremony that was performed by a “sucking doctor: and referenced the medicine man pole (Layaani pole) was located on Medicine Man Hill. Traditional knowledge highlighted the importance of these viewsheds to Amah Mutsun, noting their cultural, spiritual, healing, and sensory significance. The connection between these places and the people who see them is very important. Viewsheds are important in daily life and during special ceremonies. In Tribal culture, viewsheds relate to identity, healing, cultural beliefs, power, spirituality, and other parts of a Tribe's well-being. Viewsheds, even though they are not physical objects, can impact how we feel. They offer healing, a sense of power, spirituality, and cultural connection when seen. This is similar to the views from churches or state capitol buildings.

Tribal resources also include cultural landscapes, which are large spaces that include multiple features and components with cultural and historical meanings that are only understood by the living community associated with the place. Tribal religions and cultures are tied to places, landscapes and viewsheds; and sacred places include landscapes, places, viewsheds/viewscapes, and soundscapes which are tied in understanding, preserving, and continuing the collective and individual cultural identity of the living community(ies).

Examples of ethnographic studies done with Amah Mutsun

Several importance ethnographic studies have been conducted for and with Amah Mutsun since 2016 for different CEQA and AB52 projects; for example, Sargent Ranch and Juristac (Reddy et al. 2021), Betabel (Reddy et al. 2022), Strada Verde Innovation Park (Reddy et al. 2023) and Ranch 35 (Reddy et al. 2024). For each of these projects, I collaborated with the Amah Mutsun to identify and understand what Tribal resources are present within the project areas, why and how they are important to the Tribe, evaluate these Tribal resources as historic properties under CEQA, and finally what impacts the project will have on them. The evaluation process follows the guidelines set forth in the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research Technical Advisory: AB 52 and Tribal Resources in CEQA dated June 2017 and has to consider integrity of the resources, and how it meets the criteria to be listed as a historic property on the California Register of Historic Places.

While the purpose of these studies are in response to California’s compliance process, another important goal is recording the traditional knowledge of the Tribal elders for the generations to come. The reports of these studies are confidential to protect traditional knowledge and Tribal resources, however, the Tribe has the reports and power to decide who can have access. The rich past of the Tribe is alive in the cultural memories and oral histories, the words and works left behind by culture bearers, and ethnohistoric records. If you are interested in learning more about how to be a professional anthropologist, learn to record your Tribal history, or interview your elders, reach out to Alec Apodaca at alec.apodaca@amahmutsun.org, or apply to the 2025 Summer Internship Program where you will learn the fundamentals of anthropological fieldwork*.

*AMLT’s Summer Internship Program is currently only open to Amah Mutsun Tribal Band members.

Look for updates in the coming issues on how California laws have recognized traditional Tribal knowledge, and update on federal laws that directly impact Tribal resources.

References

Bates, P

2007 Inuit and scientific philosophies about planning, prediction, and uncertainty. Arctic Anthropology 44(2):87–100

Kimmerer, R. W.

2015 Braiding sweetgrass. Milkweed Edition.

Hatfield, Samantha Chisholm, Elizabeth Marino, Kyle Powys Whyte, Kathie D. Dello and Philip W. Mote

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Milliken, Randall

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Special Attention to the San Francisco Bay Area – Cultural Resources Inventory of Caltrans

District 4 Rural Conventional Highways. Report submitted to Office of Cultural Resource Studies, California Department of Transportation District 4. Oakland, CA.

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Reddy, Seetha, N., Thomas. Garlinghouse, Clinton Blount, James Sarmento, and Michael Newland

2021 Gathering Voices of the Past and Present: An Ethnohistoric and Ethnographic Study of

Sargent Ranch, Santa Clara County, California. Prepared by Albion Environmental, Inc. for Environmental Sciences Associates and County of Santa Clara.

Reddy, Seetha, N., James Sarmento, Stella D'Oro, and Paul Rigby

2022 Cultural Keystone Places and Tribal Connections: Ethnographic Study for the Betabel

Project, San Benito County, California. Prepared by Albion Environmental, Inc. and Reddy Anthropology Consulting, Inc. for the County of San Benito.

Reddy, Seetha, N., James Sarmento and Paul Rigby

2023 Within the Sight of Sacred Mountains: Ethnographic Study for the Strada Verde

Innovation Park Project, San Benito County, California. Albion Environmental, Inc., and Reddy Anthropology Consulting, Inc. Prepared for the County of San Benito.

Reddy, Seetha, N., Paul Rigby, David Nicolson, and James Sarmento

2024 Views of Power Places: Ethnographic Study for Ranch 35 Quarry Project, San Benito

County. Albion Environmental, Inc., and Reddy Anthropology Consulting, Inc. Prepared for the County of San Benito