California Native groups completed a tri-county ancestor pilgrimage Oct. 2 to call attention to the ongoing struggle to preserve some of the last remaining ancient Indian sites in Southern California --- a struggle that connects with elements of Catholic social teaching.

The pilgrimage visited sites throughout Orange County, Long Beach and Los Angeles County and culminated with a nighttime ceremony at Puvungna, the Cal State Long Beach site that once served as a spiritual center for the Gabrieleno, Tongva and other Indian people.

After a long struggle with the school administration, native activists succeeded in having the site preserved as open space for ceremonial use by the local Indian community.

"The preservation of the land is so much a part of who we are," said Rebecca Robles, one of the pilgrimage organizers.

Robles said her mother Lillian --- who originated the pilgrimage walk eight years ago --- began working for preservation when she saw the sacred Indian burial sites she knew as a child being desecrated and destroyed by commercial development.

"It's imperative that the work we're doing is done because history will be changed in an irrevocable way, said Rhonda Robles, Rebecca's sister and pilgrimage co-organizer. "We all lose a part of our humanity if all we value are money, cars and other material things."

Sylvia Salazar, coordinator of the Archdiocese's Native American Ministry, says that preserving her ancestors' spiritual and physical legacy falls in line with the tenets of Catholic social teaching by emphasizing the necessity of creating a place in society that honors the history of all groups.

"The first true teacher is Grandfather [God], and he brings the word of Christ through many means and from many places," said Salazar.

Salazar notes that it is no mystery that so many local Native people are Catholic, since the Archdiocese of Los Angeles resides in the ancestral lands of five nations of Native Americans, some of whom were the builders of the original California missions: the Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians/Tongva Nation, the Juaneno Band of Mission Indians/Acjachemen Nation, the Fernandeno Band of Mission Indians/Tataviam Tribe, the Chumash Nations, and the Salinas Tribe.

Because Southern California is the native home of so many Native American nations, the issue of development versus preservation of ancestral lands is often in the news.

Recently, discovery of an ancestral cemetery in a Gabrielino/Tongva village once known as Guaspet was made during the development of the Playa Vista housing project near Marina Del Rey.

During excavation, a construction crew unearthed what some are calling one of the largest Native American burial grounds in California. So far, more than 310 graves have been excavated, some estimated to be 3,000-4,000 years old.

Despite requests from Native Americans and concerned community members to halt work in the area, the Playa Vista Corp. declined to stop. But, as detailed in an agreement drafted before work on the development began, the company hired a historical preservation firm to supervise the excavation and handling of the remains.

For some, this unearthing of a sacred burial place illustrates what they perceive as the continued lack of respect for Native peoples, and why continuing the tradition of the ancestor pilgrimage and ceremony is so important.

"What we want for our people is not somebody else's history of development and making money," said Carol Ramirez, a member of the Tongva Nation. "This is more about cultural enrichment --- to have people acknowledge that we are the first people and not immigrants."