Cold wind and occasional raindrops created a contrast to the welcoming and warmth of the people attending Fridays celebration of 560 acres being returned to the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians.
The Golden Eagle Farm property, at 27236 Highway 78 between Ramona and Santa Ysabel, was returned to the Mesa Grande tribe this month through a federal process that began when the tribe purchased the property in 2017. The private celebration in the afternoon was attended by 100 members of 25 tribal councils, and neighbors and friends with history and knowledge of the property.
The ceremony included bird songs sung in native languages by Anthony Trujillo and Manuel La Chappa, members of the Mesa Grande tribe, a buffet dinner with roasted pig and a band to close out the evening.
Bird Singers sang songs to bless the land at the Golden Eagle Farm celebration on Friday. Their song cycle was called “Te Kuk.” Bird songs convey history, stories, culture and language of the tribe’s ancestors. The rhythms of these songs are produced using gourd rattles filled with dried palm seeds. Tony Trujillo, third from right, singing into the microphone, is one of the lead singers. (Criselda Yee)
“Just having our land back and having so many native tribes here, that’s the most important thing,” said Keely Linton, president of the Mesa Grande Business Development Corp. board.
The Business Development Corp. purchased the property from the Mabee family leading thoroughbred race horse breeders who created Golden Eagle Farm with the idea of using it as an economic development venture.
“Agritourism is the biggest project we’ve been working on,” said Essence Oyos, secretary of the BDC. “We want to keep the land as natural as possible; it’s sacred land and our ancestors subsisted there because they knew how to maintain it.”
Oyos has worked on the “fee to trust,” also known as the “land into trust,” or transfer of land title from the beginning. The land is in addition to the 1,820-acre Mesa Grande reservation near Santa Ysabel.
Across California, similar returns of land to the original tribal stewards have been part of the Land Back movement. The project aims to ensure ancestral land is returned to the tribes, which are then able to establish their priorities and use their traditional ecological knowledge and expertise for the care of the land.
“I’ve personally been to every single meeting, filed the application and all the things — it’s like the longest pregnancy ever,” Oyos said. “And as any parent knows, once the baby is born the real work begins.”
The process of returning the land to the tribe, however, was slowed by everything from an incorrect survey of record to the COVID pandemic, which shut down county offices.
“Once the attorney submitted the deed to trust transfer in 2021, it went pretty quickly by federal government standards,” Oyos said.
Partial view of the 560-acre Golden Eagle Farm that was given back to the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians. The white building on the left was a horse barn for thoroughbred horses raised by the former landowner, the Maybee family. (Criselda Yee)
To date, the tribe’s efforts have focused on opening an organic farm stand, growing and selling farm to table produce and renovating three houses on the property for vacation rentals. Currently, only one house has been completed.
“We want to build economic development in a good way that supports the land and tribal members and makes sure it is a family friendly place that people want to come to,” Oyos said.
Curtis La Chusa, chairman of the Mesa Grande tribe, said he was impressed with the hard work that culminated in the land back process.
“It was not easy. But today, we are here to celebrate. We work today for the future, La Chusa said.
More to come