Mikel Hogan, Ph.D. Applied/ Public Anthropologist CSUF, 675 278 3309 Banning Ranch: a Sacred Landscape Archaeological Sites in Orange County, CA. Mikel Hogan, Ph.D. Applied/ Public Anthropologist CSUF, 675 278 3309 Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

The Channel Islands Provide Evidence for Prehistoric Occupation of California 13,000 YA

Southern California Native American Villages at the Time of Spanish Contact

California Tribal Territories

Mesa, Wetlands, and Ocean Provided Abundant Resources for Thousands of Years

The Prehistoric Economy was Based on Hunting, Gathering, Fishing

The Settlement of Orange County Coast Context: 1. By 10,000 years ago most of the California coast was occupied 2. The California coast is unique for studying coastal prehistory because of the long expanse of settlement over time Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

BR is Site of Early Ritual and Trading Center Banning Ranch is an extraordinary archaeological site where the ancient Native American coastal village and trading hub called Genga existed for 0ver a thousand years The whole area of Banning Ranch was comprised of a large village complex Genga was the Village Hub for Newport Bay area, wherein the other villages were dependents—this extended from Banning Ranch south to Newport Bay Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

Banning Ranch Cultural Characteristics: interdependence was a key cultural characteristic: they were not separate self-sufficient & self-reliant communities they were part of long-distance networks of kin groups and exchange partners across the state— large gatherings met seasonally In other words, Banning Ranch villages were part of a regionally-based cultural system. Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

What is a Sacred Landscape? Landscape: refers to people’s engagement with the material world; landscapes are differently understood and experienced by people Sacred Landscape: people “be” in the landscape, they don’t just “see it”—when “being in” the landscape, people experience no divide between nature and culture A sacred landscape is made by the ancestral beings for the people who in their turn, through ritual, painting, dance, and song nurture both the ancestors and their land Ancient people of BR and elsewhere had a “large view” viewpoint of the landscape evidenced by the solstice alignments with Catalina and Santa Barbara as reported in ethnographic accounts Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

Sacred Landscape Ancient people of BR inhabited the land in ways that had long ancestry Their tenure in the landscape was grounded in a sense of ancestry, sustained through origin myths and ritual cycles

Banning Ranch is a Sacred Landscape Ethnographic studies suggest the ritual items—cogged stones and discoidals were sacred talisman Talisman are portable objects that possess a concentrated form of supernatural spiritual or life-force essence Banning Ranch had talismen (cogged stones and discoidals) that were buried in specific patterns in ancestor’s graves at BR Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

The stone sculptures we call cogged stones are mainly found at BC with the 2nd largest number found at BR Cogged stones have been dated to 7,-8,000 years ago

Ritual was an Integral Part of Their Cultures

Specific Examples of What the Data Shows: Banning Ranch What Does the Data Show? Herman Strandt’s description of the camps and village sites Orange County in part 1 of his 1926 report: “ The camp and village sites of the Canalino Indians in Orange County were close together, mainly along the coast of Newport Bay. They were often no more than a hundred yards apart. Forty-two villages have been counted in a radius of two miles…” (PCASQ, 1965, Vol. 1, No. 2, Pg. 5) Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

Data on BR as Sacred Landscape Banning Ranch Data that demonstrates it is a sacred landscape: Sacred ritual artifacts found in burials: cogged stones, and near “perfectly round discoidals” and the placement pattern of these sacred objects Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

Data on BR as Sacred Landscape The Data: Herman Strandt’s description of the camps and village sites Orange County in part 3 of his 1926 report: “ During the many years of investigation and exploration, I have proved that the cogged wheel stone was found in very old burials… .In the year of 1926, a large village site was located on the Banning Land Company, two miles north of Coast Mesa. Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

Data on BR as Sacred Landscape The Data: “When this field had been plowed in 1926, the plow turned up some of these cogged wheel stones and a few human bones…” “…and the next day, Sunday, they went there with shovels and started digging and soon came onto a skeleton. With this skeleton they found in all, 8 cogged wheel stones and 6 discoidals..” Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

Data on BR as Sacred Landscape The Data: Placement Pattern “… the stones were piled one on top of the other, and facing toward the evening star…. . in this case the stones were used in burial ceremonials,…” Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

Data on BR as Sacred Landscape The Data: In the year 1927, I had the privilege to excavate on this place, locating the main burial ground… “Working with several men for six weeks, we discovered 106 skeletons. One day my attention was called by Mr. B. Sackett and I found a beautiful cogged wheel stone on the chest of a male skeleton; here it was a ceremonial stone. These skeletons were found in a plot of 40 by 50 feet”… Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

Preserve the Sacred Landscapes of BR In closing, there is sufficient archaeological and ethnographic data that demonstrates BR needs to be preserved as a sacred landscape There are eight known archaeological sites and all are listed as “Banning Ranch Cultural Properties and Landscape” on the Native American Heritage Commission Sacred Lands Inventory The scaled down development plan for BR will destroy the character of the Traditional Cultural Landscape and five of the Traditional Cultural Properties. Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.

Preserve the Sacred Landscapes of BR We urge you to uphold the Coastal Act and deny the development of Banning Ranch to preserve this last open space and sacred landscape of Native American descendants on the Orange County coast. Mikel Hogan, Ph.D.