CHAIRWOMAN'S CORNER
By Museum Chairwoman Phyllis Van Wanseele

Remembering the Fiestas
Where were you 75 years ago? If you can recall that time period, then you are an official elder and I’m so happy for you. Our Barona Community began its 75 year celebration of the settlement of the Barona Valley with a step back into traditions. The dictionary defines the word tradition as “...the handing down orally of stories, beliefs, customs, etc. from generation to generation.”

In this day of faster, bigger, and better, it is refreshing to step back and take a slow-speed look at how life used to be in the Valley many years ago. My dad, Edward Brown, talked about how “Fiestas” would be held once a year at his reservation in Los Conejos. The residents invited the people from the Campo area to join them for a week long get-together. He told me how a lookout would be posted outside the community to alert the tribe when the first wagons would appear. The lookout ran to the village and told everyone to come out to welcome the visitors. My dad said there was a person who played the fiddle in his village. After Tribal leaders welcomed the visitors, the fiddle player led the group into the Fiesta grounds by playing a happy tune. The procession included wagons, horses, men, women, and children walking into the ready-made willow ramada homes that were set up to accommodate the visitors. Men unhitched the horses and took them to a corral where they were cared for until the Fiesta ended, a week later. The guests unloaded bedding, pots and pans, clothes, and other items to set up camping. The guests were given foodstuffs for the week.

The old Barona Fiesta grounds, 1935.

The week long celebration included peon games, children’s games, horse races, music, and dancing. It was an opportunity to meet old friends and family. Young men and women got to meet others from outside their village. Elders told stories to children, and fires were built in the evenings as people came together in a spirit of community. Everything was shared. This was a tradition begun a long time ago.

My mother, Elenore (Curo) Brown came from the neighboring village of El Capitan Grande. Her village was affiliated with the people from Mesa Grande. The same type of Fiesta was held in their community at a different time of the year. So, it was logical that when the village members bought the Barona Valley, the tradition of a Fiesta continued. With the introduction of automobiles, more people could participate in Fiestas and they didn’t have to camp out for a week. So, the week long celebration was trimmed back to a weekend or to consecutive weekends. As a child, I remember the smell of fresh cut willow branches that made the ramadas. I remember playing with other kids on wet ground that was hosed down to keep the dust from flying and to cool the ramadas. I remember the dark nights whose darkness was broken by the light of peon fires. I remember the Curo Brothers as they played popular music of the times for the people to dance. I was always in awe to see the big bass Buddy Curo played in comparison to the guitar that Charley played.

In this spirit, on August 17-19, 2007, the Barona community invited surrounding reservations and friends to join us in revisiting this recent past by preparing a Fiesta, now termed “Gathering.” As I walked the grounds, the memories of my childhood came back to me when I smelled the willow branches and saw the wet dirt. Peon games were played in the light of burning fires. Bird songs filled the night as young women danced to their chants. Modern music was played on a special stage by local tribal musicians, including Charley Curo’s son, Beaver. As I sat in the Museum host ramada, I thought about the tradition I was living. I thought about my Mom and Dad and how they were once young and probably recalled their parents at their Fiestas. Then, I looked ahead to my grandchildren and was comforted in knowing that the tradition of the Gathering, to share these customs, would not be lost to computers and iphones.