According to historical documents, the deaths of about 3,800 baptized Chumash people living in Santa Barbara were recorded between the years 1789 and 1840. The bones of some lay interred in a large mass grave in the Old Mission, comingled with the remains of Spaniards, Californios, Mexicans, and Americans. This past Thursday, about 50 people — Chumash individuals from the Barbareño and the Coastal bands, Old Mission friars, historians, and assorted dignitaries — assembled by the far wall of the Old Mission cemetery lawn to dedicate a large memorial statue of a Chumash woman with her arm draped over the shoulder of a massive bear to commemorate the Chumash who lived and died under the roof and rule of the early Franciscans.
Those assembled dipped their hands into a chalice with sage-infused holy water, making the sign of the cross, and gathered up the sage smoke billowing forth from an incense miter. They also listened to Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto recite the Lord’s Prayer in both English and Chumash. Ygnacio-De Soto’s mother, Mary Yee, was the last Santa Barbara Chumash who grew up knowing and speaking the Chumash language. Ygnacio-De Soto, who identified herself as part Barbareño Chumash and part Mexican, played a pivotal role in translating the idea of the memorial into a reality. The bear, reportedly, was her idea and signifies perseverance, courage, and leadership.
“We have to be strong and resilient in the spirit of the bear,” Ygnacio-De Soto stated. “And that’s all I have to say about it.”