He claimed Chumash ancestry and raised millions. Experts say he’s not Chumash.
On a recent afternoon, Mati Waiya wore a bear bone in his nose and a medicine bag dangled from a strap around his neck. In his hand were two California condor feathers, sacred to the Chumash people who once flourished on the Southern and Central California coasts.
Waiya has strong support from some Chumash members of his foundation who say he has fought to preserve the tribe’s history and culture. But to his detractors, Waiya’s role as one of the state’s most visible leaders of the Chumash people makes his ancestral claims all the more concerning.
“We’re looking at something that’s actually a global phenomenon, people asserting indigenous identities,” Haley said.For thousands of years, the Chumash fished and foraged on tribal lands that extended from San Luis Obispo County to Malibu. The tribe encompassed about 150 villages before the Chumash wereToday, there isn’t a single full-blooded Chumash left, according to scholars.Waiya, 63, said his work is to educate the public and advocate for Chumash culture and the environment.
Waiya and the foundation declined to say how much his relatives are paid. The nonprofit isn’t required to disclose salaries for employees making under $50,000. Waiya’s sister-in-law sits on the board of directors and serves as its secretary. She is not paid, according to tax filings. The Wishtoyo Foundation sued to stop the development, joining a coalition of environmental activists that included the Santa Ynez band of Chumash Indians. Several members of the coalitionIn a separate confidential agreement, the developer — FivePoint Holdings LLC — gave the foundation an undisclosed sum to buy land and construct a Chumash museum, which has not yet been built.2018 tax filing
“People who don’t know or don’t want to question [Waiya’s] authenticity will think he’s representing a tribe, but he’s not,” Tumamait-Stenslie said.Carole Goldberg, president of the Wishtoyo Foundation’s board and a UCLA law professor, said Tumamait-Stenslie’s Chumash band “declined to engage with Wishtoyo despite invitations to partner on local issues” and didn’t previously show an interest in the Newhall Ranch development.
She said that it was common in the 19th century for California Indians to identify themselves as members of other ethnicities to U.S. census takers out of fear of persecution or even death at the hands of white settlers.Earlier this year, Tumamait-Stenslie and two other Chumash — Jonathan Cordero and Matthew Vestuto — wrote to Waiya and his wife, demanding proof for the couple’s ancestry claims.
The letter from the Women’s Elders Council said the attacks are motivated by “jealousy and hatred,” and are aided by “biased academics of questionable authority.” It states that “Chumash identity is rightly held through a number of different ways,” including genealogical documentation, oral family histories and tribal enrollment or membership.
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