Having ancestral roots to an Indigenous tribe but not knowing much about your family lineage may cause curiosity leading down a rabbit hole to uncover the past.
This is the case for two members of the Salinan Tribe, Kathy McCormack and Laura Oldroyd, who, with the help of genealogists and linguists, are learning the history, traditions and language of previous generations.
Both are directors at the Nacitone Museum, which is located in Bradley. Nacitone is collaborating with another nonprofit institution, Sol Treasures in King City, to exhibit their discoveries and photographs of their ancestors.
“We want to show the people through our eyes a little bit of our family," says 58-year-old Oldroyd, who lives in Lockwood.
The Salinan are an Indigenous group from California, with roots in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. The name comes from the Salinas River named by the Spanish explorers and missionaries in the 18th century. McCormack and Oldroyd are taking Salinan language classes with a linguist (who is also Salinan) based in Berkeley.
Oldroyd describes different divisions within the tribe, includuing the Salinan districts, Xolon Salinans (her district) and the T'rowt'raahl. “We don’t consider ourselves separate. We’re all one group and we're all Salinans,” Oldroyd adds.
Growing up, Oldroyd and McCormack knew they were related but they didn't know the specifics. Through recent findings, they learned they are second cousins through Oldroyd’s grandfather.
McCormack started to explore her family roots when her father died in 1998.
“I didn’t know much of my family history and never got involved with anything to do with tribal meetings and things like that, but once my father passed, I became interested and got more involved,” says 65-year-old McCormack, who lives in King CIty.
Her father’s grandmother, Loreta Robles, was born at the San Antonio Mission, and was full-blooded Salinan.
With the help of family members, both McCormack and Oldroyd are gathering information, native plants, artifacts and photos, that will be displayed at Sol Treasures as part of the Salinan exhibit opening May 22.
An opening reception will be held from 5-7pm on Friday, May 22 at Sol Treasures located at 519 Broadway St., King City. Both McCormack and Oldroyd will attend to share their stories. The display runs through June 30.
The opening event will also include a traditional Salinan owl song, performed using clapper sticks made out of elderberry branches.
Together they are trying to not only teach their relatives but the whole community about the Salinan Tribe.
“When you read books or old newspaper articles, it says the last of the Salinans have died, or the Salinans are gone, and there's no more Indians,” Oldroyd says. “That's what they teach in the schools. I'm sorry. Hello, I'm right here. We're still here, and we're still in the community.”
Their goal is to follow the Nacitone Museum’s mission statement of preserving and displaying the history of the area from the time of precolonial Salinan habitation through the Spanish and pioneer era.
Oldroyd is an artisan and is constantly learning and teaching new ways to present the Salinan cultural practices to people.
“We're teaching classes for the native families, how to make pine nut necklaces and bracelets that come from the land,” Oldroyd says. “Some of us know how to make abalone shell necklaces and feather hats, so we teach that too.”
The cousins have recently traveled to the Salinan sacred sites, including the Stony Valley Arch and the painted caves on Fort Hunter Liggett.
“Little by little we are reaching out and teaching, but we’re learning in the process too,” McCormack says.