2005 California Indian Heritage Preservation Award: Patrick Orozco, Headman, Pajaro Valley Indian Council, Watsonville
Society for California Archaeology Newsletter. Vol39 No.2, June 2005. Pages 16 & 17.
 Patrick Orozco, recipient of the 2005 SCA California Indian Heritage Preservation Award. |
Those who attended the Awards Banquet were privileged to learn much about Patrick Orozco’s lifelong efforts to protect valued sites, satisfy his personal desires to learn of his people’s past, and cultivate broad interest and respect for Indian rights and sites. When the award presenter, Rob Edwards, asked for a show of those who have worked with or been greatly influenced by Patrick, more than 50 attendees took their feet. Patrick has immersed himself in his people’s culture and traditions for the last thirty years, providing all with a better understanding of the people who once lived on California’s Central Coast. The SCA is pleased to honor Patrick Orozco for his lifetime of battling to preserve his heritage.
It was in 1974, following advice from his greatgrandfather, when Patrick first became an activist "to protect and defend the cemeteries." At this time, he partnered with other Indian groups to protect a graveyard at Lee Road in Watsonville, California. To stop the destruction of the graveyard, the situation called for Patrick and his people to put their own lives on the line. As a result of their diligence and dedication, ultimately half of the graveyard was returned to his people. Patrick has since continued to protect these graves as well as those in other areas. Due to his persistence, local people are much more respectful of Indian rights, and unearthed burial remains are now more likely to be properly respected and replaced.
His work with archaeologists began in 1975 at the Holiday Inn Site in San Jose. He has filled the roles of monitor, a heritage consultant and most-likely-descendant. Among his special achievements, he and his people went to San Bruno Mountain hearings repeatedly to protect sites from disappearing under the weight of proposed office towers. Working with local archaeologists and environmentalists, he was instrumental in prompting a project redesign, leaving two huge shell mounds to retain the imprint of Indian people. In presenting the award, the SCA also recognizes Patrick’s excellent, continuous, and long-term efforts to educate the public about his heritage. He has expanded his knowledge of his people and shared it with uncountable students from elementary to university levels. Over the years, hundreds have taken plant walks with Patrick, and benefited from his familial information about local plant use. So that this information is even more widely available, he has collated it, and he continues working with the Department of Forestry to procure cultural materials such as feathers, animal bones and food products. He has participated in "Ohlone Days" at Cowell State Parks for many years, participated and performed at the "Ohlone Gathering of the Elders" at Coyote Hills Regional Park in Fremont, and served as a valued Advisory Board member to the Cabrillo College Archaeological Technology Program since its inception in 1992.
In addition, Patrick has narrated a series of interpretive videos about the life of an Indian in the Mission Period, for Santa Cruz State Historic Park. He collaborated on the CD telling the story of his people in the Pajaro Valley, "First People of the Pajaro." His quest to know his origins and identity has been published in the Journal of Great Basin and California Anthropology in the article "I’m an Indian, but Who Am I?". He has provided information about his people and historical anecdotes in the publication "A Gathering of Voices." He is often interviewed by local newspapers, the magazine El Andar, and other press, and in 2001 PBS station KQED(San Francisco) honored him as Indian of the Year.
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