Johnny Eagle Spirit Elliott grew up learning the history of his tribe’s connection to the land in Jacumba Hot Springs — from the medicinal uses of plants to the bubbling hot springs, which his community views as sacred.
“Jacumba is like this unique area where we come and gather, we trade, we have our ceremonies and dances, and so that's why it's important for us to protect this area,” Elliott said. “Not only that, though, but the bones of our ancestors are here, and that's really what we fight for.”
But now the land is shifting.
The more-than-600-acre solar energy project that would help power multiple cities in San Diego County broke ground in Jacumba late last year. At a community meeting on Monday night, Elliott and other leaders from the Manzanita band of the Kumeyaay Nation said the county violated state law to consult tribal leaders on the project.
“In the tribe's opinion, you did not follow what you should have — the law — by consulting with all the tribes that were in the original documents,” said Veronica Santos, Manzanita historical preservation officer, at the meeting.
According to county documents, the county contacted eight local federally recognized tribes (Barona, Campo, Jamul, Kwaaymii, Manzanita, Santa Ysabel, Sycuan and Viejas) early in the project proposal process to comply with the law. Five of the tribes (Campo, Jamul, Manzanita, Santa Ysabel and Viejas) responded — Santa Ysabel deferred consultation to the Campo tribe.
The county said the Manzanita tribe did not respond by a 2019 deadline, and therefore, it was not required to consult with the tribe going forward. In an email to KPBS, the county said staff continued to contact the tribe during the process. Ultimately, the county gave the developer approval to work with a Kumeyaay Native American monitoring company.
However, county staff also wrote in the environmental impact report (EIR), “The County has been consulting with Campo, Jamul, Manzanita and Viejas. Consultation is ongoing and will continue throughout the processing of the Proposed Project.”
Angela Elliott Santos, Manzanita executive committee chairwoman, disputes the county's claim of "ongoing" consultation. The tribe responded in writing, requesting consultation after the county's initial deadline. Months later, the county responded back to the tribe in writing, but Elliott Santos said that wasn't enough.
"We deserve a call. We deserve a follow-up,” Elliott Santos said. “When we entered into official government-to-government consultation, that doesn't mean you just get to send me a letter about an area that we've been griping about for years that has actual tangible evidence of how much archaeology is in it."
Elliott Santos said Jacumba embodies a storied past of struggle with energy infrastructure.
“My father, who's not on this earth anymore, fought very hard for the eco-substation to not go in,” Elliott Santos said. “And we were told by the developers of that area, you won't find any cultural resources. That area is now in the list of one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in this country because they continue to find our artifacts.”
The county’s EIR said that the developer completed a ground-penetrating radar study and had an archaeologist do inspections. The county required the developer to contract with Kumeyaay monitors for consultation and review regarding the land, cultural artifacts and remains.
However, there are more than a dozen federally recognized Kumeyaay tribes in San Diego County, and the Manzanita tribe said they should have had the opportunity to monitor.
“Manzanita is its own nation, and we were in the original documents to consult on this project,” Santos said. “You guys had an obligation to continue to consult with us throughout the entire thing, including being on the ground before construction started, and when construction started, and we are still not on the ground.”
County staff member Mark Slovik said at the meeting that they’ll work with the developer to try to find a way to allow monitoring by Manzanita leaders.
“What we're trying to do, I think, is trying to work out a way to get Manzanita brought in even though it's not part of the conditions of the permit,” Slovik said at the meeting.
