Ortega organizes Antonio Garra Day event

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

In 1903, the Cupeno people were evicted from their Warner Springs land and relocated to the Pala reservation. In January 1852, Cupeno patriot Antonio Garra was executed in San Diego. Pala tribal member Eric Ortega has organized an Antonio Garra Day event at the First San Diego Courthouse museum in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, and this year the event returned March 19.

"It was a big event. We had a lot of people down there," Ortega said.

Garra is believed to have been a Yuma Indian and was originally from Yuma before he met a woman and moved to the Cupeno lands. After California was granted statehood in 1849, Garra sought sovereignty for the Native American people. "Back then it didn't matter so much what kind of Indian you were," Ortega said.

Back then what is now called Old Town was the center of town in San Diego; in 1867 Alonzo Horton bought and subdivided land in what is now Downtown San Diego and over the next five years government seats and influential businesses relocated from Old Town to Horton's Addition. An 1872 fire sealed the fate of Old Town as the city's area of influence.

The demise of Old Town did not prevent Father Anthony Ubach from seeking an Indian boarding school. St. Anthony's Indian School, which was initially at the corner of Twiggs Street and San Diego Avenue, opened in 1886. The school was moved to the mission in what is now called Mission Valley in 1891 and operated until 1907, closing shortly after Father Ubach's death.

The First San Diego Courthouse museum includes a wanted poster for Antonio Garra. "This wanted poster was up on a wall," Ortega said.

Ortega and other local Native Americans didn't request that the poster be taken down but rather requested that the Indian side of the situation be told. "It was all because he didn't want to pay taxes to San Diego," Ortega said.

The group planning an event to recognize Antonio Garra began the planning about 15 years ago, and the first Antonio Garra Day was six years ago. "We're also showing that there were Native Americans there," Ortega said.

Since Garra was executed in January, Antonio Garra Day was held in January from 2016 to 2020. Coronavirus precautions eliminated the 2021 event, and due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant this year's Antonio Garra Day was postponed until March.

The organizers will decide whether next year's Antonio Garra Day will be in January, in March, or some other time of the year. "We're still going to have it again next year," Ortega said. "We want to make it bigger."

This year's event included presentations by Pala tribal member and Inter-Tribal Bird Singers member Wayne Nelson, by Kumeyaay College (Sycuan) Kumeyaay culture and history instructor Stan Rodriguez and by Bill Madrigal, who teaches Cahuilla culture at the University of California, Riverside.

"It was a really awesome event," Ortega said. "We had some people there who knew what they were talking about and some really good history."

In 2018, James Ramos became the first Native American to be elected to the California State Assembly. Ramos is of Serrano ethnicity and lives on the San Miguel Indian Reservation in San Bernardino County. He was present for Antonio Garra Day. "It really gives our event a lot of credibility with him being there," Ortega said.

Ortega turned to his own reservation for financial support. "Pala provided the resources," he said.

The expenses the Pala tribe funded included permit fees for using the state park. Because of Ramos' travel, the tribe paid for a room for him at the Pala Casino hotel that day.

Pala also provided a donation to the First San Diego Courthouse to assist with roof and floor repair. "They were appreciative about that," Ortega said.

"It was a great event," Ortega said. "Next year I'm hoping we can even make it bigger."