California Beach Cleanup Honors Indigenous Stewards

When volunteers gather at Baby Beach in Dana Point this July, they won't just pick up trash. They'll learn from the people who've been protecting this coastline for thousands of years.

Local nonprofit Stand Up to Trash partnered with the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation, for a special Plastic-Free July event on July 12. The free morning includes beachfront yoga, a community cleanup, and something truly unique: a traditional basket weaving lesson with Tribal members.

Founder Vicki Patterson wanted to give people more than just another reason to pick up litter. She wanted them to slow down and connect with the land's original stewards.

"They're the original stewards of the land," Patterson said. "I really wanted people to slow down and just really appreciate what they have."

A traditional Acjachemen basket can take years to make because materials must be gathered and prepared before weaving even begins. That patience stands in stark contrast to our throwaway culture, Patterson notes.

Georgia "Chena" Edmundson, an Acjachemen Tribal member, will welcome guests with a traditional land acknowledgment at 9:30 a.m. The gesture recognizes visitors are standing on the ancestral homeland and territory of the Acjachemen people.

Patterson said she'd seen Tribal members at local events for years but noticed many residents knew little about them. Even people who've lived in the area for 20 years sometimes don't realize they're on Tribal land.

"I never really saw anyone giving back to them," Patterson said. "I wanted to do a partnership to really engage the community of who they are and what they're about."

The Ripple Effect

The partnership does more than educate. It helps keep Acjachemen traditions alive for younger generations who risk losing their language and customs in our digital age.

The Tribe's history connects directly to coastal conservation work. The Acjachemen people traveled the coastline and local creeks by foot and tule boat, depending on healthy watersheds that led to the ocean.

Acjachemen Tribal Chairman Nathan Banda now serves on Stand Up to Trash's advisory board, helping guide future events. Patterson said it's important that preservation happens the way the Tribe wants it done.

Stand Up to Trash plans to continue the education during their August cleanup at San Juan Creek, where volunteers will learn how trash moves through watersheds before reaching the ocean.

Patterson sums up her hope for participants in four words: connect, respect, nurture, and protect.