Pablo Apis' role in 1800s focus of lawsuit by disenrolled members of the Pechanga tribe

By: DEIRDRE NEWMAN - Staff Writer | Saturday, April 9, 2005 10:55 PM PDT ∞

TEMECULA ---- A 19th century Temecula Indian whose life was mostly a model of getting along with others has become a lightning rod in a 21st century dispute among Pechanga Indians over who has a legitimate right to be considered part of the tribe.

Pablo Apis was a Luiseno Indian who lived first at Mission San Luis Rey, in what is now Oceanside, and then received a land grant in Temecula in the mid-1800s. While he was widely regarded as chief of the Temecula Indians by whites and Mexicans living in the area, there is contention among present and disenrolled members of the Pechanga tribe as to whether the Temecula Indians themselves considered him their leader.

The Temecula Indians became the Pechanga Indians after they were evicted from their lands in the village in 1875 and built a new life in a canyon valley called Pechanga three miles away. The reservation that bears the Pechanga name was established in 1882.

Last year, more than 130 Pechanga members were disenrolled from the tribe on the grounds that the members failed to prove they are lineal descendants of "original Pechanga people." All are descendants of Apis and are fighting this disenrollment through two lawsuits working their way through the courts.

One of the reasons the members were told they were disenrolled is because Apis passed away before the Pechanga reservation was established, said John Gomez Jr., one of the disenrolled members.

Pechanga Chairman Mark Macarro has never publicly stated why the members were ousted, saying the issue is an internal tribal matter. He contends Apis was not looked upon as a leader by the Temecula Indians because he was given a leadership role by the Spanish power brokers of the era at the mission. Yet articles on Pechanga's own Web site refer to Apis as the leader of the Temecula Indians. Macarro declined to comment on the issue.

History's view

Spanish missionaries who traveled to the area now known as California in the late 1700s came to spread the Catholic faith and search for gold. They appropriated lands controlled by Indians to set up missions and forced these Indians to work for them and to convert to Catholicism.

The Luiseno Indians were first under the control of the San Juan Capistrano Mission and then Mission San Luis Rey when that was built in 1798. The Luiseno name comes from Mission San Luis Rey. One of the mission's ranchos was documented as being in Temecula, according to the book "Temecula at the Crossroads of History" by Phil Brigandi. There was also a mission adobe in Temecula, Brigandi writes.

Apis was born around 1792 in Guajome, near the soon-to-be-built mission San Luis Rey. In 1798, he was among the first Indians baptized at the new mission. He was educated there and could read and write.

When he was older, he was designated as a magistrate, or alcalde, by the Spanish, implying he possessed "superior intelligence and innate leadership ability," according to Leland Bibb in his essay "Pablo Apis and Temecula." After the missions became secularized in the 1830s, Apis was "one of the Luiseno leaders" who fought to keep the Californios, the area's Mexican ranchers, from taking control of the mission property, according to Bibb.

In fact, according to "Temecula History, a Chronology 1797-1993," by Emily Gerstbacher, Apis ---- "headman of the Temecula Indians" ---- was imprisoned in 1836 by Pio Pico, the last Mexican governor of California, to prevent Apis' objections to Pico's management of the mission property

Ironically, in 1843, Apis, "chief of the Temecula Indians" was one of the few Indians who received land from Pico when California was still controlled by Mexico, according to Apis' biography in "They Passed this Way, Tales of Historic Temecula Valley." The approximately 2,000-acre land grant was known as "Little Temecula Rancho" and was given to Apis in return for his assistance to the mission. Apis built two adobes on his land; the second is still referred to as the Apis adobe.

In 1847, Apis participated in a fight between the Temecula and Pauma Indians against the Cahuilla Indians and Mexicans, that turned into the Temecula Massacre. The battle killed 38 of Apis' warriors, but cemented his stature "as a wise leader of his people," the biography notes.

In 1850, Benjamin Hayes, who was traveling through the area, described Apis and his living conditions: "The Chief lives in an adobe house, with an adobe corral around it; his house has several rooms," according to "The Historic Valley of Temecula" by Horace Parker.

The Treaty of Temecula, a treaty between the U.S. government and Indians living in the area, mainly guaranteeing them reservation lands, was signed "near the adobe of Pablo Apis ---- the great Temecula chief," in 1852 according to Parker. But Apis did not sign the treaty. Instead, the hereditary leader of the Temecula Indians, Lauriano Cahparahpish, signed it, according to Brigandi. The treaty was never ratified by Congress.

Friend to all

Apis' adobe was close to the Southern Emigrant Trail, also known as Butterfield Stage Road ---- the primary southern path people took into California at the time. Both Mexicans and Americans who came to settle the area looked upon Apis as a "good friend," according to Brigandi.

Apis reportedly volunteered to protect Mexican settlers after other Mexican settlers in the Pauma Valley were attacked by Indians. Apis also did not join other local tribes in trying to drive American settlers out of California, according to Brigandi.

"Apis' whole life, from early convert, to mission alcalde, to rancher and peacemaker, seems to have been built around trying to work within the system to get by as best as he could ---- and in doing so, he fared better than many of his contemporaries," Brigandi wrote.

Parker's essay confirms Apis' chameleon-like ability to adapt and survive when every stranger who passed his way could have been an enemy.

"Descriptions of Pablo Apis indicate that he took on the guise of a non-Indian to guard against abuses by the gold seekers. To (another), he was a 'Spanish Californian,' which would indicate that with his fluent Spanish (the gold seekers knew few words, if any) and his Californio clothing he was simply a ranchero, and the first one to be seen in California at that. And (another) was told that the rancho belonged to an Englishman who had gone north to the Gold country," Parker wrote.

Apis died between 1853 and 1855, according to various sources. In 1865, a federal Indian agent working for the U.S. government came to the Temecula area to gather statistics about the different Indian groups living there. The agent, J.Q. A. Stanley, referred to Apis as the chief of the Temecula Indians, even though Apis had died about 10 years earlier.

Various interpretations

While many books and historical essays refer to Apis as a Luiseno leader, some assert the title was based on his actions, not his bloodline.

Brigandi writes that "while not the hereditary leader of the Temecula people, he quickly established himself as the most prominent man in the area and was considered the 'chief' of the Temecula Indians by most of the whites."

Gomez, the spokesman for Apis' disenrolled descendants, said hereditary leadership was one of the casualties of Indian life during the mission system. Leadership evolved from tribal religious customs, which also were mostly destroyed for Indians who were forced into the mission system, he added.

The missions took Indians from various tribes to where the mission was located and made them work there. The Temecula Indians lived in a few different places at the time ----- one was in what is now Temecula and another was near what is now Camp Pendleton, Gomez said.

"I am not surprised that the non-Indian community looked to Pablo (Apis) as the leader of the Temecula Indians," Gomez said. "The truth is, he was."

Leaders are chosen by their tribes and then interacted with other communities, just as is done these days, Gomez said.

"Macarro is not a hereditary leader, he is elected," Gomez said. "And the non-Indian community knows him as a tribal leader because the tribe presents him as so."

Gomez points out that links on Pechanga's own Web site also refer to Apis as a leader. Under a subheading on a Web page titled "Fact or Myth ---- Literacy of Tribal Members" is the statement "Pablo, the chief of the Pechanga in 1851, was a literate man and also a successful businessman possessing large herds of cattle and horses." Another part of the Web site containing an 1883 report on the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians also refers to Apis as the chief.

Local historian Henry Miller, a museum specialist with the Temecula Valley Museum, echoes opinions that Apis was a leader in title only.

He was only respected because he had the trappings of someone of stature ---- land, cattle and sheep, Miller said

"That made him very rich and influential with all the government agencies," Miller said. "It was only by that that he gained respect by our local Indians. He was never, ever a Temecula Indian."

A judicial test

Apis' legacy will ultimately be decided by the courts.

The disenrolled members filed their first lawsuit in January 2004 to stop the tribe from revoking their memberships, claiming it would be a violation of Pechanga law. The lawsuit, which didn't stop them from being kicked out, is now under appeal by Pechanga after a Riverside County Superior Court judge determined that the suit could be heard in state court under a federal statute that allows individual Indians to sue other Indians.

Both sides are still waiting for the 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside to set a date for oral arguments in this lawsuit.

The latest lawsuit was filed March 17. It accuses 30 members of the tribe of helping persuade tribal leaders to disenroll them.

Since being disenrolled, the adult plaintiffs are losing about $15,000 per month in payments from the tribe, which now operates one of the most successful casinos in California, as well as other benefits, including free health insurance. They are seeking an as-yet-unspecified amount of financial compensation for the damages they have suffered.

But Gomez insists more than money is at stake. Historical accuracy is at stake as well, he said, noting that "Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians" and "Temecula Band of Luiseno Indians" is essentially one and the same.

"Pechanga is the name of the place. This is the place where we were all put. ...That's the real history and there's a lot of people trying to confuse those who don't know so they can try and justify what they did to us, but we're not going to take it lightly or take it lying down."

Contact staff writer Deirdre Newman at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2623, or dnewman@californian.com.

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