TEHACHAPI, Calif. (KERO) — Tehachapi celebrates and recognizes the Kawaiisu culture during a special ceremony to unveil the restoration of the People of the Mountain mural in Downtown Tehachapi.
- The People of the Mountain mural is one of 14 murals restored in Tehachapi by the Make Art Tehachapi group and others in the community.
- The Kawaiisu are known as the first people to inhabit the Tehachapi area.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Nuwa. It means The People and is associated with the Kawaiisu, Native Americans who were the first to inhabit the Tehachapi area. I’m Steve Virgen, your neighborhood reporter. Tehachapi celebrated and recognized that culture with a ceremony to unveil the restoration of The People of the Mountain mural in Downtown Tehachapi.
Steve Gallegos drove from Lancaster on his 57th birthday to beat on his drum and sing during a special ceremony for the People of the Mountain mural restored.
“It’s an honor to be here and sing for my people. This is my family on the wall. My cousins, relatives of my grandmother. Our people are from here, from Tehachapi. My grandmother was born here,” Gallegos said.
Brandi Greene-Kendrick also has a connection to the mural. Her grandfather is painted on the mural.
Virgen: Brandi, what does this mural mean to you?
Brandi: So much, so much. Just to see my family, our tribe members immortalized pretty much for all of Tehachapi. Anybody who visits. Anybody who is a historian to appreciate for years to come. It’s … I can’t put a value on that.
Two decades ago, Tehachapi had the same type of ceremony when the mural was originally created. But over the years it needed to be restored. Make Art Tehachapi and others in the community stepped up to restore the mural, along with 13 other murals in the mountain town.
Virgen: “Jeanette, what did today mean to you?
Jeanette Pauer: “Oh, it meant so much. It meant we got to celebrate the Kawaiisu culture. It meant that we got to celebrate our community. We got to celebrate art. And we came together as a community for all of that.”
The mural is located on the side of the Tehachapi Hitching Post Theater on Green Street. For 23 ABC, I’m Steve Virgen, your neighborhood reporter.
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