Despite construction delays Native American Education Center on track for September opening

May 20—Exploring and honoring the history and cultures of the earliest inhabitants of the southern Central Valley has been an ongoing effort at the Kern County Museum for more than seven decades.

But there has never been a permanent home on museum grounds dedicated to the research, display of artifacts and education necessary to meet the long-term goals of the museum and its leadership.

All that is about to change.

That transformation will come in the form of a new exhibition and education center, the museum's first permanent space dedicated to the history and culture of the Native peoples who lived for thousands of years in what later would become known as the southern San Joaquin Valley and the region that surrounds it.

"We will dedicate the Owtsan House Native American Education Center on Sept. 16," said Mike McCoy, executive director of the Kern County Museum.

"The large gallery and education center," McCoy said, "will host our 80-year-old Yokuts education program for county schools."

Owtsan is a Yowlumni Yokuts word for fox. By happenstance, a colony of kit foxes live next to the building, and foxes figure prominently in Yokuts legend for bringing fire to the Yokuts people. The animals are revered for their cunning and intelligence, McCoy said.

"Local third-grade students of the 1950s and beyond undoubtedly will remember the Yokuts demonstration at the Kern County Museum," said retired teacher Kitty DeArmond, a volunteer docent and member of the Kern County Historical Society.

Beautiful woven baskets and other artifacts were displayed, and the docent, a Yokuts woman, demonstrated how acorns were ground and prepared for eating.

"Those are memories that last a lifetime," DeArmond said.

But as memorable and valuable as those early days were, DeArmond believes the new center represents a significant step forward in making the culture and history of Native Americans in the valley a priority — maybe for the first time — by developing a permanent education center that will grow and evolve over time.

At the dedication in September, area tribes will be invited, and McCoy is asking a Native American shaman to provide a traditional blessing to the newly opened facility.

As he provided a tour of the building to this reporter, McCoy talked about the history of the structure and what needs to be done before it can be made ready for visitors.

"This building is a 1942 barracks from Minter Field," McCoy said. "It was moved here in the 1950s when this was still the Kern County Fairgrounds."

Cleaning it out was a major task.

"It was full of a lot of stuff that we don't need. It was full of a lot of junk," he said. "In the museum business, junk is your enemy."

Eddie Valdez, maintenance manager at the museum, said the room was built in an open-beam construction, open to the roof. After it was cleaned out, drywall was installed and painted to give the space a clean, inviting appearance.

Recessed lighting was installed and custom cabinets were built to hold part of the museum's extensive collection of Native American artifacts. Flooring was added.

On Thursday, carpenters were there working on a gateway of sorts that will eventually welcome visitors to the museum's newest endeavor.

The original plan was to open in 2022, according to the museum's newsletter. But the project experienced construction slowdowns due to materials shortages and labor constraints, McCoy said.

Often, funding is one of the biggest challenges for any new project, McCoy said. But this project was different.

"I didn't have to ask them for money. They called me," McCoy said of several significant donors to the project.

Major financial assistance came from the William and Florence Wheeler Foundation, the Trichell Family Foundation, the Virginia and Alfred Harrell Foundation, the estate of Bill and Claire Hanson (the Lessenger and Soland families), and Google Corp., McCoy said.

Part of the building, adjacent to the Native American Education Center, will be used for new office space developed for the Kern County Historical Society.

"After 40 years, the historical society is back at the museum," McCoy said. "They left in '82."

"There's a reason they're in there," he said. "Because they're the tour guides and the research associates for the education center."

The importance of this project for the people of Kern County cannot be overstated, he said.

"The closest one that is similar to this is in Santa Rosa, Calif.," McCoy said.

There's another in Lake County and two more in San Diego County.

"But those are 200 to 300 miles away," he said.

Educational programs, not just for children but for adults, are coming, McCoy said, including hands-on Native American art and possibly language classes and some day, education conferences could be held at the center.

"That's the dream, to actually have a conference here," McCoy said.

"The tag line for this center is gather, learn, remember — and to remember is really important, McCoy said. "Not far from where we're standing, at the Garces Circle, a thousand people lived there in 1800. There was a little village where a thousand people lived."

"Eighty percent of that population died out between 1840 and 1900, eight out of 10 Indians were dead," McCoy said. "Devastated by massacres and disease.

"In fact, at one point one of the first governors of California put a bounty on California Indians. If you killed a man, woman or child, you'd get paid a dollar amount.

"That's where we were at," he said. "That's why it's important to remember."

Steven Mayer can be reached at 661-395-7353. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @semayerTBC.