Viva La Fiesta

It’s nice to see that at least the utopian bubble of Santa Barbara has moved beyond the rest of the country in forgiving our forefathers for their actions and how society and civilization operated in eras gone by.

The fact that the Spanish had invaded the West Coast and enslaved the indigenous population — making neophytes to do their bidding, which included building the Missions — is now in the distant past. People have moved on.

It’s beautiful to see the live, authentic recreations of the local Spanish Dons’ parties, or fiestas, celebrating their lavish lifestyles built from their slaves’ hard work. The fruits of their lands granted by the King of Spain entitled them to own even the humans on its soil. The way it is celebrated now makes it appear like it was the best of times.

My grandmother’s grandmother’s mother was a Coastanoan neophyte from the Carmel area. Father Serra and the Spanish solders relocated the Coastanoan tribe to the Carmel Mission foundry and renamed them the Carmelito tribe. As was the Spanish custom, my G7 grandmother was married at the age of 15 (the year of her Quinceanera) to my G7 grandfather, Manuel Butron, who was Father Serra’s personal bodyguard. Interestingly, she had to convert to Christianity upon dread of death before the marriage. He is buried inside the Carmel Mission Chapel to the left of the door, still standing guard. Father Serra is buried in the altar area. It’s an interesting history.

It’s great to see that the Santa Barbara area has moved on from the victim mentality and it is truly not just about the city celebrating an atrocity just to make money.