Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians
Special to Valley News
The Soboba Tribal Environmental Department hosted its annual Tribal Earth Day event that drew more than 700 guests to the Soboba Sports Complex field on April 24. Staying true to this year’s national theme of “Our Power, Our Planet,” many of the 45 vendors shared information and activities about solar energy, composting, conserving, and recycling.
Soboba Tribal Environmental Department Director Christian Aceves said that environmental work is very interdisciplinary, so he enjoyed seeing the many different aspects of environmental work come together. “For example, U.S. Forest Service demonstrating the significance of protecting biodiversity for wildlife, Grid Alternatives showcasing the importance of tribal energy sovereignty, and the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board highlighting the interconnectedness of our water resources,” he said. “Bringing all these vendors together offers attendees a comprehensive understanding of what environmental work looks like and how it is all woven together.”
Other vendors included the always popular Gil’s Critters. Gilbert Flores had a constant flow of curious kids and adults who were allowed to interact with lizards, tortoises, snakes and more. “I like to educate kids about the important role these critters play in our environment,” he said.
New to the line-up this year was Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee Truck. Aceves said many of the vendors are tribal owned and often support tribal communities by giving back a percentage of proceeds to community groups. Kona Ice agreed to give 10% of all its proceeds of the day to the Soboba Youth Council to support their upcoming summer activities.
“All our new vendors had unique information and goodies to share with our attendees,” Aceves said. “The City of Hemet was kind enough to offer a robust number of promotional items from 7-gallon recycling bins to full bags of compost. In fact, they arrived at Soboba with a truckload of compost and could give it all away before departing.”
He said everyone was pleased that the weather worked in their favor, especially those who did not bring canopies. “The vendors we invite are strategically placed regarding their booth location. This allows vendors that offer similar community services to be near each other. This can lead to cross-collaboration amongst vendors and ensure attendees are aware of the several community services available.”
Soboba’s own entities also offered great items and information for visitors. The Soboba Foundation, Tribal Council, and Tribal Administration offered high-quality trunk organizers; the Housing Department had Spring cleaning checklists available as well as a coloring activity; and the Soboba Casino Resort offered s’mores kits with instructions on how to make them by utilizing solar power. Members of the Soboba Youth Council shared the versatility of the yucca plant with samples of it in its various stages and a packet of seeds to take home. “It can take a whole generation for a yucca plant to grow so we are not planting for ourselves but for the next generation,” Youth Council Vice Chairwoman Raya Salgado explained.
Noli Indian School middle school and high school students learned about solar ovens in their respective science classes with Sabrina Smith and Jay Dagostino. Guests at the event were asked to vote for their favorite oven that was made from recycled cardboard boxes, aluminum foil, and black construction paper to conduct the heat.
Dagostino said Shrinky-Dinks were used by students and their colorful finished creations were on display alongside the “ovens” that guests could put their hand into to feel the conduction of heat from the day’s sun. He was pleased with the students’ finished products that were the result of research and a lot of trial and error.
Aceves said the winners of the solar oven contest were determined shortly after the Earth Day event. First Place, with a total of 74 votes, went to Dagostino’s chemistry class who will be awarded a pizza party; second place went to his middle school class and third place went to Smith’s eighth grade class. Both of those classes will be rewarded with an ice cream party.
“The students were all creative with their solar ovens,” Aceves said. “It was a fun way to teach them a little about solar energy, absorption, and insulation.”
STED Environmental Assistant Christine Rodriguez said her favorite part of the entire event was seeing all of her department’s hard work finally come together. “It is a good feeling when you put together a good event, and you can see that the community members are enjoying themselves. We are very fortunate to have a great team at Tribal Admin. The event would not have been what it was without the help of the Tribal Kitchen, TANF, and Parks and Rec staff!”
To bring the message of the importance of environmental issues beyond the event, STED sponsors a door decorating contest for all Soboba departments. Team members went all out for their designs this year. Winners had the option to have lunch catered or obtain a gift certificate. First place, worth $400, went to Facilities, who also won last year.
Replicating the robot housekeeper from The Jetsons cartoon show, the department showed how they could “Power Our Planet” by recycling our sunshine into energy. “Technology today has made things very easy from a flip of a switch, a turn of a handle and a push of a button. So sometimes we forget that Mother Nature has given us many natural renewable resources,” the department’s submission explained. “Our display is made of many recycled products found right here on the administration property, from boxes, construction waste, packing materials and repurposed plastics.”
Second place and a prize worth $250 was awarded to the Cultural Department whose door emphasized this year’s theme of “Our Power, Our Planet” by highlighting “Tribal Energy Sovereignty” and the ability of tribes to be able to own and manage energy on their lands, in a way that aligns with their unique needs and cultural values. The key takeaway of their design is the “utilization of indigenized energy to create a better – thriving, flourishing – future for ALL living beings (human and non-human), on a global scale. Our décor is entirely composed of repurposed, recycled, reused, and upscaled materials.”
Soboba Tribal Preschool took third place and a $150 prize this year with its representation of windmills and solar powered buildings depicting “Our school is powered by the sun, wind, and preschool/kindergarten energy.” The students’ photos were used while demonstrating all the different energy sources which the children learned about while creating their picture “frames.” The Preschool class shown on the sun provides light for Pre-K’s solar panels. The kindergarten class is using the wind to create electricity for their windmills. “Together, they work to supply electricity for our school. These efforts are a visual representation that prove that with the unity of the Soboba Cubs, there is potential to be self-sufficient within the tribal community using the power of our Earth itself.”
Aceves said his department got plenty of good feedback this year. “Attendees loved the food, shirts, and all the giveaways,” he said. “A crowd favorite this year was the performance by the Soboba Preschool students and staff.”
The children performed three songs prepared by pre-k teacher Ana Garcia: “If You’re a Windmill and You Know It,” “It is Earth Day” and an Earth Day chant that included lettered posters. Each song was met with thunderous applause from all the guests.
A lunch of grilled chicken and hamburgers fed the hungry crowd and music and announcements by DJ Mike Nevarez kept the energy level high throughout the four-hour event. There were also some exciting raffle prizes, the majority of which were donated by the gracious vendors.
“Some of our favorite prizes were a drone, Bio-One’s basket full of cleaning supplies, an annual National Parks pass, and a Smokey Bear outfit donated by the U.S. Forest Service,” Aceves said. Smokey will celebrate his 80th birthday in October.
