Indian Rock
Students at Indian
Rock/Native Garden

Indian Rock

Restoration

Indian Rock Letter
Text and Images by David Fleischman

The following is an excerpt from Dave Fleischman’s graduate application letter where he describes his work on the Indian Rock Native Garden project:

“The impact that this class had on the direction of my work surprised me. The project, I was told, would assist the Luiseño Band in documenting their uses of California native plants and help them in restoring a native garden surrounding a sacred rock at the center of a traditional ceremonial site. At the time, the project sounded compelling and intimidating. I knew nothing about native plants and even less about Luiseño Indians.”

“After just a couple of field trips, any hesitation dissolved as I began to understand my role in the project. Using a digital camera, I documented the unfolding project at Indian Rock as students and band members ripped and tore away the non-native plants. They were preparing the ground for the planting of indigenous vegetation.”

“At the Pechanga Reservation, cultural coordinator Benjamin Masiel gave me permission to photograph a 1000-year-old oak tree sacred to the Luiseño people. The oak’s girth is so great that the 25 students and Luiseño members could not encircle it. At Torrey Pines I photographed a beautiful flowering black sage, one of the more common native plants. I was beginning to learn their names and appreciate their significance to me and their meaning for the San Luis Rey Band.”