“El Camino Real” Bell Removal Ceremony

Please Join us to witness the historic removal of the last standing “El Camino Real” mission bell marker in downtown Santa Cruz and learn directly from California Indian leaders and scholars about the true history of the California Mission system.

“El Camino Real” Bell Removal Ceremony

Saturday, August 28, 2021

1:00pm @ Santa Cruz Mission Plaza

Awaswas Territories (Santa Cruz, CA)

Hosted by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band

Schedule: A public speaking event at 1:00pm followed by a 1-mile procession starting at 3:00pm to reach the bell removal ceremony location. Shuttle service will be available for those who need a lift. The bell removal ceremony will conclude at 5:00pm.

Outdoor event, open to all – MASKS REQUIRED

The day’s events will also be live-streamed at the new Remove the Bells Facebook page:

 https://facebook.com/removethebells and elsewhere TBA.

The City of Santa Cruz has unanimously resolved to remove all El Camino Real bell markers from public property, following requests by the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band—and will now become the first city in California to do so.

The Amah Mutsun are calling for the statewide removal of El Camino Real bell markers and all other monuments that attempt to glorify and celebrate the domination, dehumanization and erasure of the Indigenous people of California.

Mission bells symbolize the enslavement of Indigenous people in the California Mission system. The El Camino Real bell markers were created in the early 1900s to promote automobile tourism and visitation of the missions and to celebrate a white-washed, romanticized and distorted history.

The bell will be replaced immediately with an informational metal sign that will describe the reasons for the bell’s removal. That sign will eventually be replaced by a permanent plaque or memorial which will be developed by the Amah Mutsun in coordination with the City of Santa Cruz.

Speakers at Mission Plaza to include:

Rudy Ortega (Chair, Fernandeño Tataviam Tribe), Stan Rodriguez (Kumeyaay Ipai elder), Louise J. Miranda Ramirez (Chair, Ohlone Costanoan Esselen Nation), Valentin Lopez (Chair, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band), Santa Cruz Mayor Donna Myers, Santa Cruz Councilmember Justin Cummings, Sara Latham (UCSC Vice Chancellor), Caroline Ward (Fernandeño Tataviam), Merri Lopez Keifer (San Luis Rey Luiseño, Native American Heritage Commission), Corrina Gould (Confederated Villages of Lisjan), Martin Rizzo-Martinez (Historian, State Parks), Julisa Lopez (Amah Mutsun), Kanyon Sayers-Roods (Indian Canyon Mutsun), Bernard Gordillo Brockmann (UC Riverside), Tony Gonzales (American Indian Movement West), Shannon Rivers (Akimel O’odham), and Reyna Ramirez (UCSC Critical Mission Studies).

MC: Veronica Martinez (Amah Mutsun Tribal Band)