It Makes a Circle
Interview with Cresensio Lopez, Descendant of the Chumash People
Cresensio Lopez was born on April 15, 1930, and grew up in Santa Barbara, where his roots were firmly planted. Because his parents spoke Spanish and English, while growing up, he assumed that he was of Mexican ancestry, but later in life he learned that he was descended from the Chumash people. He visited my students in 1998 at Vista de las Cruces in Gaviota as part of an oral history project, and he spoke about how much his Chumash heritage had come to mean to him.
“I have grandchildren now,” he told us. “It is very important to me to let them know as children who they really are. I think it’s important for all of us to know about our parents, about our grandparents, and to keep that in your heart. A lot of kids nowadays only think about tomorrow — they don’t think about yesterday. But yesterday is a part of who you are.”
One of Cresensio’s great-great-grandmothers was a lady named Scolastica, who was born in a village on the end of State Street, where the wharf now is. His childhood home was on Carrillo Street, not very far from this location. My students were curious about what life was like for him as a boy.
