November 27, 2006

Bay Tree conference rooms renamed to honor Costanoan tribes

The conference rooms on the third floor of the Bay Tree Building have been renamed in honor of Costanoan tribes.

Dennis Tibbetts, director of the American Indian Resource Center, suggested the change, which was formally inaugurated at a ceremony earlier this month.

Tibbetts said the traditional land of the Costanoan people is the same region from which the campus draws its largest contingent of students.  

The Costanoan people in the Santa Cruz region are made up of three tribes: Amah Mutsun Tribe, Esselen Nation, and the Muwekam Ohlone. Three of the rooms will be named for the tribes, with the fourth named in honor of Ascencion de Cervantes and Josefa Velasquez, the last speakers of the Mutsun language.

These are the new names, followed by the old names:

• Amah Mutsun (Ah-ma moot-soon) Conference Room, Conference Room A

• Esselen Nation Conference Room, Conference Room B

• Muwekma Ohlone (ma-wak-ma oh-lone-e) Conference Room, Conference Room C

• Conference Room D to be Cervantes and Velasquez Conference Room