A defiant West Covina mayor on Tuesday night, Feb. 21, refused to apologize for the cancellation of an Indigenous land acknowledgment and blessing at the city’s centennial celebration over the weekend, despite an outpouring of public demands for contrition and accountability.

Tuesday’s City Council meeting, which included close to three hours of public comment heavily critical of Mayor Rosario Diaz and Council member Tony Wu, culminated in an apology from the city manager and the council’s approval of an investigation into how Jamie Nicole Rocha of the Gabrielino-Shoshone Nation of Southern California was taken off the centennial celebration program.

Rocha was scheduled late last week to give a blessing that recognized indigenous history and tribal relationships to the land West Covina was incorporated on 100 years ago. Such acknowledgments have become increasingly common in Southern California, and are standard practice for many organizations, including L.A. County, which formally adopted the protocol November of 2022.

But what began in West Covina as an effort toward such acknowledgement devolved into a bitter squabble punctuated with moments of high emotion. The exclusion marred the centennial event for some, and left many to lament that the city lost a great opportunity to include indigenous awareness at the very beginning of the weekend celebration.

When Rocha was invited by West Covina Mayor Pro Tem Brian Tabatabai to lead the land acknowledgement and blessing, she said she felt honored to do so.

“I was so happy to do this not only an indigenous person but as a lifelong resident of West Covina,” Rocha said. “It’s so cool that I could see myself reflected in the space. And in a celebratory space because, in my perspective this is celebrating West Covina history and what’s not more West Covina history than some indigenous knowledge?”

Here at West Covina City Council where 30+ people came to speak to members in support of Gabrielino -Tongva and Kizh peoples after an alleged rejection of a land acknowledgment by some on council during centennial celebrations last week. @SGVTribune pic.twitter.com/gxcl2oIqUa

— Georgia Valdes (they/them) (@ValdesGeorgia) February 22, 2023

Following Friday’s approval from the city manager’s office, Rocha arrived early that Saturday to set up a booth to share her culture and history with her neighbors. As her 6:30 p.m. slot neared, she began standard preparation for the ceremony with cleansing sage. According to Rocha, Tabatabai joined her, but Council member Tony Wu and mayor Rosario Diaz hung back.

Unsure of the problem, Tabatabai said that he approached his colleagues, who shared with him that they had not been informed of Rocha’s participation. Tabatabai confirmed that Rocha had been approved late but via proper channels and shared the land acknowledgement template.

It read: “The city of West Covina acknowledges the Indigenous people as the original caretakers of the lands we now reside on. We Acknowledge that the City of West Covina are located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Gabrielino-Shoshone, Tongva and Kizh Nations. We not only recognize the importance of acknowledging our ancestral history of our city, but to also acknowledge that these Indigenous communities still thrive here to this very day. While the history may be painful and violent to recall, it is not only necessary but vital to acknowledge this so history will not repeat itself.”

According to Tabatabai, even though he and Rocha welcomed any necessary changes to the statement, the action was deemed “too political” and inappropriate for the event’s intention. Without approaching Rocha, Wu chose to leave the event. According to Wu, he was tired and went home.

According to Tabatabai, Diaz did speak with Rocha, but shared that she felt that Rocha’s actions were akin to her “celebrating her Sweet Sixteen at Diaz’s Quinceanera.”

“At that point, you know, you’ve already made it very clear that you are not welcoming,” said Tabatabai in an interview. “This is not inclusive and that they’re being viewed as outsiders to the community and so then, you know, it started getting emotional. At that point, that’s when Jamie — having respect for herself and respect for the tradition — said  ‘no, this is supposed to come from love.’ This is supposed to be positive at this point. It wouldn’t be that, so then she declined.

Rocha shared the story on social media and formed a “call to action” asking community members to join her during Tuesday’s City Council meeting to ask for accountability during public comment. More than 30 people submitted speaker cards, in what officials said was an unprecedented public outcry. Rocha’s supporters called for a formal apology. Others, like Jessa Calderon of the Chumash and Gabrielino-Tongva Nations of Southern California, called for resignations.

“You are racist and unethical,” said Calderon. “You have proven to be no better than Nury Martinez,”

Martinez is the former politician who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council from 2013 until her resignation in 2022, following leaked audio where she made racist remarks about Black people and Oaxacans, as well as crude remarks about Jewish people and Armenians.

Juay Roybal-Kastl, an indigenous woman and community organizer for California Native Vote Project, arrived wearing a quinceanera-like ballgown and a black handprint across her mouth — a symbol for solidarity with missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in North America.

“I don’t wear this outfit to please you, I wear this outfit in solidarity with my sister, Jamie Rocha,” she said. “How dare you disrespect her. How dare you disrespect the Gabrielino-Shoshone Nation. How dare you disrespect our people. It was uncalled for. We can never go back and redo the 100th anniversary. We can never have that date back.”

In addressing the Council, some noted controversy amongst tribes regarding who is most legitimate to the area, while others emphasized unity.

Mike Lemos, of the Kizh Nation, cautioned leaders to diligently verify the legitimacy of groups seeking land acknowledgment.

“Land acknowledgment does hurt, if you’re acknowledging the wrong people,” he said.

Before the meeting, Kizh-identifying Jeremy Gonzalez played his pan flute and burned sage outside the council chambers. For him, the division of names is a modern construct that doesn’t reflect his people.

“One thing you guys gotta understand — we have Tongva, we have Kizh we have Gabrielino,” Gonzalez said, pointed at the crowd. “This is the first time in 30 years that we’re sitting in a room together.”

Following the more than 2 hours of public comment, Diaz addressed the angry crowd.

“I was not informed of the change to the events that were to take place,” Diaz said. “Miss Rocha was offered the opportunity to say prayer for the city of West Covina. Miss Rocha declined. She was not denied her opportunity — she simply just refused.”

The crowd in the Council Chambers erupted in angry response, “You’re a liar,” shouted Rocha’s mother Eileen Rocha, who was present on Saturday.

Diaz chose to briefly recess and left the room while the rest of city council members remained in the chamber. Wu requested that the crowd allow Diaz to speak. Upon return, Diaz called for a third-party investigation into the matter by West Covina’s city attorney.

“Councilmember Wu and I are being labeled as racist. This is uncalled for and not true,” Diaz added.

Councilmember Wu thanked the crowd for speaking and educating him on indigenous culture. Wu added that he did not intend to hurt Rocha and apologized for doing so. He supported Diaz’s motion for an investigation into a “misunderstanding.”

“I am not angry with anything, I didn’t even know we had the program,” Wu said. “Our city manager never even told us we had this program or change. We texted and called — but nobody answered our phone calls. So we were very surprised. The only thing we have issue with is why we we did not know the insert was coming in.”

Councilmember Ollie Cantos said that he worked to find common ground as tensions ran high on Saturday.

“I want to learn and I want to spend time with with each of you — not just as a group but as individuals, as friends,” he said. “The fact is that in striving hard to be one West Covina we recognize that one means all. When one means all, that means that we need to recognize that everyone has their own life histories, their own stories that are indelibly tied together with one another. The fact is that all of you and all of your ancestors are forbearers of this land. I say that here publicly. I say that with love and respect.”

Councilmember Letty Lopez-Viado was not present for Saturday’s festivities but addressed the crowd on Tuesday.

“I know that if this was originally in the program plan, this wouldn’t have happened. I know West Covina is not like that. We include all, we welcome all,” she said.

Tabatabai on Tuesday night also welcomed an investigation and apologized for what he said was a lack of accountability.

“I think everyone came here tonight to hear accountability for the silencing, and we did not get that,” he said.

He added that the indigenous nations were held to a different standard, “that wasn’t the standard for any other performer” at the centennial celebration. And he said the mayor continued to “double down” without accountability.

“We’ve had an opportunity — and we had the opportunity on Saturday — we had the opportunity tonight to heal again … that can’t happen until people take accountability for the harm that they caused. “

David Carmany, West Covina’s city manager, who on Tuesday confirmed that he indeed cleared Rocha to proceed, offered a clear apology to Rocha.  He explained that as tensions rose, he sent a text to all of the council members at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday with further confirmation.

“I apologize to you privately,” he said, addressing Rocha. “Tonight I’m doing so publicly. You were on the program and should have been welcomed to speak — that did not happen. She was excluded. That is not right. I want the city’s 100th birthday to be positive. I can’t say that enough.”

Addressing the public he added, “I reached out to her and just want you to know that we want to set this right.”