In a room with about twice as many people as available seats, presenter Mati Waiya spoke about the history of his culture, as well as insisting that the next generation needs to take care of the environment.

Students gathered together on Multicultural Day to watch and take part in an in-depth presentation on the Chumash culture and traditions.

“They used to skin our face and make a picture frame out of it,” Waiya said, reflecting upon the ways Native Americans have historically been treated.

That’s not to say that such concepts don’t have echoes today.

Waiya went on to speak specifically about a new set of condos built by the PCH, in which developers built over Native American graveyards and worded the contracts in a way that declared that they weren’t required to stop building if they encountered a burial ground.

“We’ve had to re-identify ourselves,” he said.

Though Native American culture has been all but annihilated by the conquest of modern America, he still stressed the importance of his cultural rituals. Waiya spoke of the significance of the four primary compass directions and the various animals they signify, and sang songs using a drum, in which the audience participated.