Our School
Who was Ascencion Solorsano?
IN THE GARDENS OF POPELOUTCHOM Margo Angel Man
1854 - 1930
Margo Angel Man is a Native American whose ancestors were the Westerners of this article. She has access to personal testimonials as well as the documentary evidence available at the Smithsonian Institution.
IN THE GARDENS OF POPELOUTCHOM ; Margo Angel Man Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 13-18, May 1978...
The Westerners were the Mutsun who inhabited the area from Gilroy to San Juan Bautista. Mutsun is a name of one sub-group of the indigenous Ohlone people of California, as well as the name of the language they spoke.(also known as San Juan Bautista Costanoan)
THEIR garden of this world was called Popeloutchom. It was a place of beauty and constant delight where work was unnecessary, the air clean, the water clear, and the earth naturally fruitful. The people of Popeloutchom were gentle, as the breezes that caressed them each evening. They believed their garden to be the most beautiful place in the world. And because of this they had no desire to travel far to look upon lesser lands created by the gods for lesser men.
In the English translation from their own language—a language long since lost— they called themselves "The Westerners" because they were the westernmost group of several distantly-related Indian tribes. But over the years they had lost contact with their eastern cousins who had, like snow before the summer sun, gradually melted away. But the gods had seen fit to preserve and sustain the Westerners in their lovely gardens of Popeloutchom.
The Westerners were an ingenuous people who knew neither treachery nor deceit. They welcomed strangers who stumbled upon their villages. The strangers were treated as honored guests who might convey the legends and the wisdom of distant places.
And so the Westerners welcomed the first white men who "discovered" their gardens. But unlike the earlier sojourners in this land, the white visitors had come to stay. They brought swords and guns and Bibles and plows and horses and built dwellings and missions. They also brought their deadly irresistible trinity—cholera, small pox and measles. The Westerners died in bunches. Those who lived were taught the virtues of work and contrition. They were even given a new name by the white men. They were now called the San Juans.
And so the Westerners welcomed the first white men who "discovered" their gardens. But unlike the earlier sojourners in this land, the white visitors had come to stay. They brought swords and guns and Bibles and plows and horses and built dwellings and missions. They also brought their deadly irresistible trinity—cholera, small pox and measles. The Westerners died in bunches. Those who lived were taught the virtues of work and contrition. They were even given a new name by the white men. They were now called the San Juans.
In the twentieth century, when historians and ethnologists sought to record the saga of the Westerners, they found that those people were no more. Some time around 1850, it was concluded, the last member of that kindly and tolerant race had passed away. Like any unprotected endangered species, they were now extinct.
It came, then, as a momentous and pleasant surprise when word was relayed to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., that the Westerners were not all gone. There remained a single surviving full-blooded member of the tribe. She wished now to share the full story of the Westerners. And so it was that John Harrington, leading ethnologist of the Institution, rushed to California in order to transcribe the final testament of this relic of another age, this Last Westerner.
Last Member Gives History
Her name was Ascencion Solorsano and for as long as anyone could remember she had resided in Gilroy. There she was known, because of her mystical curative powers, as a great and generous doctora. For several years the remaining Indians of northern California had known of the powerful doctora whom the Great Spirit had placed in their midst. Her wisdom was the accumulation from several generations of Westerners.
Each year hundreds of sick and lame Indians made the journey to her home. They lined up in the doorway and camped at night in the yard. Inside, the doctora listened carefully to their tales of physical woe. Then she mixed tonics and ointments from local roots and herbs and gave them to the suffering. It was rumored that the doctora’s remedies were always successful. She restored the health of anyone who sought her aid. Those who could pay gave what they could afford. But most could afford no money and paid simply with praises and prayer.
For many years the doctora tirelessly carried on her practice. Then, early one fall, a light evening breeze whispered a troubling message to her. For all of her life Ascencion had read such portents and signs in the wind and rain and the songs of birds, and she was as certain of this message as she had ever been. It said that she would die in three days. Now the things that remained to be done had to be done quickly.
Ascencion took out the black silk dress shehad sewn in which to meet death. She bade farewell to her friends in Gilroy and traveled quickly to the home of her daughter (a half-Indian), in Monterey. In her daughter’s tiny two room frame house she would wait for death. A bed was set up in the living room and several pillows were placed on it so that Ascencion might sit up. Neighbors and friends were summoned. Ascencion wished to share with them all the stories and the wisdom of the Westerners. It would be the final gift of the lost tribe to the children of the despoilers of the garden of Popeloutchom.
The gods of the Westerners maintained their compassion. And so, as Ascencion began to talk her strength was restored and death was postponed. When Harrington arrived from Washington, Ascencion looked at him in silence for a long time. Then she pronounced her evaluation of the enthusiastic scholar. "You are a vehicle of God," she said, "that comes to see me in the eleventh hour to save my knowledge from being lost. I will teach you up to the last day I can and see if I can tell you all that I know." And this is what she told him.
"I have lived for 83 years. My mother, Barbara Sierra, lived for 84 years. And my father, Miguel Solorsano,lived for 82 years. One week afterthe death of Barbara Sierra my fatherdied of grief at the loss of his lifelongcompanion." Ascencion, an only child, learned the legends and language of the Westerners from her parents. But with their deaths, the dialogue in the native tongue was relegated forever to the world of the spirits.
The Westerners traced themselves back hundreds of generations to a time when men had descended from the gods and had been placed in Popeloutchom. This was followed by a great flood that caused the ocean waters to rise to the top of the Gabilan Mountains. Following the flood, the founder of the tribe taught his children how to live on the earth, how to heal sickness, prepare food, build homes and to assuage the gods. The father/teacher had then departed to the world of the after life in the west, beyond the sunset. There, after death, each Westerner would in his turn be welcomed by the father/teacher. After death, however, they might still visit their children and friends in this world in dreams.
Among the Westerners, Ascencion said, age was respected and venerated. Itwas not, as among the white men,
considered simply a purgatory prior todeath. With age, the Westerners knew, came wisdom and magical power. Agedwomen, it was believed, had the power to control the growth of plants. Death was not feared by the Westerner. When death came, relatives of the deceased covered themselves with ashes and mourned openly. Some even removed themselves from the others of the tribe for several days and fasted and chanted songs of death.
Nature Provides Tribe’s Needs
In the garden of this world, Ascencion said, "nature provided such abundance of food that the Westerners always had an oversupply of wild fruits, greens and seeds." Consequently, they did notpractice agriculture and never cultivated the land. And except for the simple process of gathering food each day, work was unknown to the Westerners. They lived only for pleasure and play and there was no worry or care for tomorrow.
The men and boys of the Westerners wore no clothing. And the women wore only a simple brief buckskin skirt. Yet, Ascencion insisted, they did not burn in the summer nor did they catch cold even in the most severe winter.
The secret of their health, Ascencion believed, was the daily immersion in cold water. In the morning, as soon as they had arisen from their sleep, each member of the tribe walked to the nearest river or stream.Even the smallest infants were borne along.Then each Westerner jumped into the water and totally immersed himself. The practice was followed every day of the year, no matter what the weather. When they left the water the Westerners returned to their dwelling for the morning meal.
Fifty years before the birth of Ascension, the white men had come to Popeloutchom. They examined the countryside and named the land San Benito. They built a mission and named it, ironically, after a white man who paid great deference to immersion in water— John the Baptist. The mission they called San Juan Bautista. And the inhabitants of the 23 villages in the area of the mission were called, simply, San Juans.
Earthquakes No Deterrent
Not long after the white men had arrived, the spirits had shown their great displeasure with the immigrants. The gods stamped their feet upon the earth, causing buildings to fall and great cracks to open in the ground. The white men were terrified, but they remained. They lived outside their mission for several days and nervously questioned the Westerners about the shaking of the earth. And they remained.
The basic food of the Westerners was a mush consisting of acorn kernels that had been pounded and then bleached with water to remove the bitterness, then boiled along with meat, fish or greens. Following a short breakfast, the Westerners began their daily activities. The gathering of food and fuel—the most important activities—were considered an adventure and were carried out in both a communal and a leisurely fashion.
The men were charged with providing meat, skins and fish for the village. Women were responsible for gathering plants and vegetables and fuel. The men hunted in small groups, leaving the camp each morning and then returning late in the day. They roamed the hillsides and the low places of Popeloutchom in search of game, particularly deer. They were informal during the hunt, making it something of a sport. When other local hunting bands were spotted, the groups would stop to talk and exchange stories. If game had already been taken, part of it was cooked and eaten by both groups. Athletic competition—running, wrestling and archery—was also popular at these informal meetings.
The hunters, through centuries of observation, had learned the habits of their prey, Ascencion recalled. Thus, they could cover themselves with deerskin, walk on all fours like a deer, and approach their prey very closely. A small bird in flight could be hit by most of the men with a single arrow. In the rivers of Popeloutchom, the men clubbed fish or trapped them in shallows and shot them with arrows. Sometimes, when hunting parties traveled to the ocean, they took sea otters, seals and sea lions. And occasionally the hunting parties came upon a small whale that had washed ashore—food for several weeks for a single village.
While the men hunted, the women gathered acorns, roots, nuts, greens, fruits and other foods. In the quest for these, Ascencionrecalled, they mixed talking, laughter and singing. Like the men, they went about their unstrenuous task in small groups. Firewood collection meant greater effort and travel, so there was seldom more than a single day’s supply in any village—even when heavy rain clouds threatened. The women also provided water for each household of the village. This they carried from the streams in basket jugs, woven by hand. The jugs were made from the roots of "cut grass." When filled with water they swelled and did not leak, not one drop, Ascencion insisted.
The men and women of the Westerners mastered various crafts and passed the pride of workmanship on to each succeeding generation. The men hand crafted beautiful and powerful bows, reinforced with layers of sinew. They were accomplished archers and could string and fire with surprising swiftness. Their arrows, guided in flight by eagle feathers, passed easily through the body of bear or deer.
The women were the weavers of baskets. They sat in a large circle out of doors and wove baskets while they talked and sang. Each woman gave her baskets a distinct design which was to reflect her creative spirit. The patterns were neither repeated nor copied. At a woman’s death her baskets were burned or given away to strangers.
For both sociability and protection, the Westerners lived in small villages. Each home looked like a beehive. They were formed by driving willow poles into the ground in a circle and then bending the tops together and tying them. Horizontal poles were then laced through the verticals and deer grass was applied as a cover. A few small holes were left as windows. The door was small and low and faced away from the prevalent wind. The earth was the floor. Sleeping mats were woven from bullrushes. And robes from bear and deer hides served as blankets.
Popeloutchom’s History Recorded
Harrington listened and wrote. He was surprised at the comprehensiveness and vividness of Ascencion’s memories. He noticed that her illness seemed to have enhanced her memory and even interjected an other-worldly spiritualism into her narrative. After several weeks Harrington was only one of several dozen witnesses to Ascencion’s story. Chairs were set up facing the bed in small even rows and listeners came daily to sit silently for hours while the last Westerner sang and chanted and whispered the old tales again.
And as she told of the world that was no more and would not be again, she drew on untapped reserves of strength. Through October, November and December she talked and Harrington wrote. The audience increased as word of the wise woman spread. Now, manywhom she had cured, traveled a great distance to pay their last respects by listening.
And as she told of the world that was no more and would not be again, she drew on untapped reserves of strength. Through October, November and December she talked and Harrington wrote. The audience increased as word of the wise woman spread. Now, many whom she had cured, traveled a great distance to pay their last respects by listening.
But in January her strength began to slip away rapidly. As the end neared, she began seeing and hearing spirits of the Westerners in the room. She would point to someone sitting nearby and call out, "The spirit of Miguel is sitting beside you!"
Finally, she heard the spirits tapping at the door beckoning to her. She closed her eyes and began picking imaginary flowers from the bed. Then, without any struggle, she stopped breathing. Quietly, peacefully, she was united with the others of her tribe. It was January, 1930, when the last Westerner, Ascencion Solorsano, left the ruins of the garden of Popeloutchom.
Ascencion Solorsano was buried at Mission San Juan Bautista.
ASMS strives to create a safe, positive, and inclusive environment where all are given opportunities
to be successful lifelong learners and to become the best version of themselves.
Mission
We create a safe, positive, and inclusive environment by:
- Cultivating self-advocacy and individual student voice – understanding that words have power.
- Prioritizing Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and mental health.
- Connecting relevant and practical education – education that connects to our world.
- Incorporating diverse modalities that reach multiple intelligences.
- Cultivating respectful relationships – being kind to one another and accepting differences.
- Showing Eagle Pride and taking accountability for our school community.
- Fostering critical and independent thinking.
- PBIS
- Check 'N Connect
- Check 'N Connect Restorative Justice
- Restorative Justice Questions
- School-Wide Expectations
- School Wide Positive Reinforcement System
PBIS
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a proactive approach to establishing the behavioral supports and social culture needed for all students in a school to achieve social, emotional and academic success. Attention is focused on creating, teaching, and sustaining primary (school-wide), secondary (classroom), and tertiary (individual) systems of support that improve lifestyle results (personal, health, social, family, work, recreation) for all youth by making targeted misbehavior less effective, efficient, and relevant, and desired behavior more effective, efficient, and relevant.
Why is it so important to focus on teaching positive social behaviors?
In the past, school-wide discipline has focused mainly on reacting to specific student misbehavior by implementing punishment-based strategies including reprimands, loss of privileges, office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions. Research has shown that the implementation of punishment, especially when it is used inconsistently and in the absence of other positive strategies, is ineffective. Introducing, modeling, and reinforcing positive social behavior is an important step of a student’s educational experience. Teaching behavioral expectations and rewarding students for following them is a much more positive approach than waiting for misbehavior to occur before responding. The purpose of school-wide PBIS is to establish a climate in which appropriate behavior is the norm. The goal is to teach behavioral expectations in the same manner as any core curriculum subject.
PBIS is the infrastructure that supports our efforts at Solorsano Middle School to build a positive school community and culture. The three underlining themes are:
- Be safe
- Be responsible
- Be respectful
- Be kind
Our PBIS infrastructure is further supported by:
- Olweus, bullying prevention program
- Character Counts!
- Restorative justice practices
- Restore! Life Skills Program – Carry the Vision
- Classroom practices
The premise of PBIS is that continual teaching, combined with acknowledgement or feedback of positive student behavior will reduce unnecessary discipline and promote a climate of greater productivity, safety and learning.
Check 'N Connect
The CN’C Program is a school-wide, check-in, check-out prevention program for students who are starting to engage in problem behavior. The goal of the program is to prevent students who are acting out from escalation and provide them with more frequent feedback on their behavior to prevent future problem behavior.
Frequently asked questions about the CN’C Program
Q: Which students do well on the CN’C Program?
A: Students can be nominated three different ways: teacher referral, parent referral, and/or based on discipline referral data. The CN’C program is effective for a variety of students with a variety of needs. We do not nominate students because they are “bad kids”, we offer the program to help the students who need a little extra support. The students nominated are those starting to act out but ARE NOT currently engaging in dangerous (e.g., extreme aggression, property destruction) or severely disruptive behavior (e.g., extreme noncompliance/defiance). Students who have problem behavior across the day and in different settings are good candidates for the program vs. students who have trouble only at lunch or during math.
Q: How do teachers participate in the CN’C Program?
A: Teachers participate by providing both verbal and written feedback to students at pre-determined times throughout the day. The feedback is quick and instructional.
Q: Who is responsible for checking students in and out?
A: A dedicated staff person(s) is in charge of checking students in and out on a daily basis.
Q: How do students get selected for CN’C?
A: A request for assistance is made to the CN’C team, which meets weekly. In collaboration with teachers, the team will determine whether the CN’C Program is appropriate or whether another intervention would be more appropriate.
Q: What is the family’s role?
A: A report goes home daily with the CN’C student. The student is encouraged to show the report to parents and get a signature to return to school during the next day check-in. Families are encouraged to acknowledge and provide small incentives for their child’s efforts and successes and to refrain from punishment when their child temporarily slips up. A weekly check in with the child’s teacher is highly encouraged.
Q: How long are students on the CN’C Program?
A: At the end of every quarter the CN’C Team looks at each student’s data to determine if he or she is ready to be faded off the CN’C Program. Because a limited number of students (up to 15) can receive the intervention, it will be important to fade students off as they become more independent in managing their own behavior.
Q: How is student progress monitored?
A: A designated staff person keeps track of the daily points earned and charts the progress for each student. The CN’C data entry person will enter two data points per day per student in CN’C that includes (1) the percent of possible points earned daily and, (2) a cumulative graph for meeting the daily goal. On a weekly basis, the CICO team reviews the data to determine if the program should stay the same, be adjusted, or be terminated.
Q: What do students do with their earned points?
A: As part of the check-ins, students evaluate their behavior by scoring points on their CN’C daily record. Points are totaled at check out time and deposited in the students CN’C account. Points are not taken away because of problem situations. Points earned are saved until the student wants to trade them. Pre-determined spending times are set with the student to trade points for activities, prizes, free time, and other special things at the school.
Check 'N Connect Restorative Justice
Restoring and Building Relationships
The core of restorative practices rests with the belief that people will make positive changes when those in positions of authority do things with them rather than to them or for them. It puts the repairing harm done to relationships and people over and above the need for assigning blame and dispensing punishment.
“What’s fundamental about restorative justice (practices) is a shift away from thinking about laws being broken, who broke the law, and how we punish the people who broke the laws. There’s a shift to: there was harm caused, or there’s disagreement or dispute, there’s conflict, and how do we repair the harm, address the conflict, meet the needs, so that relationships and community can be repaired and restored.
It’s a different orientation. It’s a shift.”
— Cheryl Graves, Community Justice for Youth Institute
Restorative practices restores and builds relationships.
Restorative Practices: A Brief Explanation
Now a common practice in many schools across the nation and world, restorative practices promote building respectful relationships as the foundation for teaching and learning while providing meaningful opportunities for students to develop self-discipline and positive behaviors in a caring, supportive environment. It views conflict primarily through the lens of the harm caused to people and relationships, and emphasizes the priority to meet the needs of those affected by this harm.
A restorative approach sees conflict or misbehavior as an opportunity for students to learn about the consequences of their actions, to develop empathy for others, and experience how to make amends in such a way as to strengthen the community bonds that may have been damaged.
The Five Applications of Restorative Practices
- Affective Statements: Brief comments about how others were impacted by the person's behavior.
- Affective Questions: One-step further, asking the wrongdoer questions like who was affected, how they were affected, etc.
- Small Impromptu Conferences: Bring together a few people to talk about the incident, its impact and what to do next.
- The Large Group or Circle: Allows everyone to have some say in what should happen as a result of the wrongdoing.
- The Formal Conference: Involves more planning and preparation and tends to be more structured and complete.
Aim of Restorative Practices
- To promote the physical, psychological, emotional and social well-being of students.
- To teach children self-discipline and an understanding of the consequences of their behavior.
- To encourage respect, healing, and restoration both for those who were harmed, and for those who caused the harm.
- To educate students towards self-directed, cooperative and respectful behavior.
- To promote, nurture and protect healthy relationships among members of the community.
- To enable students to build personal responsibility by developing skills of reflection and empathy.
- To guide teachers in their responses to student behavior.
- To inform students and parents about expectations of student behavior.
Principles that Reflect the Values and Concepts for Implementing Restorative Practices
- Relationships are central to building community.
- Builds systems that address misbehavior and harm in a way that strengthens relationships.
- Focuses on the harm done rather than only on rule breaking.
- Gives voice to the person harmed.
- Engages in collaborative problem-solving.
- Empowers change and growth.
- Enhances responsibility.
Benefits of Restorative Approaches in the School Setting
- A safer, more caring environment.
- A more effective teaching and learning environment.
- A greater commitment by everyone to taking the time to listen to one another.
- A reduction in bullying and other interpersonal conflicts.
- A greater awareness of the importance of connectedness to young people. The need to being and feel valued by peers and significant adults.
- Greater emphasis on responses to inappropriate behavior that seek to reconnect and not further disconnect young people.
- Reductions in fixed term and permanent suspensions and expulsions.
- A greater confidence in the staff to deal with challenging situations.
- An increased belief in the ability of young people to take responsibility for their choices and more people giving them opportunities to do so.
Restorative Justice Questions
Right the Wrong
Take a few minutes to answer the following questions. Be honest. It is time you take responsibility for your words/actions and figure out what you need to do to “right the wrong” to become a respected member of your classroom community.
- Explain what happened – include names, locations, and time.
- What were you thinking about or what were you looking for when you chose to act the way you did?
- What was the harm?
- Who do you think was harmed or affected?
- How were they affected?
- How do you feel about what happened? What about this has been hardest on you?
- What do you need to do to make things as right as possible to “Right this Wrong”? What would you like to offer/do and to whom?
- What have you learned from this incident - how can you use what you’ve in the future?
Follow-up
How are you doing now in relation to the event and its consequences? What have you thought since the incident?
School-Wide Expectations
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Safety Expectations |
Responsibility Expectations |
Respect Expectations |
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Classroom |
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Computer Labs/Media Center/Library |
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Gym |
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Assemblies/ Special Events |
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MPR/Outside quad eating area
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Walkways |
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Office |
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Restrooms |
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Locker Rooms |
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Dismissal |
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Bus Area |
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After School Program |
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To/From School |
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Home |
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School Wide Positive Reinforcement System
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Frequency of Reinforcement |
What is Reinforced |
When is Reinforced |
Where is Reinforced |
Who is Reinforcing |
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Immediate/High Frequency |
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Appropriate behavior such as picking up and throwing away garbage, being helpful, on task behavior, completing lessons, good attendance |
Immediately: with raffle, praise, peer recognition |
Throughout Campus Classrooms |
Administration, Teachers, Office Staff, Campus Supervisors, Custodians, Para Educators, Kitchen Staff School Community |
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Intermediate/Unpredictable |
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Large number of students displaying appropriate behavior such as cleaning the campus or good behavior in computer lab, low tardy percentage, low number of referrals, high achievement on assignments/quizzes/tests |
Weekly, Monthly |
Throughout Campus Classrooms |
Administration, Teachers, Office Staff, Campus Supervisors, Custodians, Para Educators, Kitchen Staff School Community |
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Long-Term School-Wide Celebrations |
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Specific, exemplary or improved behaviors |
3-4 times a year |
Throughout Campus Classrooms |
Administration, Teachers, Office Staff, Campus Supervisors, Custodians, Para Educators, Kitchen Staff School Community |
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Teacher/Staff Recognition |
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Positive attitude, personal growth, great customer service, student success, positive role model, exemplary professional service |
Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly |
Throughout Campus Newsletters Web Site Staff Meetings |
Administration, Teachers, Office Staff, Campus Supervisors, Custodians, Para Educators, Kitchen Staff School Community |