Loewe provides an insightful analysis of a contest over control of land on his institution’s campus. Owned by the State of California, the land in question is considered common ‘green space’ for students and community members, as well as an iconic feature of the campus. More importantly, a number of Indigenous communities in southern California define the 22-acre expanse as sacred. Puvungna, as they know it, is a burial site and the birthplace of culture hero Chinigchinich. Several Native communities continue to conduct ceremonies there. The sanctity of the space was threatened during the early 1990s when the university moved to allow the commercial development of the site. Eight chapters divided into three parts effectively provide historical and cultural contexts for understanding Puvungna as a sacred site; detail the six-year political, legal, and academic struggle during the 1990s; and offer broader reflections on contests over sacred lands and how to marshal effective political action. Based primarily on archival sources and oral histories, this excellent and substantive work could not be timelier, given ongoing controversies over Native land and resource rights. It also broadens perspectives found in the literature on repatriation and sacred lands….Summing Up: Highly recommended. General and academic collections.
