Summer 2024

itage and her family's history—descen- dant of the Dutra Street Esselen Community. But most of her schoolmates had no idea she was Esselen—with ances- tors buried at Carmel Mission—or that she was active in OCEN tribal affairs. After graduating fromYork, Cate went on to graduate from the University of Oregon in Eugene—the first person on the Esselen side of her family to receive a college degree.There she had the oppor- tunity to meet other young Indigenous people, though their stories were very different from her own. Most had grown up on reservations while her tribe has been dispersed, unrecognized and landless since the days of the missions. Cate became active in Native American student groups and much of her college experience centered on digging for self identity. She returned to the peninsula after graduating and acted as a tribal council member, including vice chair of the OCEN tribe. Today she is a seasoned profes- sional, an accountant with over 20 years expe- rience, working on the peninsula and living in Carmel Valley with her husband and two chil- dren.When asked what being Esselen means to her, she speaks mostly of an honor and rever- ence for her mother, the importance of respecting all living things and a veneration of nature. From her mother, she learned the recipes of her grandmother, and cooking them for her family is a obeisance to her ancestors and a way to tie her children to their history. Like her mother did with her and her brother, Cate takes her son and daughter into the Santa Lucia and Big Sur wilderness to experience the beauty and magic of their ancestral lands. She feels the weight of the responsibility of passing down her Esselen heritage, making sure her children know their history, “That this is their homeland and that there is a responsibility for this land and this history, making sure they honor those that came before them and act as good stewards of this land. I want my kids to be grateful for how far they've come in such a short time,” she shares. P AMELA T ANOUS Pamela Tanous is an elder in the Esselen Tribe of Monterey County. She grew up in Pacific Grove, attending local schools and went on to earn a number of college degrees, including one in journal- ism. Like so many Indigenous people of her generation,Tanous’ mother was not open about her Indigenous heritage, which came from her great grandmother. But Tanous was curious, a good researcher and, as she states, is “always searching for the truth in who we are and our true identity.” “To be Esselen is an honor,” she shares and, as an elder, she gives advice and helps members find answers to their own questions. She is also in the process of learning the Esselen language, furthering her connection to her ancestral roots. With the help of scholars and genealo- gists, Tanous has been able to trace her family Janette Ritter Cate’s Esselen heritage comes through her grandmother Marie Rosales (nee Torres). Her grandfather, Adolph Rosales, was from the Yavapai tribe of Arizona. Janette Ritter Cate Pamela Tanous Cari Herthel Photo: Courtesy of Janette Ritter Cate C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 4 171