Unmasking an Indigenous History; Isla Espiritu aka "La Mascara" (The Mask) Baja, California

Growing up watching movies like The Goonies and Raiders of the Lost Ark imprinted a mark on my heart for explorative adventures and finding out hidden histories on my travels. Our boat guide was explaining in Spanish (which I am trying to learn) about this mysterious looking rock that is "supposedly" formed from the ancient volcanic activity. Looking at it, I couldn't believe that it was accidentally made, it had a vibration about it. A sort of warning to intruders as if to say "Don't start nothin' won't be nothin". 

Isla Espiritu Santo (Holy Spirit Island ) is known as "La Mascara" (The Mask), a very fitting name for the aboriginal history I learned about this place after doing a lot of extensive research. Our guide said it was the Forbidden Place. Totally reminded me of the the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark where they discovered treasure maps to these isolated Islands that had booby traps if you weren't knowledgeable of how to decode the hidden messages to get to it and seedy characters along the way who were trying to get there first before you and make sure you didn't get to it. 

Visiting this place last summer left me feeling puzzled. Sometimes a location "calls me" to explore a lot deeper from like a spiritual realm, a natural connection to my Indigenous Roots perhaps. 

The Queen Califia connection

So recently as I was going down a rabbit hole researching more about Queen Califia whom I've done a few videos on my socials about explaining how California got its name. She was a "mythical character", a Black Warrior Queen in the romance novel "Las Serjas de Esplandian"  (The Adventures of Esplandian) who they barely mentioned because she was not the focus of the story just as some background context in a story about Queen Lenora.

What I found bafflingly interesting is during that time when the book became popular, quite a few Spanish Conquistadors and European Sea Captains were commissioned in real life to find her riches. 

Now the question I asked myself was "why would they travel on the rough seas for months to find a mythical Queen and her land"? From Hernan Cortez to Magellan to Ferdinand Columbus all had copies of this book. Along with many Hidalgo's (Noblemen) searching for this Amazonian land.  Also, many at the time thought they mistakenly thought that Las California's was the Indies.  

*Sidenote; Mythical books have always been known to have truth mixed in with them. Ok, back to this present day, I have to give you some navigational background about the area to put my "thesis" into historical context. 

Protected Area

This stunning place I got to explore, Espiritu Santo is apart of the Islas del Golfo de California Flura and Fauna Protection Area along with the surrounding Sea. The only known habitat of the black jackrabbit and the antelope squirrel. 

What's fascinating about this Biosphere Reserve is, it's Northern  Espiritu is divided by a narrow straight with its neighboring Island called Partida. As you see from my pic here below, the other Island on the other side where you can literally walk for miles. I didn't go real far because I was a little taken a back by the vastness but I did do some paddle boarding along it thou. 

When the tide goes down at a certain time, it is shallow enough to wade across. It's surrounding reefs are home to Angelfish, Moorish Idols, Parrotfish, trumpet fish and rainbow wrasse. Ensenada Grande Beach was voted by Travel Magazine the most beautiful beach in Mexico and the top 12 Beach in the World. I must say, I have never seen water this clear before, it was absolutely incredible.

How to get there 

Located between La Paz and El Tecolote, Baja Surf, California, it takes about an hour (or maybe two, I wasn't looking at my watch) to get there on a boat tour ride if you're coming from La Paz like we did  (which means The Place of Peace).  A permit is required for the day to visit these protected areas. Only a small number of visitors are allowed daily due to it's strict conservation laws to preserve the natural beauty. 

When we started off the trip, the waters were pretty calm then as we got closer to this peculiar looking entrance to the Island, the water got very choppy.  Luckily my water cam that I was capturing these shots with had high quality stabilization built into it because the way that boat was as rocky as the mountainous shores we dared not to enter (along with anyone else in the last century with common sense), this shots would've been blurry.  I'll be recommending a few things you should take on this trip further down the post but let's get back to this intriguing history. 

History of it's Aboriginal Inhabitants 

  The Pericú People were believed to have come by sea to America from Melanesia  written by Anthropologist Frenchmen Quarterages De Breau.  In the 19th century various craniums were found and noted by legendary Dutch Anthropologist Herman Frederik Carrel Ten Kate visiting lower California where he said that they had very noticeable features to the resemblance to the Melanesians and to the Lagoa Santa. 

An English Privateer named Captain Woods Rodgers wrote mostly denigrating accounts about them in a book called "A cruising voyage around the world" where he said their language was harsh and unpleasant sounding like their words would choke them as they pronounced words in their throat. Different from the neighboring Natives on other Islands.  

More Historical Accounts

Another English Sea Captain, Shelvoke wrote a book called "A Voyage around the World by the way of the great South Sea" where he described the hair of the Men as thick and coarse barely touching their shoulders. "The Women's hair was much longer and covered their faces. They were of much darker complexion than any of the other Indians they saw in the area, a dark copper color". 

He also wrote he was more impressed by the moral qualities the Pericú had than the Jesuit Missionaries who had founded the first missions in the area. They weren't fond of the Pericú's Shamanistic religion with their supernatural cures and particular burial practices. The missionaries believed them to be anti-ethical to what they wanted them to practiced.  Shelvoke described them as leading carefree lives in the simplest and purest natural way, having everything in common among themselves. 

Some of the Sailors said the Pericú's made bread with black seeds and ate them by the handfuls after grinding them. The Sailors used them in their broths.  
According to Wikipedia the Pericú was known for their maritime harvesting shellfish and marine mammals. 

Territory 

The Southern edge of Cabo San Lucas to La Partido, Espiritu Santo to Cerravlo and San Jose have all been recognized as the Pericú's Territory. La Paz was also a region of there's but was disputed with a nearby Tribe who were given the land..  
They lived off the Island Coast and used the caves, rock shelters, branches and reeds to make their dwellings. 

They were the few aboriginal groups that had watercrafts along the Coastline. I could definitely picture them using their natural environment as their homes because the rocks on a close by neighboring Island were very smooth, they looked like they had once been beds and chairs. 

In Archeology excavations, Pearl Oyster fishhooks were discovered dating back 8750-8500 Cal BP. They were similar ones found in Australia and the Arabian Sea. Because of the abundance of shellfish with Pearls they were lying around casually which were collected by many Seamen. 

After colonial contact, warfare and disease, it had become an ancient burial site that had hidden treasures buried underneath them inside the cove that were taken. Also the Pericú People became culturally extinct in less than 50 years. It became a place they did prayers and offerings. Later it was baptized as Espiritu Santo by Francisco de Ortega in 1632. 

Now my conclusion with the documented historical accounts here which there is much more, I'm concluding in another blog to support the context of another Isolated Island. I'm still left with many questions about this region but with even more certainty that the documented evidence confirms the possibility that these "mythical stories" were not as made up as now believed to be. 

What you'll need to take with you on the tour: 

If you consider going and exploring for yourself, they have a few local tour boats with guides right at the harbor. These are a few things I recommend taking so that you'll be comfortable and prepared for the trip. 

• waterproof backpack
• waterproof cellphone case 
• water camera 
• water shoes
• sweater for coming back in the evening when it gets a little more chilly and windy
• BPA free water bottle (more sustainable of course)
• zinc oxide (eco-friendly) Sunscreen
• sunglasses or a hat 
• swimwear
• a cute outfit for selfies (I had no expectations of what I would be seeing, had I known I was coming to see all this stunning beauty, I would have brought a couple of whimsical mermaid like outfits to pose in). 

• Depending on whether you're going snorkeling or diving, the Tour company will have all the gear and explain everything. We also had snacks and an amazing Ceviche lunch with the best and freshest I've ever tasted. They didn't forget the hot sauce either, had about 4 different kind to choose from for us spicy folks. It was so delicious. 

My Review of the Tour

The entire tour with travel seeing and boarding some of the Islands, the snorkeling, a delicious lunch was everything and much more I could've imagined. It's not the cheapest trip but it's certainly worth it all. Also remember that these are protected lands so leaving this place better than you found it with the smallest footprint is highly recommended. We must preserve and respect what nature has given us to enjoy. 

Another interesting traveling experience is traveling along the Sea of Cortes .

If you enjoyed this blog check out the one on Queen Califia 

https://www.creativelycultured.com/2023/01/califia-black-queen-senora-of-great.html