Founders Oak, brought back to life

Source term: bullroarer

A year after wildfire drove them from their homes, the people of Pacific Palisades gathered on 11 January 2026 in the circular clearing among the oaks of Founders Oak Island, where their town had been founded in January 1922, to rededicate the birthplace of a community "now in the process of being reborn anew." The president of the historical society saluted the founders of three eras, beginning with the Indigenous peoples who first settled the land thousands of years ago. Then Alan Salazar, a storyteller in the tradition of the Tongva, Chumash and Tataviam, swung a bullroarer high above his head, invited everyone into an ancient offering of sage and tobacco, and called on the symbolism of spring: "to bring back to life — that's what we're here for today."

Salazar swung a bullroarer high above his head, invited all to participate in an ancient offering of sage and tobacco plants, and invoked the symbolism of spring.

Patrick Healy, Pacific Palisades Historical Society Newsletter, Winter 2026, p. 2

Particulars

Object

A bullroarer swung high overhead; form and material unrecorded.

Function

Swung to open the rededication of Founders Oak Island after the 2025 wildfire, with an offering of sage and tobacco, "to bring back to life".