The central image is of hands holding a cogstone, which are only found in two places in the entire world: Bolsa Chica wetlands and South America. While scientists have not fully come to any conclusions of their usage or meaning, to our people they are sacred objects, often associated with celestial bodies and burials. Beneath the cogstone is an abalone shell, of which we used for medicine, for ornamentation, for regalia and sacred adornment. Within that abalone is the outline of the coast of our tribal lands; like a topographic map within the shell, our main village sites are marked as stars as well. The figures on either side represent our sacred medicine people. They are adorned with traditional facial tattoo and owl feathers. Behind them are abalone fish hooks and olivella shell beads, which we used for ornamentation and currency. Near the top are soapstone beads, to represent our ancestors from Pimu (Catalina) and San Nicholas islands. Our village site, where the event will be held, Chowingna (San Pedro) is represented on the back of a cormorant bird, which we used in regalia. The overlay design was pulled from the inlay on our tiát Mooomatahiko, whose name means “breathe of the ocean”. Along the top of the design are bundles of juncus textiles, with which we traditionally weave our baskets.
