Permission was granted by Adelina Alba Padilla for me to tape her interview.  It is important to note that the written word can not convey the meaning, feelings, and inflection that the oral tradition conveys.  The words here were transcribed from audio tape, any errors in translation are mine alone.
-Charles P. White

Charles:
Adelina, I would like to ask you about your people, and why are you walking today?

Adelina:
We are part of the Mission Indians.  We are part of the Federally and State Recognized Indians of the Santa Ynez Indians.  Our Mission located near us is the Santa Ynez Mission.  There are many things that have happened to our People, because of the Missions.  They were enslaved, they were forced into a religion that they did not believe in.

We go in with the times now and the times now there are so many  kinds of religions, and I am a believer that we can all come together as one, because it is one Creator that created this Earth.  There is one Creator that made the Mother Earth let her breath.  We could not have done that ourselves.  The trees and the animals and all that speak to us, and the darkness that comes and lets us see what we see, and to have a heart and our spirit together as one.

My reason for being here is for my children.  I have seven children, for my grandchild, I have 37, and I 6 great grandchildren with 2 more on the way.  For them that have not yet opened there eyes and heart and hearing to see all these things... I walk for them, and for my Nation.  It is for them, and the ones that will come, and for my people that understand it, and some that don't, that they will see that we all walk as one.

It doesn't matter what religion, it doesn't matter all these faults we have in life as human beings, what matters is that we look at each other as sacred... under one Creator.

Charles:
Who is supporting you today?

Adelina:
Who is supporting me here?  Hey... the Creator!  He is supporting me here, he's the main one, and the people from the Mountains, the Earth are supporting me.  (The following names may be mispelled, I will fix these as soon as I can. -Charles) Culumba Conterdo is here and she is  our social worker from our Reservation and she is from the Pasqua Yaqui up in Arizona.  She has been working with us for quite a few years now and one of our own which is Frank Dominguez, he is here, Liz Dominguez and Rosemary Castillo she is here from those areas over there.

My Son, is going to bring some of my Grandchildren, and that made me cry when he called me yesterday that he would be here because in all the years , which has been 27 years that I have been on this road, it has been so Sacred to me, none of my Children ever joined me.  So if this becomes a reality and he walks up with his Children then I think that I have already given out the voice that his mother and his grandmother and my daughter in law might even be here and if that comes together, then that truely makes my dream come true.

My Mother requested that I wear my headband three days before she died, and dress myself as an Indian.  And she asked that I go back to our people because I was living in Los Angeles.  It was about 30 days after she died I heard that voice, guiding me back to my people.  My Children were very very angry because at the time, they could not understand it.  Now finally after 20 some years, they are kind of like... one of those old hides that finally becomes molded to your shape, like one of those wonderful capes that you wear for the rest of your life, and I will wear this cape if he comes with his Children.

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