VISTA — City and tribal leaders celebrated the opening of a new pocket park along the Vista Conservancy Trail on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, offering visitors a chance to enjoy recreational features, natural landscape, and cultural education.
The park is located on the former site of a Luiseño village, once known as Wíivay, or a Luiseño Place. The Luiseño people are the Indigenous people of what is now Southern California, who refer to themselves as the Payómkawichum, or People of the West.
Wíivay Park is located along the Vista Conservancy Trail, which starts at Brengle Terrace Park and follows along Buena Vista Creek to Wildwood Park.
During the park’s development, the city discovered cultural artifacts onsite, including milling stones used by people in the past to grind food and other materials. The San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians was heavily involved in creating the park to ensure the protection of sensitive cultural artifacts.
The park features a small loop trail, exercise stations including yoga pads, seating areas, and various markers and placards identifying native vegetation and the contributions of the Luiseño people.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday included members of the Vista City Council and the San Luis Rey Band of Mission Indians, who spoke about the park’s importance in highlighting the cultural legacy of Indigenous people who call North County their ancestral home.
In addition to the San Luis Rey, North County was historically home to six other tribes, including the La Jolla Band of Luiseño Indians, the Pala Band of Mission Indians, the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians, the Pechanga Band of Indians, and the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians.
Other attendees to the event included representatives for the Buena Vista Audubon Society, the Vista Unified School District, the Vista Chamber of Commerce, and various city departments, including the Vista Fire Department, the City Manager’s Office, and the Sheriff’s Department.
The project was partly funded by Proposition 68, the 2018 state parks and water bond.
Wíivay Park is located at 740 Paseo Buena Vista, near the intersection of East Vista Way and Townsite Drive.
