Chief White Eagle - Agoura Hills, California

Chief White Eagle - Agoura Hills, California

Some people have dreams that just HAVE to be realized.  That seems to be the case of the creation of Chief White Eagle.  Standing on a hill overlooking Agoura this 14 foot tall figure of an American Indian dressed as he would have been if he lived in the Plains states for over 64 years is the creation of the artist, De Strelecki.

De Strelecki, a Polish nobleman, wanted to create something of beauty to pay tribute to the Native Americans who first inhabited the Santa Monica Mountains.  The thought was wonderful, the artwork interesting, but it doesn’t at all look like the Chumash Indians who hunted and gathered seeds in this local coastal mountains region for years.  It is more like the Plains Indians even though it was said to be modeled after a Seminole Indian from the East Coast.

The Indians of the coastal region were lightly clad but not Chief White Eagle!  He is adorned in a heavy robe and flowing feathered headdress.

This 13 ton concrete piece of art sits on top of Mt. Estrella in the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking US 101.

It is believed that De Strelecki had heard ob a resort near this location named Seminole Hot Springs and from that determined that the Indians from the area were most likely Seminole so that’s what he built.  The concrete was applied over a chicken wire form wrapped around discarded iron bedsprings and old automobile axles.  The statue faces east with its right arm raised in a greeting to visitors. 

While the cement was still wet Jay Silverheels (Tonto), a Mohawk, and Iron Eyes Cody (the Indian who had tears streaming down his face in the don’t pollute commercials), visited Mt. Estrella and placed their handprints in wet cement during the construction.  When the statue was unveiled there were more than 30 Indians from several tribes in the crowd on May 5, 1940.  The Chumash (natives of the area) politely kept their surprise of the Plains Indian to themselves knowing that the intent was to honor them, just the tribe was wrong.

The statue still stands over the city even though there have been problems with the land owners since the land has been sold numerous times, but now the state preservation plan worked out in 1990 keeps the statue safe.  Stop by and look, you will be impressed with the dedication and devotion of this artist and his rendition of what he believed was an honor the Native American Indians of the area.

 

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