The annual Soboba Fiesta welcomed hundreds of guests to enjoy an entire day filled with birdsinging, cultural demonstrations, contests and more at the Soboba Sports Complex, May 16.
Soboba’s Cultural Resource Department revitalized the Fiesta in 2008 after a long hiatus. Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Joseph Ontiveros said the event gets bigger every year. The Fiesta Committee began planning for this year’s event in November. Members Harold Arres, Steven Lopez, Joseph Ontiveros, Renee Rhodes, Andy Silvas, Annalisa Tucker, and Jessica Valdez worked in collaboration to make sure everything was ready to greet visitors from all over.
The $ovóova Po’$wáamay (Daughter of Soboba) committee is overseeing three candidates vying for this year’s title. They are Se’ish Morillo, So’a Nelson, and Raya Salgado. Carrie Garcia, one of the board members, said the current program was formed a few years ago and the group spent a couple of years figuring out exactly what they wanted to do. Soboba used to host a Fiesta Maiden Contest but that ended in 1970.
“We wanted to bring back our cultural traditions and be able to represent our Tribe and people in a more positive manner, so we created this program and we’ve been taking the girls out to do things,” Garcia said. On May 30 the girls will join committee members in the mountains to teach them how to identify plants and talk about their uses. They also plan to pick soaproot bulbs from which they will learn how to make soaproot brushes that are used in the making of wewish, a traditional staple made from acorns.
The current $ovóova Po’$wáamay, Su’la Arviso, is looking forward to helping guide these young women through various activities leading up to the crowning ceremony in October. She introduced each one to say a few words.
“I would like to be the 2026-2027 Daughter of Soboba because I want to represent Soboba with pride, strength, and authenticity,” Se’ish said.
So’a said she grew up around the culture and it’s important to her to pass it down to the next generation. Raya, who competed against Su’la last year, said she really wants to give back to her community.
The Soboba Elders hosted bingo games inside the gymnasium and graciously supplied all the baked goods available for kids to win during the cakewalk. A horseshoe tournament, one-pitch softball games, a three-legged race, tug of war, and a watermelon-eating contest were spread throughout the day. Peon games began at dusk and continued into the night. Birdsingers and dancers from all over were invited to the microphones at the center of the handmade ramada arena to share their songs.
Students from the Soboba Tribal Preschool and kindergarten sang three songs in Luiseño, each introduced by teacher Julissa Garcia who thanked Soboba Tribal Council Secretary Monica Herrera and Chámmakilawish Pechanga School Principal Andrew Masiel for sharing their knowledge with the teachers so the songs could be taught to the children.
After a song about working together to clean up, they sang “noyo nopush nonaq” which translates to “my head, my eyes, my ears.” “Our third and final song we call ‘Hethi Nakki’ or ‘open shut’ where students sing while following along with their hands,” Garcia said.
The annual salsa and tortilla contests were popular again this year with tasters voting on 11 unique salsas and seven tortilla entries. Cultural Resource Specialist Jessica Valdez was helping at the booth and said there were no restrictions as to what type of salsa the contestants could enter. New this year was the awarding of trophies as well as $250 to the winners in each category. Ruby Arrietta received the most votes for her salsa and Rose Vera was the top vote getter for her fresh tortillas.
Darius Cabudol chose a salsa he said had a lot of flavor but wasn’t too hot while Ashwet Arellano, 6, liked one that was more saucy than chunky. Clyde Wilcox cast his vote for one of the spicier salsas while Deanne Wilcox cast her vote for what turned out to be the winner.
“I liked the citrus taste, and it didn’t have cilantro,” she said. She chose a tortilla that was not too thin or thick and said the one she liked best had the perfect tortilla taste. “I was looking around for some refried beans to put on it,” she said with a smile.
Several Soboba departments and partners were represented at information booths, with many offering fun freebies and some games for the youngest visitors.
