A controversial, offensive street name on Santa Barbara’s Eastside is getting a name change. 

The Santa Barbara City Council voted 7-0 on Tuesday to change Indio Muerto Street to “Hutash,” which means “Earth Mother.”

“I know it is not going to make everyone happy, and I apologize for that, but this is the time to change it,” Councilman Oscar Gutierrez said. “The name flat out, bottom line, is offensive. The new name is not.”

The Barbareño Chumash Tribal Council called on the City of Santa Barbara to drop the Eastside street name, calling it “insulting, offensive and demeaning.” In Spanish, Indio Muerto means “Dead Indian.”

Salisbury Haley in 1851 gave the street its name after he found the remains of a deceased Indian while conducting a street survey. About nine signs will have to be replaced, at a cost of $15,000.

Local historian Neal Graffy, however, defended the name to the City Council.

“Despite all the rhetoric that Indio Muerto reflects a racist, hateful name, it simply is not true,” Graffy said. “It has absolutely nothing to do with all the charges that have been wrapped around it.”

Graffy said Haley found the remains of the Native American while conducting a survey. 

“The simple fact is for 169 years, Indio Muerto Street is the only monument to the burial place of an unknown Native American who died alone in the empty fields of Santa Barbara,” Graffy said. “I have done a lot of research on this street, and I am fairly certain he was buried where he was found. To rename this street is to remove his headstone and any memory of his existence.”

Graffy said if the street should ever be renamed, it should be named after the actual person who was found there.

That sentiment was not shared by some Native Americans who spoke at the meeting.

Assemblyman James Ramos, D-Highland, the first Native American in the state legislature, called on the City Council to make the change.

“Some say why does the name mean so much?” Ramos said. “It means so much because for the first time we will be able to say that the horrid past, and the atrocities and genocide inflicted on the California people, is now being addressed by a local City Council.”

Ramos said the City Council could inspire other jurisdictions to come together and make changes to offensive names in their communities. 

Fidel Rodriguez, a Native American who grew up in Santa Barbara, said the sign is offensive.

“The psychological effects of a symbol of white supremacy that represents a well-documented genocide has been socially and psychologically devastating and detrimental to people of Native American ancestry,” Rodriguez said. “Dead Indian Street is like a dehumanizing commercial broadcasting every day a direct message that says, ‘You don’t exist and don’t matter,’ right into your subconscious. And the reality is everyone is subjected to this inhumane symbol that Indians’ lives don’t matter.”

City Councilwoman Alejandra Gutierrez called the moment historic.

“Being born and raised in Santa Barbara, and being in this seat right now to be able to make this name change, is such an honor,” said Gutierrez, who also made parts of her remarks in Spanish.

Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon took a moment to acknowledge that City Hall and the land that people in Santa Barbara are on is Chumash land.

“This is long overdue,” Sneddon said. “Growing up here and living here as a young person, it is unbelievable that it has taken this long. It’s been an offensive name for a long time. I feel that this is the very least we could do to begin to address historical trauma that we are founded on.”

— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.