The Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians’ longtime leader is resigning, packing his bags, and moving to New York for culinary school—an unexpected move from Vincent Armenta.
Armenta, who held the position of tribal chairman for 17 years, announced his resignation on March 17. He will now pursue an education at the Culinary Institute of America in New York.
“I have a lot of passions,” Armenta told the Sun. “That is one of them. It was a difficult decision, and I gave it a tremendous amount of thought, but it’s something that I knew I wanted to do. So there you go. I thought the time was right.”
Armenta said he feels comfortable with the tribe’s current position and he’s confident the tribe will elect the best chairman for the job.
“All the issues the chairman and the board are faced with are crucial,” he said. “The decisions they make are important for the future of the tribe. I believe they’ll make what they feel is the best decision, and I honestly believe whoever’s elected tribal chairman will continue to move in the direction the tribe asks them to.”
At the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting on March 15, the county supervisors chose to take a break from their monthly discussions with the Chumash regarding the possibility of taking land parcels including Camp 4 into federal trust. The monthly county-tribe meetings had seemed to reach a stalemate.
When asked if his resignation was at all related to Chumash negotiations with the county, Armenta was clear: “Absolutely not.”
“Nothing really prompted my decision to resign,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for 17 years. I’m very comfortable with the position the tribe is in. I feel comfortable that the next elected tribal chairman will continue on the same path.”
Tribe members elect the tribal chairman every two years. Armenta said the next election will take place at the Chumash’s next general meeting. Until then, Vice Chairman Kenneth Kahn will serve as interim chairman.
This article appears in Mar 17-24, 2016.