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Family man joins Ridgecrest police
By LINDA SAHOLT
News Review Staff Writer
Ridgecrest’s newest police officer, Brian Armstrong, was born and reared here. The day after graduating from
police training, Armstrong was sworn in to the Ridgecrest Police Department, surrounded by his new supervisors
and his family members, mentors and friends.
Armstrong, who graduated second in his class of 87 cadets, took some good-natured ribbing from Det. Ron
Strand.
“Your husband is going to change for a while,” said Strand, addressing Armstrong’s wife, Misty. “He’s going to get
officious for a while and he’s going to get grumpy for a while.
“In time, he will come back to being the man you all know and love.”
Armstrong is a graduate of Immanuel Christian School. He worked at Liberty Ambulance for a time, then chose to
change careers.
“Six or seven months ago, I decided to become a cop,” said Armstrong. “The Ridgecrest Police Department
believed in me enough to put me through the academy.
“The most important thing I learned was to come home on weekends. Without my kids to practice on, I’d never
have made it through this. I practiced wrestling them to the floor and handcuffing them.”
His children, Arabie, 11, Bailey, 9, Colbey, 7, and Shaylee, 3, all beamed.
“This badge is a symbol of public trust. It doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to the community,” said Strand. “I
challenge you during your career to never tarnish this badge and to live by the code of ethics.”
Misty then pinned on her husband’s badge.
Strand presented Armstrong with his flat badge and identification card.
A challenge coin Strand also presented Armstrong is the first of three developed by Ridgecrest Police Chief Mike
Avery. “The coin says our only product is service and do the right thing,” Strand explained.
“I’ve really appreciated the support the department as a whole has given me. I really appreciate the Ridgecrest
Police Department, my wife, parents, in-laws and kids,” said Armstrong. “I’ve accomplished one thing and am
excited to start on the next.”
News Review Staff Writer
Ridgecrest’s newest police officer, Brian Armstrong, was born and reared here. The day after graduating from
police training, Armstrong was sworn in to the Ridgecrest Police Department, surrounded by his new supervisors
and his family members, mentors and friends.
Armstrong, who graduated second in his class of 87 cadets, took some good-natured ribbing from Det. Ron
Strand.
“Your husband is going to change for a while,” said Strand, addressing Armstrong’s wife, Misty. “He’s going to get
officious for a while and he’s going to get grumpy for a while.
“In time, he will come back to being the man you all know and love.”
Armstrong is a graduate of Immanuel Christian School. He worked at Liberty Ambulance for a time, then chose to
change careers.
“Six or seven months ago, I decided to become a cop,” said Armstrong. “The Ridgecrest Police Department
believed in me enough to put me through the academy.
“The most important thing I learned was to come home on weekends. Without my kids to practice on, I’d never
have made it through this. I practiced wrestling them to the floor and handcuffing them.”
His children, Arabie, 11, Bailey, 9, Colbey, 7, and Shaylee, 3, all beamed.
“This badge is a symbol of public trust. It doesn’t belong to us, it belongs to the community,” said Strand. “I
challenge you during your career to never tarnish this badge and to live by the code of ethics.”
Misty then pinned on her husband’s badge.
Strand presented Armstrong with his flat badge and identification card.
A challenge coin Strand also presented Armstrong is the first of three developed by Ridgecrest Police Chief Mike
Avery. “The coin says our only product is service and do the right thing,” Strand explained.
“I’ve really appreciated the support the department as a whole has given me. I really appreciate the Ridgecrest
Police Department, my wife, parents, in-laws and kids,” said Armstrong. “I’ve accomplished one thing and am
excited to start on the next.”
Reconnecting with the past: teaching native culture
By LINDA SAHOLT
News Review Staff Writer
For thousands of years, the Kawaiisu and Chemehuevi people lived and loved in the California high desert.
Along with Paiute, Shoshone, Tubatulabal and other neighboring tribal groups, these people transformed plants,
rocks and animal materials into useful items of lasting beauty.
Unfortunately, much of the culture of these native people is being lost, with few elders left to pass on
knowledge to new learners within the tribes.
Former California Sen. Phil Wyman has a lifelong fascination with local native cultures. His ranch in
Tehachapi, which has been in his family for 125 years, encompasses an area rich in native plants.
Working with Chemehuevi basketmaker Mary L. “Weegie” Claw and language expert Nora J. Vasquez, both of
Parker, Ariz., Wyman has expanded the teaching of traditional cultural skills to anyone who is interested.
In May 2007, the trio organized a Tehachapi basketmaking class open to the public. Part of the class involved
a field trip to Wyman’s ranch, so students could gather their own materials directly from the earth.
No less than five species of willow have been identified on Wyman’s ranch, all useful for making coiled
willow baskets.
Andy Greene, a Kawaiisu elder, spearheaded efforts to understand and preserve cultural artifacts and
knowledge. Greene, now deceased, was a leader in getting the Tomo Kahni State Park in Tehachapi set aside.
He led park tours for years.
The lifesize statue of a man in traditional dress at the Red Rock Canyon State Park visitors’ center is made
from a body cast of Greene and dressed in tanned deerskin based on Greene’s memories from his youth spent
in the winter village now preserved as Tomo Kahni.
In the photo are three people related to Greene — Brandie Greene Kendrick, his granddaughter; her
daughter, Sophia, who is Greene’s great-granddaughter; and Jill Greene, who is married to Greene’s son, Monty.
Jill and Monty have become involved in the drive to preserve and teach native culture in Kern County.
The Kawaiisu, who lived in and around Kern River Valley, and the Chemehuevi, whose territory runs from the
eastern Mojave Desert into Arizona, have very similar languages. The two tribes are regarded as “sister tribes”
and have a common ancestry.
Claw remembered learning basketmaking from her grandmother, renowned basketmaker Mary Lou Brown,
the last full-blooded Chemehuevi tribal member.
In addition to teaching basketmaking, Claw now champions teaching native cultural skills to both natives and
non-natives.
During the May class at Wyman’s ranch, Claw created the first native-made basket of completely natural
materials crafted in Kern County in 70 years.
“There are no currently living Kawaiisu who know how to do their traditional basketry. There’s no continuity,”
said Claw.
“Weegi came here and networked with Paiutes and other tribal members. There’s a lady making
cradleboards, and the Yokuts make pineneedle baskets, and it all needs to be brought together,” said Wyman.
The class was funded in part through grants and contributions.
“There were a lot of appreciative people at the class. All interested Kawaiisu and indigenous people got
scholarships so they could take the course. It was great!”
Wyman is working with officials at Cerro Coso Community College to bring the class to the Cerro Coso
system in 2008. While details are still in process, Wyman requests input from anyone interested, in order to
know where the interest lies.
Interest level will determine which Cerro Coso branch location could best host the class, which will be taught
on weekends.
He has also been working with interested local people and organizations like Alexander “Sandy” Rogers,
archaeological curator at the Maturango Museum, Dorothy and Hal Bennett, Four Winds Inter-Tribal Council
Chair Little Deer Durvin, Author Dr. Alan Gold (Garfinkel), Kawaiisu Elder Harold Williams, Jon Eric Hammond of
the Tehachapi News and the Owens Valley Career Development Center/ Tribal TANF to reconnect as many
aspects of local native culture as possible.
Hammond, a student of the Chemehuevi language, is now teaching it to others.
“It’s a real success story, when these two ladies took up the challenge and let the community get behind
them. Basketry has been the thread that has brought it all together,” said Wyman. “I’m excited to be a part of this.”
If you would like to be part of this community effort, call Wyman at (661) 823-9251 or e-mail pwyman@as.net.
News Review Staff Writer
For thousands of years, the Kawaiisu and Chemehuevi people lived and loved in the California high desert.
Along with Paiute, Shoshone, Tubatulabal and other neighboring tribal groups, these people transformed plants,
rocks and animal materials into useful items of lasting beauty.
Unfortunately, much of the culture of these native people is being lost, with few elders left to pass on
knowledge to new learners within the tribes.
Former California Sen. Phil Wyman has a lifelong fascination with local native cultures. His ranch in
Tehachapi, which has been in his family for 125 years, encompasses an area rich in native plants.
Working with Chemehuevi basketmaker Mary L. “Weegie” Claw and language expert Nora J. Vasquez, both of
Parker, Ariz., Wyman has expanded the teaching of traditional cultural skills to anyone who is interested.
In May 2007, the trio organized a Tehachapi basketmaking class open to the public. Part of the class involved
a field trip to Wyman’s ranch, so students could gather their own materials directly from the earth.
No less than five species of willow have been identified on Wyman’s ranch, all useful for making coiled
willow baskets.
Andy Greene, a Kawaiisu elder, spearheaded efforts to understand and preserve cultural artifacts and
knowledge. Greene, now deceased, was a leader in getting the Tomo Kahni State Park in Tehachapi set aside.
He led park tours for years.
The lifesize statue of a man in traditional dress at the Red Rock Canyon State Park visitors’ center is made
from a body cast of Greene and dressed in tanned deerskin based on Greene’s memories from his youth spent
in the winter village now preserved as Tomo Kahni.
In the photo are three people related to Greene — Brandie Greene Kendrick, his granddaughter; her
daughter, Sophia, who is Greene’s great-granddaughter; and Jill Greene, who is married to Greene’s son, Monty.
Jill and Monty have become involved in the drive to preserve and teach native culture in Kern County.
The Kawaiisu, who lived in and around Kern River Valley, and the Chemehuevi, whose territory runs from the
eastern Mojave Desert into Arizona, have very similar languages. The two tribes are regarded as “sister tribes”
and have a common ancestry.
Claw remembered learning basketmaking from her grandmother, renowned basketmaker Mary Lou Brown,
the last full-blooded Chemehuevi tribal member.
In addition to teaching basketmaking, Claw now champions teaching native cultural skills to both natives and
non-natives.
During the May class at Wyman’s ranch, Claw created the first native-made basket of completely natural
materials crafted in Kern County in 70 years.
“There are no currently living Kawaiisu who know how to do their traditional basketry. There’s no continuity,”
said Claw.
“Weegi came here and networked with Paiutes and other tribal members. There’s a lady making
cradleboards, and the Yokuts make pineneedle baskets, and it all needs to be brought together,” said Wyman.
The class was funded in part through grants and contributions.
“There were a lot of appreciative people at the class. All interested Kawaiisu and indigenous people got
scholarships so they could take the course. It was great!”
Wyman is working with officials at Cerro Coso Community College to bring the class to the Cerro Coso
system in 2008. While details are still in process, Wyman requests input from anyone interested, in order to
know where the interest lies.
Interest level will determine which Cerro Coso branch location could best host the class, which will be taught
on weekends.
He has also been working with interested local people and organizations like Alexander “Sandy” Rogers,
archaeological curator at the Maturango Museum, Dorothy and Hal Bennett, Four Winds Inter-Tribal Council
Chair Little Deer Durvin, Author Dr. Alan Gold (Garfinkel), Kawaiisu Elder Harold Williams, Jon Eric Hammond of
the Tehachapi News and the Owens Valley Career Development Center/ Tribal TANF to reconnect as many
aspects of local native culture as possible.
Hammond, a student of the Chemehuevi language, is now teaching it to others.
“It’s a real success story, when these two ladies took up the challenge and let the community get behind
them. Basketry has been the thread that has brought it all together,” said Wyman. “I’m excited to be a part of this.”
If you would like to be part of this community effort, call Wyman at (661) 823-9251 or e-mail pwyman@as.net.
