The Path of Junipero Serra's Heart in a Jar
Through California History
from 1784 to 1925

by John Henry Peabody, PhD.
based on his interviews of Fornay storytellers
from The Reeducation of a Turd Peddler

The following six stories are based on my interviews with Fornay Indian oral historians. These interviews were conducted during my first and only visit to the Pass, the huge sandstone mountain complex located above the coastal town of El Fornio, California where the Fornay have lived for as long as anyone can remember.
  Most of the characters in these stories are related to the people I interviewed. I like to think of the narrative of Serra’s heart through California history to be the opposite of the familiar disclaimer “All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.”
  Well, here none of the characters are fictitious and they resemble real persons both living and dead because there is nothing coincidental about it. These people were, and are, the real McCoy and I thank them for sharing their stories with me and allowing me to write about it.

— Hank Peabody PhD.
Director & Curator
The El Fornio Historical Society
Home of Junipero Serra’s Heart in a Jar

 

1.
August 28, 1784
Serra Dies and His Heart is Cut Out
WHEREIN JUNIPERO SERRA'S DIES
AND HIS HEART IS REMOVED
BY A FORNAY INDIAN AGENT

2.
September 1, 1784
A Search Party Looks for the Heart
WHEREIN A FORNAY INDIAN SEARCH PARTY,
INCLUDING TAI FUN'S BROTHER AND A
LOCAL SALINAN GUIDE, LOOKS FOR
TAI FUN, THE DOG, THE HORSE , AND THE HEART

3.
September 1, 1784 REDUX
The Heart is Found by Others
WHEREIN SERRA'S HEART IN A JAR
IS FOUND BY A BAND OF TRAVELING
CENTRAL COAST INDIANS, SUCH AS THEY WERE

4.
July 1797
Makal, Tupnek and Puluy Carry,
The Heart is Hidden in a Cave
WHEREIN JUNIPERO SERRA'S HEART
IS TENDED BY THE BOY, TUPNEK,
HIS MOTHER, PULUY, AND MAKAL.
THEN ONE DAY THEY DECIDE TO SEE
WHAT IS REALLY IN THE JAR.

5.
1800
To The Mission and A New World
WHEREIN TUPNEK, HIS MOTHER, PULUY
AND MAKAL MAKE A DECISION ABOUT
MISSION LIFE--AND WHAT TO DO
WITH SERRA'S HEART

6.
Good Friday, 1865
Two Fornay Agents Visit
Mission San Miguel on the Night
of Lincoln's Assassination
WHEREIN ANTONIO AND DESHENG, TWO
FORNAY INDIAN AGENTS, SHOW UP AT
MISSION SAN MIGUEL ON WORD THAT
JUNIPERO SERRA'S HEART IS LOCATED THERE