Visitors to the Chumash Interpretive Center's Winter Solstice Celebration were welcomed with the burning of sage and a song performed by Julie Tumamait, a tribal elder.

The burning of the sage is meant to take away bad spirits and thoughts, Alan Salazar told the small group Saturday morning.

The celebration, which doubled as the Thousand Oaks center's grand reopening, featured a performance by the Graywolf Blues band and traditional dancers, in addition to storytelling.

One of the dances, called the smoke dance, features intricate, quick steps, said Beverly Folkes, an elder in the Chumash tribe.

"I haven't seen it performed in years," she said. "It really is a beautiful dance, the way they move their feet."

Folkes, who also serves on the center's board of directors, said the smoke dance originated within the Iroquois tribes.

"Some people believe that the dance started when tribe members would dance quickly around the fire in the longhouses to get the smoke to rise," she said.

Though winter solstice is not for another three weeks, the Chumash traditionally mark it on Dec. 1, said center administrator and education director Dawn Mena.

"We really wanted to do the celebration as early as we could so people who use Saturday to Christmas shop could come," she said. Organizers knew that holding the event on a Saturday before the holiday season could mean smaller-than-hoped for crowds but felt adamant about holding the event.

"It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment decision to hold the celebration," Mena said, "but we thought, Hey, the museum looks great,' and we really wanted to share it with the community."

The center, tucked into Oakbrook Regional Park, isn't well known, Folkes said.

"This is a wonderful place for children," she said. "They study tribes and history in school. Well, we are local history."

"It's a feel good place for children, with the trails we have for hiking and the caves that aren't a far walk," Mena said.

The Chumash center's museum features the work of Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Ken Lubas, whose images of eagles and American Indians are on display.

Museum employees and volunteers worked late Friday night to complete the exhibit's new mannequin of a Chumash man, which complements one of a woman.

The two are facing each other now, Mena said. "It looks beautiful."

The center is at 3290 Lang Ranch Parkway at Oakbrook Regional Park, Thousand Oaks. It is open from noon to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. For more information on the center, call 492-8076 or visit the Web site chumashcenter.org.