{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-tsx","path":"/Tovaangar","result":{"data":{"primeArticle":{"slug":"Tovaangar","excerpt":"“The dominant American narrative can be wrong. ... (Indigenous) people still exist, live and thrive today.”","headline":"On Tovaangar","author":"Rania Soetirto","authorbio":"","authoremail":"","authortwitter":"","coverimg":"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/Tovaangar/bob_2.1-99ae533cf84cdb8033c7b63a02b8f13b.jpg","covercred":"Lauren Man","coveralt":"Photo of Ramirez.","articleType":"article","updated":null,"content":[{"type":"subheading","value":"{\"name\":\"“People of the land.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"The natural setting of Kuruvungna Springs feels as if it resists LA’s urban landscape."},{"type":"text","value":"Tucked between tight asphalt streets and a high school football field, the entrance to the springs sits between rows of buildings and apartment complexes of West LA. The springs are part of an ancestral village site of the Tongva, the Indigenous people of the Los Angeles Basin. Currently, Kuruvungna Springs is under the care of the Gabrielino Tongva Springs Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and educating the public about the area’s history."},{"type":"text","value":"Located only a few miles away from UCLA, it takes just 10 minutes to drive from campus to Kuruvungna Springs. The campus’s close proximity to the springs is a reminder that UCLA stands on Tovaangar."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photo by Lauren Man.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/Tovaangar/pond.1-4a696ae77a4fdb4752a7334f95d9ee05.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Lauren Man\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"In its original language, Tovaangar means “the world.” Tovaangar, which encompasses all of Gabrielino-Tongva territory, covers the Los Angeles Basin, half of Orange County, parts of Riverside County and San Bernardino County, and the Southern Channel Islands of San Nicolas, San Clemente, Santa Barbara and Santa Catalina."},{"type":"text","value":"Despite common misconceptions, Kuruvungna Springs is not a tribally owned property. Instead, it belongs to the Los Angeles Unified School District and is part of the nearby University High School."},{"type":"text","value":"The Gabrielino-Tongva tribe has yet to receive federal recognition from the United States government. To this day, they still do not have their own land base."},{"type":"text","value":"In the early 1900s, the word Tongva was used by Narcisa Rosemyre, a Native American woman, to describe the Indigenous people of the Los Angeles area. Traditionally, Tongva means “people of the earth” or “people of the land.” Meanwhile, the name Gabrielino comes from the name the Spanish called the Native Americans who were associated with the San Gabriel Mission."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"The Gabrielino-Tongva tribe has yet to receive federal recognition from the United States government. To this day, they still do not have their own land base.\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Mishuana Goeman, the inaugural special advisor to the chancellor on Native American and Indigenous affairs, has worked closely with people from the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe to create the land acknowledgement from the university."},{"type":"text","value":"“UCLA acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and So. Channel Islands). As a land grant institution, we pay our respects to the Honuukvetam (Ancestors), ‘Ahiihirom (Elders) and ‘Eyoohiinkem (our relatives/relations) past, present and emerging,” one acknowledgment excerpt reads."},{"type":"text","value":"Goeman, of the Tonawanda Band of Seneca and a professor of gender studies, said she began working on the land acknowledgments after she was selected as special advisor to the chancellor on Native American and Indigenous affairs in October 2018. It was one of the first things she did as special advisor."},{"type":"text","value":"However, Goeman said she had established a tribal relationship with the Gabrielino-Tongva tribe well before her appointment as special advisor and had discussed the land acknowledgement with tribal elders and cultural leaders before 2018. For years, Goeman said she has always followed the Indigenous protocol of giving a land acknowledgment to the places she visited."},{"type":"text","value":"“People have to know whose lands they're on before they can actually engage in a relationship with them,” said Goeman. “And previous to the land acknowledgment, nobody had any idea whose lands they were on.”"},{"type":"subheading","value":"{\"name\":\"“This is sacred land.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"On a Saturday morning in late February, Bob Ramirez, the president of the Gabrielino Tongva Springs Foundation and a descendant of the Tongva, was working with a number of volunteers at the springs."},{"type":"text","value":"A large Mexican cypress stands by a pool of spring water and gives a protective shade from the hot Los Angeles air. The tree is not a native species. The 200-year-old cypress had been planted by the Spanish during their expeditions in order to mark the presence of water, said Paulina Sahagun, the vice president of the Gabrielino Tongva Springs Foundation and a descendant of the Tecuexe and Wixarika nations."},{"type":"text","value":"Next to the pool sits the spring. From below the clear surface, bubbles can be seen rising from the bottom, signaling the spring is still producing freshwater. Ramirez said he has measured the spring’s flow and found that it produces 56,000 gallons of freshwater every day."},{"type":"text","value":"He pointed to a single spot under a tree where he said ancestral remains of an adult and child had been found and reburied."},{"type":"text","value":"“This is sacred land. This is a burial ground as well,” he said. “You'll find all sorts of artifacts from the people that used to live here for thousands of years.”"},{"type":"text","value":"When LAUSD began building University High School in the 1920s, developers found many ancestral remains and artifacts – signs of a significant village site. However, many of the discovered artifacts have since disappeared because of inadequate archeological protocols to protect them, Ramirez said."},{"type":"text","value":"Kuruvungna means “place where we gather in the sun” in Tongva, Ramirez said. Kuruvungna had been a thriving village and the center of a vast trading network, built around the sacred springs, he added."},{"type":"subheading","value":"{\"name\":\"“No, you cannot be invisible.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Ramirez and a group of volunteers were also working on building a kiiy, the traditional domelike houses of the Tongva, at the springs that day. Ramirez said they had started building the kiiy last summer, but the project was temporarily halted."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photo of Ramirez.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/Tovaangar/bob_3.1-8232ebdf61309e3d2374e7c7311c536a.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Lauren Man\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Julia Bogany, a cultural officer for the Gabrielino Tongva Band of Mission Indians until her death on March 28, said that the structure of the kiiy is traditionally made of willow reeds while its covering is made of tule reeds. Meanwhile, a kiiy at the coastlines would use whale ribs as its structure instead of willow reeds, she added."},{"type":"text","value":"The kiiy only serves as a place to sleep, Bogany said. Unlike today, when people often spend long stretches of time inside their homes, the Tongva did all of their activities outside, she said."},{"type":"text","value":"Bogany, who also was an elder-in-residence at Pitzer College, served as the cultural affairs officer for the Gabrielino Tongva Band of Mission Indians for more than 20 years. In addition to her work as an educator, lecturer and activist, Bogany was also the author of her website “To Be Visible,” on which she wrote about Tongva culture and history. She was also the president of the Gabrielino Tongva Springs Foundation before Ramirez."},{"type":"text","value":"Bogany had been involved in several projects with UCLA. She contributed to the development of UCLA’s land acknowledgment and was a collaborator at the Diverse Perspectives on Water Project – a research initiative investigating the best ways of using Indigenous protocols to solve water issues."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"The dominant American narrative can be wrong. ... These people still exist, live and thrive today.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Bogany’s website showcases the Tongva people’s history, culture and artistic sites. Bogany was inspired to make the website when her great-granddaughter, Marissa, asked her how it felt to be a Tongva woman, she said."},{"type":"text","value":"“I said, ‘I felt invisible,’” Bogany said. “And (my great-granddaughter) said, ‘I feel invisible too,’ and I said, ‘No, you cannot be invisible.’ So then I opened my website to be visible.”"},{"type":"subheading","value":"{\"name\":\"“My family was still alive.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"When Desiree Martinez was in fourth grade, she had gone to the Southwest Museum of the American Indian for a class field trip to learn about the Mission Indians. During the field trip, the docent told her class that the Tongva were extinct."},{"type":"text","value":"“I knew that not to be true because my family was still alive, and other young people were still alive,” Martinez said. “So I thought, ‘Well, this can’t happen.’”"},{"type":"text","value":"Martinez, a Tongva archeologist, said it was only later in sixth grade that she realized where the misinformation on Indigenous peoples had come from. Docents and museums had learned about Native Americans through the work of anthropologists and archeologists."},{"type":"text","value":"Based on Martinez’s article, “Returning the tataayiyam honuuka’ (Ancestors) to the Correct Home: The Importance of Background Investigations for NAGPRA Claims,” false perceptions of the Tongva had been based on studies by anthropologists who had limited knowledge about the tribe."},{"type":"text","value":"Wanting to correct the public and academic misconceptions about the Tongva, Martinez was inspired to become an archaeologist herself."},{"type":"text","value":"Martinez said the Tongva’s lack of federal recognition comes from their historical exclusion from treaty signings with the U.S. government due to the lobbying of Southern California ranch owners."},{"type":"text","value":"In the mid-1800s, three special commissioners authorized by the U.S. Senate came to California to sign treaties with the Indigenous tribes of California, Martinez said. These treaties, which would later become known as the “18 lost treaties,” forced Native Americans to hand over their land in exchange for reservations, a designated area where Native Americans were relocated to."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"(My great-granddaughter) said, ‘I feel invisible too,’ and I said, ‘No, you cannot be invisible.’ So then I opened my website to be visible.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Martinez said the Tongva were never present in these treaty-making discussions. After the secularization of the missions, many Tongva people were forced to work as laborers on ranches. Many ranch owners, who were afraid of losing their workers, claimed there were no Native Americans in Los Angeles to avoid having to hire other workers for a higher price."},{"type":"text","value":"In order to survive, the Tongva hid in plain sight and were often mistaken for Mexicans, Martinez said. Local governments in California put bounties on Native Americans' heads and scalps, which escalated the danger of being identified."},{"type":"text","value":"Because the California missions had prohibited the Tongva from speaking their traditional languages, they ended up speaking Spanish on the ranches and eventually English after the language became the common language of the U.S., Martinez said."},{"type":"text","value":"“Because we were the labor on ranchos, and we spoke Spanish, and in some instances wearing the clothes of a Mexican peasant, we weren't identified clearly as Native people,” she said."},{"type":"subheading","value":"{\"name\":\"“Los Angeles Is On Traditional Tongva Land.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"In early 2020, the UCLA American Indian Studies Center commissioned River Garza, a Los Angeles-based Tongva artist, to draw a poster of Tovaangar for UCLA. Garza said Goeman had asked him to create a visual guide map to give people a spatial awareness of LA’s indigenous lands."},{"type":"text","value":"“Los Angeles Is On Traditional Tongva Land” is written in bold letters on the base of the poster, which depicts a map of the Los Angeles Basin and three of the Southern Channel Islands."},{"type":"text","value":"On the poster, UCLA is written in gold with a gold star, making it starkly visible against the blue gradient of the map."},{"type":"text","value":"Garza said he drew inspiration for the poster from a mural he had previously worked on with another Native American artist, Jaque Fragua. The mural is located on Winston Street in Downtown Los Angeles – a street nicknamed “Indian Alley.”"},{"type":"text","value":"For the UCLA poster, Garza said he adapted it to reflect contemporary cities in the Los Angeles Basin alongside traditional Tongva village sites. For example, Westwood is written between Kuruvungna and Komiikranga on Garza’s map."},{"type":"text","value":"He also designed the map’s color scheme to reflect the blue and gold colors of the University of California campuses. The blue in both his Winston Street mural and the UCLA map also symbolizes the Tongva’s connection to the ocean and water."},{"type":"text","value":"“I think blue just represents the ocean and water,” Garza said. “As coastal tribal people, we have such a unique connection to moomat, the ocean. It's our ancestor, and it really helps us define our existence as a people.”"},{"type":"subheading","value":"{\"name\":\"“We’re here to be caretakers of the land.”\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"In the future, Martinez hopes that the Tongva have their own land base with the freedom to gather more frequently and freely."},{"type":"text","value":"Martinez’s dream, she said, has always been to open a Gabrielino-Tongva cultural center, a place where the Tongva community can learn about themselves, their culture and history, while also sharing this information with the public. She believes this will allow the Tongva community to be in charge of its own narrative."},{"type":"image","value":"{\"alt\":\"Photo by Lauren Man.\",\"url\":\"https://assets3.dailybruin.com/images/Tovaangar/_LCM4821.1-c7acb66f4a7a4ab738970a8e97e10d8f.jpg\",\"credit\":\"Lauren Man\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Ramirez’s son, Daniel, said he is happy to see more people coming to Kuruvungna Springs and spreading the news about it. He has been coming to the springs since he was young and is excited to see the springs become a cultural hub where people can be educated about the Indigenous people living in the area and a place where Indigenous people can feel like they belong, he said."},{"type":"text","value":"“I think that’s what really defines us as Tongva – we’re here to be caretakers of the land,” Garza said. “I think the most important step is just to acknowledge that this history exists. These different histories exist for people and that the dominant American narrative can be wrong. ... These people still exist, live and thrive today.”"}]}},"pageContext":{"term":"spring21","slug":"Tovaangar"}},"staticQueryHashes":[]}