Native Month: In Puvungna, The End Is The Beginning

On an unspecified day in September, The Militant hopped on the (M) Blue Line, got off at the Pacific Coast Highway station and rode his bike some four and a half miles east to an area near Bellflower Boulevard and Atherton Street, on the west end of the Cal State Long Beach campus.

Energized by his militant zeal for Los Angeles history, and his newfound obsession with Tongva culture, The Militant, after reading about it for quite some time, wanted to see it for himself, with his own eyes.

The place was the site of the Tongva village of Puvungna, known to their people as more than a village, but a sacred place.

In the 1990s, plans by the university to develop the land into a fast food-laden shopping plaza (a smack in the face on sooooo many levels), drew the ire of the Tongva community.

It was, or at least was close to, the place where ancient Tongva belief taught them the world began.

As it went, their creator god, Quaoar (CalTech scientists were nice enough to name an outer solar system planetoid after him), danced and sang to create a sky god and an earth goddess, which danced and sang together to create the sun and moon gods. Then they all sang together and created everything else. All life began at Puvungna. It was also the birthplace of a Christ/Buddha/Moses/Muhammad- like prophet named Chungichnish, who taught his people the ways of the universe. Furthermore, Puvungna was also the site of an ancient burial ground.

The fight to preserve the land apparently was successful, at least thus far -- the university president at the time promised not to exploit their land - a 39-acre field next to a parking lot consisting of some 40-or-so trees and native plants and grasses.

The Militant arrived there on his bike, and was instantly in awe of the natural landscape that lay before him, even despite the constant roar of traffic and the occasional Long Beach Airport-bound metal bird.

The sight of a ceremonial kutumut pole, greeted The Militant. The was definitely the place he was looking for:

Upon close inspection, pictures of people's ancestors hung from strings attached to the pole, and a stately white sage grew from the ground:

A smaller one nearby had seashells on the ground:

Just to be sure, instead of rolling his bike on the hallowed ground, he chose to carry it, and rested it against a tree.

When The Militant was younger, his family took a day trip to Mission San Juan Capistrano. After having a picnic in a nearby park, when it came time to leave, one of the doors of the family car mysteriously had the inability to close shut. Every attempt to close it failed. This perplexed everyone, until the Militant's mother said, "Excuse me!" in her native language to whatever spirits may be present. After that, the problem door finally was able to be closed normally...[Cue X-Files music here].
 
Because of that experience. though The Militant doesn't personally subscribe to Tongva spiritual beliefs, he is definitely respectful of them, even to the point of telling whatever spirits might reside there to excuse him,  that he was there to cause no harm or disrespect, and is only there for the sake of knowledge, and, most importantly to impart that knowledge to others, so that they may learn of the Tongva (The Militant is quite sure the ancient Tongva spirits might have a hard time understanding the concept of blogs and Tweets, so a general explanation was in order).

The Militant was quite sure his pardon request went heeded. He was able to observe the grounds undisturbed, and also felt a comforting sense of protection.

Even without a connection to Tongva culture, any undeveloped parcel of land in Southern California is a priceless gem; it serves as a virtual time machine. You can build a Burger King anywhere else.You can even demolish it and build a restaurant that looks identical to the original. But you can never replicate the natural landscape to the same degree.

There is a reason and rhyme to everything. Perhaps it's no coincidence at all that, like Kuruvungna Springs in West Los Angeles, this precious vestige of Tongva culture also exists on the campus of an educational institution. That it's an obvious sign that us 21st Century Angelenos need to be schooled by the Tongva. Many of us are guilty of disregarding or eradicating local history, and the history of the Tongva is the ultimate local history lesson. Buzzwords like "sustainability" and "eco-friendliness" weren't buzzwords for the Tongva, they were their lifestyle.

The Militant may or may not be destined to impart the history of the Tongva people to the blogosphere, but what is important is that you, after learning of it yourself, impart your new-found knowledge to others, and them to others (Insert your favorite '70s TV shampoo commercial reference here).

So perhaps it's fitting to end The Militant's Native Month series here.  The Militant ends his story at the place where the Tongva believed their own story began. And The Militant sincerely hopes that at the end of this particular Native Month adventure, that your own appreciation for the real natives of this land begins.

Stay Militant, always.

Native Month: Let's Learn Some Tongva!

As you may or may not know, over 224 languages are spoken in Los Angeles. So why not learn a little of the very first language spoken here?

The Tongva's language is considered by linguists to be of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic stock, the speakers of which spoke languages and dialects in an area that stretched from what is now Utah to Central Mexico.

But like most indigenous languages in North America, Tongva, was a purely oral tongue, there was no alphabet or written word, and thus no historical transcription the way, say, Greek, Latin, Chinese or Arabic was documented.

During Spanish colonization, they were forced to speak in Spanish, during the Mexican era, much of them adopted Spanish names and surnames, and assimilated into Mexican culture. And when the Red, White and Green flag ceded to the Red, White and Blue flag round these here parts, the poor folks had to adapt to yet another language and culture.

For much of the time since the 1780s, Tongva people spoke their language in clandestine settings.
The last fluent Tongva speaker was believed to have died in the 1970s. Fortunately a few linguistic scholars in the 19th century sat down with some Tongva folk and documented their vocabulary. Today, Tongva descendants have attempted since the 1990s to reconstruct their ancient mother tongue, using words found in songs and common expressions.

The Militant is by no means a linguistics expert. He even has a little trouble speaking the native language(s) of his parents from their unspecified home country. But in doing his militant research on the Tongva the past several weeks, he's noted down some words for all 'yall. So enjoy.

Note: Again, Tongva was not a written language, to any transcription of words into our characters of Roman origin are strictly phonetic in nature. Also, the Tongva nation, though sharing a common culture, displayed inevitable variations in pronunciation from village to village, which were largely independent of each other.

So here goes:


akara'apu'an - quail's plume
ahhoovaredoot - spiritual/medicine shaman
atochgna - funeral pyre
erow - fox
hunar - bear
joat - snowy mountain
ke-hi'e - acorn feast
kiche - house
kunasgna - cemetery, burial ground
kusirok - ashes, bones of the dead
kutumut - ceremonial pole to honor the dead
kwar - acorn meal
na - place
nachochan - how are you? / greeting
pako - enter
par - water
shev-ve - acorn
te'at - boat
tobikhar - settler
topa - above
toro - below
tova'at - pine nut
tumia'r - village chief
tuxu - old woman
we-ch - acorn mush
we't - oak
ya - poison oak
yitokahor - earthquake
yovarekam - ceremonial shaman

And here's the numbers:


pugu - one
vehe - two
pahi - three
vatcha - four
mahar - five
pavahe - six
vatchakabya - seven
veheshvatcha - eight
maharkabya - nine
vehesmahar - ten
pukuhurura - eleven
vehehurura - twelve

The Militant has yet to find out if there's a Tongva word for "militant," "unspecified" or the phrase, "May or may not," but he'll keep looking...

Native Month: The Water Still Flows In Kuruvungna

(Yes, it's October already, but seeing as Native Month started on September 5, he's still got the 30-day period to round out, so...let's continue...)

Los Angeles is often described as a "horizontal city," but The Militant actually sees it as a vertical one. No, not necessarily vertical as in high-rise structures, but vertical as in the stacked layers of various histories (Of course, only a militant Angeleno can see them...).

Take for instance University High School, the grade 9-12 campus in West Los Angeles which, since 1924 has produced alums such as Jeff Bridges, Judy Garland, Danny Elfman, Randy Newman, members of The Doors and Tone Loc. So it may or may not be fitting that the man who, in 1989, extolled the virtues of the Wild Thing,  walked from classroom to classroom in the presence of a wild spring.

Har har har.

For it is here on the Uni High campus that a series of natural springs churn out some 25,000 gallons of water daily (the city of Santa Monica once used it as a municipal water source), and have been since the Tongva.

One of the springs is smack dab in the middle of campus. The Militant visited Uni High recently during the afterschool hours and there it was:


While kids practiced soccer and parents stood watch just a few yards away, The Militant reached out his hand to touch the water. Supposedly it's clean enough to drink (The Militant wasn't that thirsty though...). It cascades down a man-made channel, parts of which are littered with snack food wrappers, and then descend into a drain, where it, along with H2O from the nearby Lost Creeks Of UCLA, empty into the Sepulveda Channel and into Ballona Creek.

The other spring is located towards in another part of campus. The Militant, having never stepped foot in this school before, had no idea where it was. But instinctively, he walked eastward, then south, then approached a tree-covered area with a staircase leading down into a parking lot. He kept walking....and then saw this through a fence...

It was a Tongva kiche. He gasped in awe. Did the ancient Tongva spirits lead him there? Was it just his native Angeleno instincts? No one knows for sure, but The Militant was in the Tongva village of Kuruvungna ("The place where we are under the sun.").
The other spring, regarded as a sacred site by today's Tongva descendants, percolates from a small lagoon, surrounded by native riparian trees and plants. The 1769 Portola Expedition stopped by here, and Father Juan Crespi documented the experience (before he started a chain of doughnut restaurants known as Crespi Kreme). The Militant obviously couldn't get to it at this time (and didn't wanna piss off the Tongva spirits by breaking in).

The site isn't that secret, though. It is a designated historic cultural monument by The City after all. And there was an annual Tongva Festival that just happened this past weekend, which The Militant may or may have missed (ARRRRGH! DAMNIT!!!).  
The site, on the southeast corner of campus, on Barrington, just north of Ohio Avenue, is open on the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. where the Gabrielino/Tongva Springs Foundation conducts free tours of the site and opens its small museum on an onsite LAUSD bungalow structure. 
As The Militant left the school, he searched the campus for any sort of visual sign acknowledging its Tongva connections. Lessee, there was an Obama mural and a generic "tree of knowledge"-type mural, but nothing Tongvaesque or even anything referencing that active natural water source there. How sad, but not surprising, given the LAUSD's penchant for destroying history over actually teaching it. History - much less local history - doesn't count in standardized tests anyway, so why even bother, right?

The Militant bothers. But more remarkably, the water from these springs still bother to flow.

Native Month: The Secret Life Of Local Plants (Part 2)

In his last post, The Militant introduced you to the wonderful world of California native plants. But where can these fantastic flora be found? They're not as rare as you think they are! One day, an operative took The Militant for a walk around the neighborhood and pointed out various native plants growing in people's front yards. It was like another world opened up to him.

But instead of The Militant pointing out where his neighborhood is (and thusly blowing part of his cover), here are some places around Los Angeles and the Southland where you can be in the presence of native plants -- and true to Militant fashion, they're all 100% free to visit!

Theodore Payne Foundation Nursery & Gardens, Sun Valley - Theodore Payne (or T-Payne for short...ay) was an Englishman in the late 19th century who was so fascinated with California native plants, he moved here, only to discover that agricultural development in Southern California was depleting the land of its native vegetation. So, as part Luther Burbank, part Johnny Appleseed, he dedicated his life to preserving native plants, even going up into the hills and fields to collect seeds. T-Payne created native plant displays in Exposition Park, Cal Tech and Descanso Gardens and owned nurseries in Downtown and in Atwater (before it became a "Village," yo). T-Payne retired and died in the early 1960s, but The Theodore Payne Foundation was formed to carry on his work. In Sun Valley, the nonprofit operates a nursery where one can buy numerous varieties of potted natives and a living native plant environment growing in the hillside (you can even just drop by and have a picnic -- there's even tables there). They also conduct classes and native garden tours.  They should be the first place to check out if you want to learn about native plants!

Real talk from T-Payne.

Vista Hermosa Natural Park, Downtown - The Militant covered its opening back in '08, revealing a new place to get a killer Downtown skyline view. But this 10.5-acre plot of land, originally intended to be part of the LAUSD's beleaguered (isn't that being redundant?) Belmont Learning Center complex features the scent of sage and other native varieties. It's run by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for the specific purpose of re-introducing native plant environments in urban Los Angeles.

Angels Knoll Park, Downtown - Speaking of DTLA, this mini-park, directly adjacent to Angels Flight Railway, is a virtual mini-version of Vista Hermosa, with fragrant Cleveland Sage bushes growing abundantly, as well as decorative native succulent plants (Of course, the pleasant sage aroma was likely intended to help mask the smell of the local homeless people's urine...)

Griffith Park - Toyon, chamise, sage and other chaparaal plants grow here in the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains. Hop on any of the 4.310-acre park's hiking trails and you'll see them. In some cases, they've been growing there just as they have in the days of the Tongva.

Bernard Field Station, Claremont - This 86-acre wildlife peserve along Foothill Blvd on the campus of The Claremont Colleges exists for both conservation and study, with both wild and human-planted native growth in a coastal sage scrub environment. As a bonus, native birds, reptiles, insects and wild mammals can be seen roaming the grounds.



'Cause native wetlands have a way with B-A-L-L-O-N-A...

Ballona Wetlands, Playa Del Rey - Even before he learned about Tongva culture, The Militant was downright outraged at Steve Soboroff's Playa Vista development taking over our last vestige of natural wetland in Los Angeles (apparently bad ideas aren't foreign to him...). Having biked the adjacent Ballona Creek bike path for nearly two decades, The Militant couldn't help but try to mentally block out all modern development and imagine taking a look back in time. Eventually, he did learn that this was the Tongva village of Saangna, which also included a large ancient sacred burial ground which was discovered during Playa Vista excavation.

Others have recently listed traits and criteria on being a true Angeleno -- well, The Militant believes that you can't be a true Angeleno without visiting the Ballona Wetlands and appreciating the (relatively) untouched serenity that have lasted for centuries. Developments can always be built elsewhere, but the wetlands are irreplaceable. May this land be disturbed no more!

Native Month: The Secret Life Of Local Plants (Part 1)

Los Angeles might frequently be dismissed as a "desert," but that's not actually accurate. The Militant believes people who tend to use that term are usually transplants want to secretly push a negative image of emptiness, of lifelessness, that there was nothing here to begin with, and therefore this place means nothing.

The truth is, Los Angeles is in a Mediterranean climate zone that is shared by only a handful of places in the world: Southwestern Australia, Southwestern South Africa, the central coast of Chile and the coast regions of the Mediterranean Sea. Is Cannes, France also considered an "empty, lifeless desert?"

The other truth is, before colonization, all of California was a lush paradise filled with an amazing biodiversity. In an example of life imitating art, The Spaniards named this part of the world after a paradside-like island of the same name fron a 16th century novel called Las Sergas de Esplandián by Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.

Many of the indigenous plants are gone, either supplanted by introduced species from other parts of the globe or outright torn out by human development. But in our remaining wetlands, meadows and hillsides, they prosper. And thanks to contemporary issues like water conservation and ecological sustainability, California native plants are making a comeback in our parks and frontyards.

The Militant consulted one of his operatives, who started a few native plant gardens in his neighborhood and got a crash course in this whole native plant business. Needless to say, he can't wait to start a native plant garden in his compound!

Nearly all of our native flora are drought-tolerant since their growth cycles are compatible with our dry, rainy and blooming seasons (see, we do have seasons after all). They need no fertilizer since they know the soil. They also prosper by growing roots deep enough into the soil where moisture or a water source is always present. And best of all, they are a source of food, shade and shelter for some of our native insects and animals, being a foundation for our native ecosystem.

The plants in this post are but a sampling of the many varieties of So Cal indigenous flora and is by no means a comprehensive guide. But they are common and/or interesting enough for you to take notice when you spot them.

Native Plants

 
White Sage - This was perhaps the most important native plant to the Tongva and neighboring tribes. Its leaves are burned as incense for ceremonial uses, which is why white hippie/new age types like to rape and pillage the plant in the wild and sell for a profit as smudge sticks (capitalism, yaaaaay). They also provide high medicinal value (usually drunken as a tea), curing everything from coughs to colds to stomach aches. The greenish-grey leaves give off a strong, distinct scent when rubbed. In the Spring, tall flower stalks come from seemingly out of nowhere and bloom, making it a favorite nectar source for bees -- it's also known in its Latin scientific name as "bee sage."

Cleveland Sage - Named after plant collector Daniel Cleveland, this sage (pictured at top of the post), popular with butterflies and hummingbirds, as well as California quails who seek shelter in its bushes, has an etremely pleasent, minty scent from its small green leaves (rub your fingers on one and take a sniff...ahhh). Its purplish-blue flowers bloom from orb-like stalks in the Spring and Summer. Got bedbugs (you know those bloodsucking parasites that East Coast people bring with them)? Take a bunch of Cleveland sage leaves and sprinkle them around your beddings. The sweet scent you smell is downright overpowering for them little critters, and they are naturally repelled by it. NATIVES FTW!

Toyon - This hillside bush with dark, leathery green leaves and spiny edges are common sights in chaparral environments like the Santa Monica Mountains. If you hike Runyon Canyon or Griffith Park, you can't miss them. In the winter, they sprout berries (edible, but not very tasty, unless you're a deer or a bird) and resemble a holly. In fact, the toyon is also called the California Holly, and was the origin of the 9-letter name given to a famous landmark sign, the entertainment industry and an entire community that was built over the Tongva village of Cahugna. For more toyonic talk, check out The Militant's post from Christmas of last year.

Chamise - One of the most common chaparaal (the term "chaps" refers to the sturdy pants one must wear when navigating through the typically spiny plants in that environment) flora, this plant is also highly flammable during fire season due to its resin content. But like all natives, it adapts well to its conditions. In fact, fire is a part of its life cycle and not only germinates following a conflagration, but releases its own toxins into the soil to prevent competitor plants from growing on its turf. This plant is straight up gangsta!

Manzanita - Not just a street in Silver Lake, but a type of plant of varying sizes known for its twisty branches, reddish hard wood trunks, bright floral blooms and berries that resemble tiny apples (hence its name in Español). The Tongva resourcefully used its leaves as toothbrushes, made cider from the berries and tea from its bark to cure stomach maladies. They also used its wood to make utensils and tools. Butterflies and hummingbirds can't get enough of their flowers.

Desert Agave - This succulent plant that's grows primarily in the deser region can also be found in the Los Angeles area, in the more drier corners. This spiny plant lives for about 10-20 years and only flowers once in its lifetime, and then dies. But throughout its lifespan, agave "pups" will spring up from the ground, seemingly multiplying itself. Although agave is associated with tequila, this isn't the same variety that produces the booze (it's possible though, but not very commonplace). But the Tongva and the neighboring Cahuilla tribe used it for food, rops, utensils, weapons, soap and medicine.

Native Trees

Oak  - The Coast Live Oak and the Scrub Oak most common varieties 'round these here parts. These trees were (and still are, relatively speaking), still numerous in the region, enough that places like Encino (Español for oak) and Thousand Oaks were named after the trees. The trees also grow acorns, popular not just with our native squirrels, but with the Tongva, who used them in multiple food uses. Aside from eating the acorn nuts, they also ground them and made them into flour, which was made into baked goods.

California Fan Palm - Palm trees are a Los Angeles icon no doubt, and developers and city planners were eager to plant them Like All Over The Freaking Place back in the 1920s-1940s. About half a dozen types of palms can be found locally, but only one is actually native: The California Fan Palm. It's actualy native environ is the lower desert region, where they grow in groves next to water sources. Places like Twentynine Palms and Palm Springs were named after these trees, but a few could be found in the Tongva nation. The Tongva's neighbors to the east, the Cahuillas (a.k.a. The Iviatim), used the fruit of the palms for food and flour, and used the leaves for sandals, baskets and roofing material.  

California Sycamore - This hardwood tree is known to grow near rivers, streams and foothills. It's also a deciduous tree, which means its green leaves turn orange in the fall (You East Coast people who constantly bitch about us "not having seasons" should cream in your pants just for that). Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood and Aliso Street in Downtown were named after the tree. And of course, our stately local sycamore was revered by the Tongva, most especially in center of the village of Yangna, especially one 400-year old specimen which you may or may not have heard of before.

If anything, The Militant noticed that our native plants share much in common with its native people: Deep roots, low maintenance and thrive best in this climate!

Having trouble spotting native plants? The Militant will show you where to find them in his next post!

Native Month: El Aliso - The Ancient Center Of Los Angeles

Kissing like a bandit, stealing time,
underneath the sycamore tree...

Much has been said about Los Angeles "not having a center." Back in 2008, while singlehandedly settling the whole Westside vs. so-called Eastside geographical dichotomy, The Militant did come to the conclusion that Los Angeles indeed has a center.

Many of you know that Los Angeles started out as El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de la Reina de los Angeles del Rio Porciuncula. That pueblo was founded on the site of a Tongva village called Yangna, or Place of the Poison Oak (That oak is Poiiiisonnnnn!). Some of you are already aware of Yangna, though a few people out there have the concept all messed up.

At the center of Yangna was a large, six-story sycamore tree that the Pobladores called "El Aliso." But to the native villagers of Yangna, it was no ordinary tree. It was a sacred site where chiefs of neaby villages would convene.

Over time, as the settlement grew, the Tongva were kicked out and their once-great village reduced to parcel property. In the 1830s, the land was bought by a Frenchman named Jean Louis Vignes, who used part of it as a vineyard. Name sounds familiar? You may or may not have been on the street that bears his name.

Here's a pic of the actual El Aliso tree
(note the "Philadelphia" in the lower right corner for the brewery)
Much thanks and props to militant reader Natalie Manarino for sending this to The Militant!

In 1892s, the tree was unceremoniously cut down for firewood to make more room for the Philadelphia brewery (damn those East Coasters...) which eventually became the Maier Brewing Company, and later Brew 102. The tree, which survived floods and droughts, was documented to have about 400 annual rings on it - when Columbus arrived from Europe, this tree was but a seed in the ground.

The early City planners were nice enough to name a street after the sacred Sycamore. The exact location of the tree was found to be in the Alameda on/off ramp for the 101 Freeway, just south of the train platforms of Union Station:

Next time you drive on the 101, ride on the (M) Gold Line on the overpass bridge or even visit that nearby strip club, take a moment to pay your respects to the Tongva people who once lived for millenia in the village of Yangna - The Los Angeles before Los Angeles.

Native Month: Wild Wild Life

Animals like this Brush Rabbit are only found
on the West Coast. Represent! 

One night, as The Militant took out the trash at his secret compound he saw it...just...staring at him.

The Militant, only rarely having seen it at his compound, simply blurted to the grey procyon:

"Dude, you're a raccoon!"

It just kind of stood there, with a "WTF?" look on its face, then deflty turned away.

Today on The Militant Angeleno's Native Week,after indroducing to you the native people and their villages, The Militant will talk about some the native animal life in the Los Angeles area.

Interestingly, despite heavy urbanization and development, most of the native animal species of this region are still around and can easily be seen, climbing on trees, scurrying on the grass, flying in the skies, prowling through the hillsides, and wading on the local waters. The Militant notes that in the past 230 years, the inhabitants of Los Angeles have actually done a better job preserving its native animals than its native people.

Although it is quite obvious that decades of developing the human environment have greatly compromised the habitats of these animals, either pushing them farther away or unintentionally pulling them closer.

Now, there are many animal species that are native to our area, and the Militant could even start another blog to talk about them all (he won't), but this list is a good primer. Birds are too numerous, but fortunately, public art comes to the rescue in this case. So the Militant will just limit the scope to land mammals you may or may not see on a daily basis.

Coyotes are probably the most popular animal of legend in the Southwestern U.S. A natural predator, they are naturally feared. But in actuality, most of the time, they actually fear humans, especially since development and sprawl have invaded their habitat. And with that, interactions between coyotes and humans and their domesticated animals have increased. Recent unfortunate human and pet encounters with coyotes have caused Orange County's Laguna Woods to make it legal to shoot them, but like The Red Hot Chili Peppers once said, True Men Don't Kill Coyotes.

The Mule Deer can be seen in hillsides. Straight up vegetarians, they have been a problem for some folks as these critters prey on garden plants. People can deer-proof their gardens via fencing or establishing plants and shrubs that deer aren't fawn'd fond of eating.

Mountain Lions, or more specifically, the North American Cougar (the Militant will refrain from making predictable older single women jokes, at least for now). But like the other kinds of cougars, the wildlife version is commonly feared (Okay, can't resist that one). Though there have been notable incients of mountain lion attacks, the animal is also normally afraid of humans, though will attack when provoked. Still, humans cause far more harm to mountain lions than the opposite. Just days ago, a mountain lion was struck by a car while crossing the 405 in the Carmageddon Pass.

Opossums - You see these critters all over the city, especially in backyards, making nasty hissing sounds (usually when they're afraid). People fear them because they are thought to carry rabies, but dem 'possums actually have a high level of immunity against rabies. The only marsupials found in North America, they're also omnivores that eat plants, berries, snails, snakes, rodents and even roadkill. Unfortunately, due to their slow velocity they themselves frequently become roadkill. Still they like to be left alone and it's best to keep your trash bins secure from them.

Rabbits were so numerous in the Southland, that an entire valley in southeastern Ventura County was named after them. As The Militant mentioned on Monday, the Tongva hunted rabbits for dinner. Two native species are common in the region: The Desert Cottontail, living in drier environs, and the smaller Brush Rabbit, which inhabits our local chapparal vegetation.

Raccoons, like opossums, are onivorous continental scavengers that fancy our trash cans. There have been incidents of them little masked marauders ravaging our local neighborhoods. Same as opossums, best to leave them alone and keep your trash bins secure from them. Unlike opossums, these dudes have attitude. Not just in The Militant's aforementioned encounter, but the fact that they can bite you and even have the ability to turn doorknobs.

Skunks are very common in hillside communities, especially noted for their stank, which can be smelled several freeway exits away. The Militant could easily recall the time he dropped on a Los Feliz-based operative off home one early morning and witnessed a Striped Skunk take a morning jog down the sidewalk on Hollywood Blvd. The Western Spotted Skunk is another native species that's common in these here parts. If you see one, try not to startle them. And if you get sprayed, run down to the store and get thee some baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to neutralize the stank and wash it off.

Squirrels are common in our backyards and parks, but the most visible one, the Eastern Fox Squirrel is not native. It was introduced by Civil and Spanish American war veterans around 1904 who stayed at the Sawtelle Veteran's Home. They brought them in as pets from Tennessee and soon got introduced to the wild. The native squirrels though are the California Ground Squirrel and the Western Grey Squirrel (mostly found in the foothill and mountain areas)

Despite being a large City, Los Angeles has its own animal kingdom. Again, they were here before we were so if ever there were another reason for discouraging suburban sprawl (other than traffic, long commutes, air pollution, obesity, real boring culture and Claim Jumpers), it would be to lay off their gang turf. Because these four-legged OGs don't mess around.

Native Month: Know Your "Na!"

Yesterday's first installment of Native Week gave you a profile of the Real Los Angeles Natives - The Tongva Native American tribe. Today, The Militant will show you where they lived.

We now know Los Angeles (the region) as a bustling metropolis megalopolis of some 15 million people - larger than the population of nations like Ecuador, Guatemala or Cambodia (!) And rightfully so -- this was a nation.

The Tongva was also surrounded by other nations - the Chumash (Ventura and Santa Barbara counties), the Tataviam (North San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita Valley), the Cahulla (eastern Inland Empire) and the Payomkuishum (North San Diego County).

Take a look at the names and locations of Tongva villages, superimposed over a map of today's Los Angeles (Map updated 9/16/2011):

(Click on map to crumulently embiggen!)

This map was done with much Militant research, but it is no means comprehensive. There were more villages, whose names escaped documented hustory. Some of the locations are generalized and not precise.

Of course, the Tongva nation wasn't nearly as populous - it only had somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people.

By looking at the map, you would notice a few things. First, the densities of the villages. Unlike modern Los Angeles, which has its development and poulation centered around Downtown Los Angeles and the area slightly to the west of it, the villages were largely located along the rivers (from west to east on the map: Ballona Creek (which once connected with the Los Angeles River during certain seasons), The Los Angeles River, The San Gabriel River and The Santa Ana River). There were also large swaths of nothingness, mainly because, there were no natural resources (water source, farmable/huntable land) to take advantage of.The Tongva, being a seafaring people, also lived along the coast (Yes indeed, they before anyone else knew the value of beachfront property). There are also a large accumulation of villages (exact locations estimated only) clustered around the San Fernando and San Gabriel areas - of course, those are where the Spanish settlers established the Missions.

Second, though most of these names sound strange and exotic, some of them sound very familiar, and rightfully so -- their present-day names were Hispanicized versions of the original Tongva village name. Places like Cahugna (Cahuenga), Topagna (Topanga), Tuyunga (Tujunga), Azucsagna (Azusa) and Kukamogna (Rancho Cucamonga).

Lastly, most of them end with the letters "-na" or "-gna" (That was too weird sounding for the Spaniards, so they pronounced it "-nga"). That suffix meant, "place." These days, people ask you, "Where you from?" or "Where you stay?" The Militant asks, "Where's your na?"

Can you spot your neighborhood or city on the map?

Here's a list of Tongva villages (their name meanings if known) and their present-day locations (List updated 9/16/2011):

Achois – San Fernando
Ahaugna - North Long Beach, near Los Angeles River
Ahwaagna – Long Beach (Downtown/coast)
Akuuragna - Pasadena-San Marino
Ajaarvongna - Puente Hills
Amupungna - Compton
Apachiagna - Boyle Heights/East Los Angeles
Ashawagna - Chatsworth
Atavsangna - West Hills
Atavayagna - Palos Verdes
Awigna  - La Puente
Alyeupkigna – Santa Anita
Azucsagna (“Place of the grandmother”) – Azusa
Cahugna (“Place of the hill”) – Hollywood/Studio City
Chokishgna – Bellflower
Chowigna – Palos Verdes
Cucamogna – Rancho Cucamonga
Engvangna – Redondo Beach/Torrance
Guaspita – Westchester bluffs (LMU campus)
Hahamongna – Glendale/Pasadena
Homhoangna - Colton
Houtgna – Monterey Park/South San Gabriel
Huachongna - Culver City
Hutukgna - Anaheim
Huutngna - Watts/Willowbrook
Isantkagna - Mission Viejo
Isanthcogna – San Gabriel
Joatngna - Mt. Baldy area
Juyubit – San Gabriel, along the river
Kenyaangna - Newport Beach
Kinkipar - San Clemente Island
Komiikrangna - Malibu Canyon
Kowagna – San Fernando
Kuruvugna – West Los Angeles
Lukupangna – Huntington Beach/Costa Mesa
Masaugna – San Pedro
Maugna – Los Feliz
Momwahomomutngna - San Dimas
Moniikangna - Palos Verdes
Motuucheyngna - Seal Beach
Moyogna – Newport Beach
Muuhungna - Sylmar
Nacaugna – Downey
Okowvinjha – San Fernando
Ongoovangna - Redondo Beach
Ongobehangna - Malibu area
Pahav – Corona (southeast)
Pasbengna - Santa Ana
Pasinogna – Chino Hills
Paxauxa - Norco
Peruksngna - City of Industry
Pimocagna ("Place of the running water") – Pacoima
Pimugna – Santa Catalina Island
Pubugna – Long Beach (Alamitos/CSULB campus)
Puntitavjatngna - Pasadena
Pwingkuipar (“Full of Water”) – Playa Del Rey/Westchester
Quapa - Encino
Saangna – Santa Monica/Venice/Marina Del Rey
Sawayagna – San Fernando
Sehatgna – Whittier Narrows
Sheshiikuanungna - San Marino
Shiishongna - Corona
Shwaagna – Harbor City/Wilmington/Lomita
Sibagna – San Gabriel
Sisitcanogna – Northeast Pasadena
Siutcangna - Sherman Oaks
Sonagna - Downtown Los Angeles
Suangna – Cerritos
Tajauta - Willowbrook
Tibagna - North Long Beach/Lakewood
Toibigna - Pomona
Topagna (“The place above”) – Topanga
Torojoatngna - Claremont
Totongna - Northridge
Tovimongna - Coastal Palos Verdes
Toviseagna – San Gabriel
Tuyugna ("Place of the mountain range") – Tujunga
Wajijangna - Chino Hills
Watsngna - Fontana
Weningna - Covina
Wenot (“River”) – Los Angeles, along the river
Wikangna - Verdugo Hills
Yangna (“Place of the poison oak”) – Downtown Los Angeles

Do you know your Na?

Native Month: We Are A Part Of The Tongva Nation

This week month, to celebrate 230 years of Los Angeles, the Militant will help you understand the Los Angeles before September 4, 1781 - the indigenous people, animals, plants and even the literal ground we walk/drive/bike/take transit/skate on. Lots of militant research went into this folks, so the Militant would not only appreciate your reads, but passing the links on to others so that they may learn as well. With a better understanding of the Los Angeles before Los Angeles, we can be better and smarter Angelenos. So welcome to The Militant's second weeklong topical series -- NATIVE WEEK! MONTH!

Nachochan?!*

From the get-go The Militant firmly and blatantly established and identified himself as a Native Angeleno -- meaning someone who was born and raised in this City. Ever a defender of his fellow natives...

But us (Contemporary) Natives are relative transplants themselves compared to the real natives of Los Angeles. Like us (Contemporary) Natives, the Indigenous Natives were derided, considered culturally inferior and largely treated as though they never really existed by their respective invaders.

Yesterday, we celebrated the 230th anniversary of the founding of The Pueblo of Our Lady Queen Of The Angels of The River of The Little Portion. But history being multi-layered, multi-faceted and most of all, of multi-perspectives, September 4, 1781 also marked the end of an entire nation, a culture, a way of life.

That nation, that culture, that way of life was the Tongva.

They weren't even given the benefit of self-identity. Most history books refer to them as "Gabrielinos," the name given to them by the Spanish settlers, referencing the San Gabriel Archangel Mission. But they called themselves Tongva.

The Militant doesn't claim to be an expert on Tongva or Native American culture (already he has revealed that his parents were immigrants of an unspecified third world country, so that kinda assumes he doesn't have Tongva blood (that he knows of, at least...)). But he has done hours upon hours of militant research, so that you will have a better understanding of who the Real Los Angeles Natives were.

To understand the Tongva people, one must throw out most of the preconceptions we have of Native Americans. The Tongva didn't live in teepees, wear moccassins or beat on drums.

The Tongva, which meant, "People of the earth and ocean," were considered by historians to be pretty advanced and civil among the 60-plus Native American tribes of California. They were only one of two tribes (the other was the neighboring Chumash, a related coastal tribe that inhabited today's Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties) who built seafaring boats, called a te'aat. The Tongva built their craft out of wood planks and tule reed (a native marsh plant that also gave origin to the name of Tulare, CA) and waterproofed with tar (The Tongva knew of many places where to find this). They used boats not just for fishing, but for transportation - to visit villages in the eight islands offshore that we now know as the Channel Islands.

They lived in large dome-like huts called kiches (pictured, right) made of willow and tule reeds. They were multi-family dwellings, housing up to some 40-50 people. They all had a single entrance, plus a hole at the roof of the dome to allow for smoke ventilation when food was cooked in the center.

Like many Native American tribes, the villages, which were scattered all across the Southland, from the San Fernando Valley down to southern Orange County, were led by chiefs, who succeeded by heredity, like monarchs. They also devised a dispute resolution system where disputes between two village chiefs were settled by having a third-party chief intervene, and his verdict became the final word on the matter. Guilty parties were fined in the form of food or animal skins.

They were considered to be thoughtful, rational and unlike many other tribes, never let inter-tribal issues escalate into killings. Robbery was an unknown concept in the tribe and murder extremely rare (There was a death sentence for the rare occasions those things did happen). An attack on a single family was considered an attack on the entire tribe. Also, if a man was caught cheating on another man's wife, then the other man took the first man's wife.

The Tongva created art, in the form of weaving baskets and making sand paintings. Their music was performed on flutes, rattles and vocal melodies or chants, which was played during wardances, celebrations or religious rituals.

They had their own religion and even built houses of worship - a circular enclsure made of wooden stakes and willow twigs. They prayed to a Supreme Being, in the form of victory thanksgiving, vengeance requests and honoring the souls of dead relatives. In their creation belief, animals were created first, then man, then woman. Then the Supreme Being went to a heaven where he receives the souls of all who died. And unlike some other Native American tribes, the Tongva did not believe in the concept of bad or evil spirits.

They revered certain animals - the dolphin, which they believed to be an intelligent being created to guard the world from harm. They respected owls, which they never killed. They believed the sight of a crow was a warning that a stranger was approaching. They never hunted whales, though whenever a dead whale washed ashore (considered a blessing), the Tongva would cook its meat and blubber and used its bones to make tools or structure frames. They did eat rabbits and other birds, which were hunted with a two-foot long curved flat stick.

The Tongva were also thought to be dominant in that when they made contact with other tribes or foreign cultures, they were the more influential ones. With nearly all Tongva wiped out by the Spanish, Mexicans and Americans, that might not have been the case in the overall picture, but the Tongva people still left their mark on today's Southern California.

For one, the trade routes they established were recognized and continued by all of the colonizing cultures that followed. The Ramona Parkway (now the San Bernardino Freeway) started out as a trade route, as did the Cahuenga Parkway (now the Hollywood Freeway).

Signal Hill, which the Militant visited in his Long Beach Week series back in June, was named so because of the smoke signals emanating from its peak to communicate with villagers across the water in Pimugna (Catalina Island).


There were an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 Tongva living in Southern California prior to the arrival of Spanish missionaries and settlers. Most of them died of foreign diseases introduced by the Spanish, and treatment by the Mexicans and Americans wasn't any better. A few hundred people today do claim Tongva blood and keep their cultural traditions alive, although the tribe is not currently recognized by the U.S. Government, which is why there is no Tongva Reservation anywhere.


Another matter is that today's Tongva is fraught with intra-tribal infighting -- one side aims to build a Tongva gaming casino (they'e eyed Long Beach, Inglewood and Garden Grove as possible sites), while the other side wants nothing of it. The Militant doesn't yet have an opinion either way on the casino issue, but he definitely thinks they deserve to be federally recognized once they work out their differences (Maybe get a third party to help mediate...).

This is by no means a comprehensive profile of the Tongva. If any experts of Native American cultures or better yet, Tongva descendants want to correct and chime in, The Militant welcomes your comments wholeheartedly. The Militant also wishes to make no absolute moral judgment on the genocide of our indigenous peoples, nor desire to revise history - if the Tongva nation were never disturbed, there would obviously never have been a Los Angeles (and therefore no Militant Angeleno), and certainly nearly none of us would be here today. But he does wish that everything could have been handled much better, and that the Tongva should have been still numerous and intact enough to contribute to Los Angeles' unrivalled tapestry of cultural diversity.The Militant simply wants the inhabitants of 21st Century Los Angeles - (Contemporary) Natives, Immigrants and Transplants alike - to learn about the most forgotten of forgotten histories. And to make a blatant reference to a certain unspecified online rival, the most hidden of hidden Angelenos.

The entire Spanish/Mexican/Californian/American histories of this City - combined - spanned for a mere 230 years. But Tongva history is believed to have lasted some 10,000 years. If a hardcore Contemporary Native bows down and gives massive respect to the Tongva, then it must mean the most recent, arrogant, self-entitled, fresh-off-the-Greyhound transplant needs to bow down to several masters. It's only right to respect and understand those who walked the land many more miles than you yourself did. So let's all give long-overdue props to the Real Los Angeles natives - The Tongva.

* Translation: "Whatup?!" in Tongva.