In 1769, Gaspar de Portola headed the first land expedition by Europeans into Alta California. His mandate was to locate sites for Catholic missions, to enforce Spain’s claim to the land against encroachments by England and Russia.
They came north from San Diego through San Gabriel (Think: future Mission), what would become downtown Los Angeles (Think: friendly Indians, good water. Put a pueblo here.), the Wilshire/Fairfax area (Think: Brea deposits, useful for building), and finally to what real estate ads would call “Brentwood Adjacent†(Think: upscale Ranchos). They had arrived at the Tongva/Gabrielino Springs just south of Wilshire on Barrington, now on the campus of University High School.
They were in a cool, green grove of trees, the springs feeding a lagoon. There was a Tongva village, Kuruvungna, whose inhabitants came to greet the travelers. They stayed a day while soldier-scouts went to the coast and returned, saying it was too rugged to travel north that way. They would instead go over the low pass visible from the springs. (We call it Sepulveda and carved a passage through it for the San Diego Freeway.)
The Indians were friendly and helpful. That’s usually the description of the Tongva, the “Gabrielinos†as the Spanish called them, not bothering to learn what they called themselves. It was easier to name them for the Mission they were near. Tongva, a preferred name, means “People of the Earth.â€
The Tongva evidently absorbed another earlier Native American culture living here, about 500 A.D. They probably migrated from the Great Basin area (Wyoming, Idaho, Utah) since their language, Uto-Aztecan, is closely related to other Native American languages in that region. They were “a handsome people, courteous and intelligent.†They were “fun-loving people, fond of music and dance and games.†They made superb baskets of great variety and intricacy. Some were so tightly woven they would hold water. Their wooden bowls were polished to a wonderful sheen and inlaid with shell and bone. Sea-going plank canoes (Made only in California by the Tongva and their neighbors to the north, the Chumash) are considered their finest technological accomplishment. They hunted and gathered seeds, fruits and vegetables growing wild in their territory (The Los Angeles basin and coast, San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys and some of the off-shore islands).
The Tongva were among the most culturally sophisticated, skilled and thoughtful of California’s Native Americans. They were a proud, peaceful and rich nation, culturally and linguistically diverse. Their so-called conquerors’ concerns were limited to treasure and territory. No possibility of “meeting of the minds†here. The ruling dictums were “what’s valuable is ours†and “what we say is law.†The Tongva were sadly reduced by civilization and disease to a dispirited and lost group of illiterate laborers. An entire culture died…almost.
The missions began the disintegration. They tried to bring the “heathen†Indians into God’s grace, as they understood it. The friendly, amenable Tongva wanted to please. It was only later, when they were cut off from their Rancherias (As the Native American settlements were called) and forced into labor as virtual slaves that they doubted.
In 1832, an even worse future loomed. The missions were dissolved by government order. No longer would they shelter the Native American “neophytes.†The fantasy: Divide the mission lands into small plots and award them to the mission’s Indians. The reality: The land was sold or simply taken. The Tongva were left with nothing.
Some fled inland to other tribes or sought refuge in the few Rancherias that were left. Some found steady work and a home on the vast land grant Ranchos. But most became Los Angeles “pueblo scum.†They worked a week for someone and came into Los Angeles with their wages on Saturday. By Sunday night, they were arrested for drunkenness. Monday morning, the sheriff auctioned them off for bail to another employer, for another week.
The Gold Rush was a final disaster. Almost 50,000 Native Americans were killed. Often, there was no reason. In two short years, 1848-1850, the Indian population was cut in half.
After World War II the Federal government tried to eliminate even the last paltry support left to them. Healthcare, payments to indigent or elderly, even reservation land, was taken away. California’s Native Americans were forced to fight a long battle to maintain even the minimal rights left to them. In the late 1960’s, adult Native American life expectancy was 42 years; white adult life expectancy was 62 years, an unforgivable comparison.
The Tongva today are proud survivors. Some 2,000 State-registered descendants still remember the accomplishments of their peaceful and skilled tribe. They lend support to preserving the Los Angeles River. They work to remind adults and teach children. Native American cultures, long before explorers and settlers came, were conserving the environment and concerned with the Earth and its survival. We “enlightened Europeans†are some 200-plus years behind.
On Sunday, September 28, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., The Gathering will be celebrated at the springs (1439 South Barrington). There will be Tongva dancers, crafts, storytellers and knowledgeable guides. It’s a chance to learn more about another culture and another way of looking at the World.
