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| Tongva Nation | |
|---|---|
| Group | Tongva |
| Regions | Los Angeles County, Orange County, Channel Islands |
| Languages | Tongva, Spanish, English |
| Religions | Kuksu, Christianity, Native American Church |
| Related | Chumash, Gabrielino, Takic peoples |
Tongva Nation is an Indigenous people of the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands in what is now southern California, with a long precontact history and continuing contemporary presence involving cultural revitalization, legal advocacy, and intergovernmental relations. They are historically associated with complex coastal and island maritime networks, hacienda-era missions, 19th-century Mexican land grants, and 20th–21st century federal, state, and municipal policy debates. Scholars, activists, and institutions engage in ethnography, archaeology, legal cases, and language revival connected to their heritage.
The ethnonym used in academic and community contexts refers to people historically recorded by Spanish Empire missionaries and explorers in documents related to Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, and Gaspar de Portolá. Ethnographers working with descendants have compared Tongva identity with neighboring groups documented by Alfred Kroeber, J.P. Harrington, and Julian Steward, and contemporary tribal organizations engage with federal entities such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and state bodies like the California Native American Heritage Commission. Contention over names and recognition has involved litigation and administrative processes with the United States Department of the Interior and interactions with municipalities including Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Santa Monica.
Precontact archaeology links Tongva ancestors to shell midden sites investigated by researchers affiliated with UCLA, USC, and the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. European contact began with expeditions such as those led by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and later Gaspar de Portolá, followed by missionization at Mission San Gabriel Arcángel and land dispossession via Mexican secularization and Rancho period grants like Rancho San Antonio (Peralta) and Rancho Los Cerritos. 19th-century events including the California Gold Rush, statehood of California, and policies under presidents such as Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson affected land tenure and citizenship. 20th-century activism connected to figures like Ishi, organizations such as the National Congress of American Indians, and legal frameworks like Indian Reorganization Act informed later advocacy. Contemporary history includes cultural revitalization programs, fossil repatriation under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and municipal acknowledgments amid debates over federal recognition.
Traditional territory encompassed coastal areas now within Los Angeles County, Orange County, and islands including Santa Catalina Island, San Clemente Island, San Nicolas Island, and Santa Barbara Island. Archaeological and ethnohistoric sites include shellmounds such as those at Ballona Creek, villages noted in mission registers like Toviscanga, and coastal settlements documented in Gabrieleño mission records. Historic landholdings intersected with Rancho Los Alamitos, Rancho Los Cerritos, Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, and port developments at Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. Contemporary community centers and cultural sites appear in neighborhoods such as Pico-Union, Downtown Los Angeles, and Long Beach.
Material culture included plank-built watercraft studied by maritime archaeologists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography and ceremonial items cataloged in museums such as the Autry Museum of the American West and Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Social organization has been reconstructed through mission archives, ethnographic notes by Alfred Kroeber and John P. Harrington, and oral histories collected by community leaders and scholars from California State University, Long Beach. Ceremonial traditions intersect with regional practices like those of Chumash and Tataviam neighbors, and participation in intertribal events involves institutions including the Smithsonian Institution and the California Indian Museum and Cultural Center. Issues of cultural patrimony have engaged institutions such as the National Park Service and local museums over artifacts, human remains, and interpretive representation.
The Tongva language, historically documented by J.P. Harrington, John Peabody Harrington, and later linguists at UC Berkeley and UCLA, belongs to the Uto-Aztecan family links debated in comparative work with Takic languages and studies by scholars like Merrill and Kroeber. Revival efforts involve community scholars, programs at California State University, Long Beach, lexicons compiled from mission records, and partnerships with projects such as Breath of Life. Language instruction and resources have been promoted through tribal schools, cultural workshops, and digital archives hosted by institutions like the Digital Public Library of America.
Contemporary organizations representing descendants interact with federal processes such as petitions to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and litigation invoking statutes like the Indian Reorganization Act and administrative procedures at the Department of the Interior. Local recognition and consultation occur with agencies including the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the California Environmental Quality Act-administering bodies, and municipal planning departments in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Santa Monica. Legal actions have engaged courts including the United States District Court for the Central District of California and federal agencies over land use, repatriation under NAGPRA, and protection of sacred sites recognized by the California Native American Heritage Commission.
Economic initiatives include cultural tourism partnerships with entities such as the Los Angeles Tourism Board, collaborations with the Autry National Center, and small business development supported by programs from the Small Business Administration and philanthropic foundations including the Ford Foundation and Annenberg Foundation. Cultural revitalization projects involve museum exhibitions at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, educational curricula for Los Angeles Unified School District, and festivals coordinated with venues like the Walt Disney Concert Hall and Hollywood Bowl. Joint stewardship and land-use agreements have been negotiated with state parks such as Catalina Island Conservancy and federal agencies including the National Park Service, while advocacy for recognition and resources continues through networks like the National Congress of American Indians and regional intertribal councils.