WHERE DID WE LIVE?
The Tongva occupied the entire Los Angeles basin and the islands of Santa Catalina, San Nicholas, San Clemente, and Santa Barbara. From Topanga Canyon to Laguna Beach, from the San Gabriel Mountains to the sea, we lived throughout most of what is now Los Angeles and Orange County. The existence of our people on these ancestral lands has been unbroken since long before the first contact between the Tongva and Europeans.
WHERE HAVE WE BEEN?
Despite the European incursion, we have remained an integral part of the Southern California community. Our presence is well document. Our existence is preserved in records of the three local Catholic missions and in records of local cities and both Los Angeles and Orange County. A mistaken notion that we were extinct developed. But we have survived! We are here!
COMMUNITY PROJECTS, ACHIEVEMENTS & RECOGNITION:
NEIGHBORING TRIBES
CAHUILLA, SERRANO, AHJACHEMEM, CHUMASH
SPANIARDS INVASION
1542 - Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo in Santa Maria Bay
1620 - Sebastian Vizcaino expedition
1769 - Gasper de Portola and Father Vizcaino
1771 - San Gabriel Mission est.
THE FOUR SACRED RIVERS
Los Angeles River- Pay.mi pah.hit
Hondo River - Che-noo.eh pah.hit
San Gabriel River - To.to.ting.ah pah.hit
Santa Ana River - Kah.ho pah.hit
THE FOUR DIRECTIONS
East -Tah.ming.ar.ro
South - Keh.tah.me
West - Too.o.me
North - Pi.e.mo
The channel Islands
San Clemente Island - Kin ki
San Nicolas Island - Ha rash
Santa Barbara Island - Tehu nash
Santa Catalina Island - Pi mu
THE FOUR SCARED MOUNTIANS
Mt. Baldy - Jo.at
Mt. Saddleback - Har'wo.vet
Mt. San Gorgonio - Ak.vag.na
Mt. San Jacinto - Ja.mi.wu
The whirling dancer performed a dance honoring the eagle. It was danced in a ceremony ending the mourning period for an Indian who had died the year before. Many Indians shared in the dance as singers and dancers. The main dancers was painted with broad strips of white paint. He wore a skirt of eagle feathers and a feather head-tuft. He carried two sticks decorated with eagle feather.
At one time during the dance, the dancer knelt and heaved his shoulders and arms in time with the chanting. He was acting like an eagle eating his prey.
During his dance, he whirled very fast. Other Indians chanted and made sounds with rattles. They made wailing calls. The feathers of the skirt of the dancer stood straight out. His whirling was like an eagle whirling in the sky.
The dance was the time for the burial of the dead man's feather head-tuft. This told everyone that his spirit was at last raised to the stars. This marked his end on earth.
(photo in gallery)