Tongva: E'kwa'shem "We are still here"

the santa monica history museum is honored to help tell the story of the tongva the indigenous inhabitants of santa monica also known as the gabriellino or the gabrielenio the tongva were one of california's richest and most culturally sophisticated pre-contact societies the tongva have lived in the los angeles area for about 7 000 years tongva territory was similar to the footprint of los angeles the northern border was shared with the chumash in malibu coverage extended south to the newport beach area east into the san gabriel mountains and west to include local islands such as santa catalina the vibrant hunter-gatherer culture of pre-contact tongva included arts religion an organized society and a wealthy trading economy though tongva life was irreparably harmed by the violent displacement of their villages today the tongva community has resurrected many of their ancestral traditions the los angeles basin was populated with about a hundred tongva villages this painting by mary thompson is the closest representation that we have to a typical pre-contact tongva village tongva families live together in dome-shaped structures houses were often large enough for extended families to live together tule a water reed was integral to the tongva way of life thick woven mats of thule were used to insulate homes thule was also used to make everyday objects and even toys such as dolls the name tongva means people of the earth the tongva had a reciprocal relationship with the local ecology acting as stewards of the land they avoided overuse of natural resources instead fostering healthy regeneration staple foods included acorns nuts seeds vegetables and fruit as well as deer and fish instead of making pottery the tongva used a rock called steotite or soapstone this unique rock was mined on pimu the tangva name for catalina island it has an oily soapy texture and is light and easy to carve soapstone's durability and heat resistance made for excellent cooking implements the tongva had a wealthy trading economy the tongva villages near santa monica traded with other communities that lived farther from the ocean items used in trade included soapstone bowls shells dried fish and animal skins the tongva were known as skilled boat builders specializing in a plank canoe called a tiat sticky tar from a local source what we know today as the la breathar pits was used to fill gaps between the planks thus making the tiat water tight elements of the tongva language survive in los angeles place and street names such as topanga and kuwanga way a short street in santa monica is named for a tongva phrase mumatahiko means breath of the ocean and was used in a tongva song for launching tiat canoes murals throughout los angeles feature an indigenous woman named toy purina toy perina was a tongva shaman linguist and educator she was angered by the abuse of her people and destruction of their culture by the spanish missionaries and soldiers she planned an attack on the mission san gabriel the plot was discovered before it could be carried out and toy perino was arrested toip arena is embraced by the indigenous community and contemporary angelinos as an inspiring figure of strength kuravunga springs a tongva settlement on the west side is located on the campus of university high school it is cared for by members of the tongva community and is used for tongva celebrations one such event is the annual observance of indigenous peoples day which is open to the public we look forward to seeing you at the santa monica history museum where our old santa monica room highlights santa monica's tongva roots you

Channel: Santa Monica History Museum

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Keywords: Santa Monica history, Santa Monica, museum, Santa Monica History Museum

Id: z07HnJA_kO0

Length: 5min 47sec (347 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 16 2020