05 May They Were Here First
On June 18, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom met with Native Tribal Leaders and issued a formal apology for the “… genocide. No other way to describe it.” This was in marked contrast to the first governor of California who told the Legislature in 1851 that there would be war “until the Indian race becomes extinct.” The initial governor turned out to be pretty much right: 80-95% of Native people have been murdered, slaughtered, or killed by exposure to white diseases and the planned obliteration of their culture and heritage.
For Native people, all of life was spiritual and sacred, and it was not about mastering nature but rather living in harmony with it. Each person was to honor the land and work for the good of all and not just oneself. The spiritual life was tended to by shamans or medicine men and women, and the wisdom of Elders.
The prominent tribes of greater L.A., the Chumash and the Tongva, were powerful and peaceful. Their cultures thrived in our paradisiacal climate, the abundant food, and easy trade. The Chumash lived primarily along the coast from Malibu to the Lompoc area and were known as fishermen and artisans. The Tongva, or People of the Earth, lived along the coast down to South Bay and inland to the San Gabriel Valley. They are also known by the names given to them by the missionaries: the Gabrieleños (for Mission San Gabriel) and the Fernandeños (for Mission San Fernando). Smaller tribes in L.A. were the Tataviam or Alliklik, Kitanemuk, Serrano, and Cahuilla.
Tongva names which live on to the present day include Topanga, Tujunga, Azusa, Pacoima, Cahuenga, and Rancho Cucamonga.
This is an excerpt from Catherine Auman’s book Guide to Spiritual L.A.: The Irreverent, the Awake, and the True
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