It seems that the place where I go to church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach, is very near to a Tongva burial ground, which is actually located on the edge of the CSULB campus. I have been taking the bus to Church, and the bus route goes through the campus. I have been wondering why there is an area at the edge that has so far been undeveloped... now I know.
It seems that the Tongva lived all over the place here, even as far north as the Angeles Crest Highway, but this area close to the church has a special significance... we are near Puvungna, the birthplace of their prophet/god, Chinigchinix.
Puvungna is apparently in some danger. CSULB, who currently "owns" the site, wants to build a strip mall there. (Because, Goddess knows... L.A. just can't have too many strip malls!) Also, there is apparently a dispute within the tribe, which has broken into factions, about whether or not to build a casino in Garden Grove.
Chinigchinix appears to be a human prophet that has achieved god status. He is a moral arbiter for humans, and appears in such forms as Raven, Bear, and Cougar. Since I live here, and worship very close to His home, I would like to get to know Him better.
2 comments:
Hi Daily Wormwood,
A recent browse of the internet brought up the Tongva as the "original gay inhabitants" of LA. Is there any verity to this statement, or is it just a comment related to the fact that their tribal lands once occupied the area now known as West Hollywood?
-DC
You know, Davey, I don't know, but that is very interesting. The Tongva lived all over Southern California, including West Hollywood and Long Beach, but I wonder if they had a specific "Two Spirit" tradition. I'll look around and see if I can find anything about that. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
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