Memorialization of Indigenous Tongva Places in Present-Day Los Angeles

Abstract

Prior studies of Tongva lands include mapping surveys, archeological excavations, pictographic studies, and scientific observations. Many academic works neglect the study of the memorialization of Tongva heritage. While altered and often (re)created, indigenous spaces in LA, memorials, and even recent studies, relegate the Tongva to ancestral (ancient) time. The Tongva live and thus their histories, environments, and places exist in the present. Further, prior studies neglect the spatial interactions between Tongva sites and the modern metropolis.

We explored how urban spaces can be indigenized (or potentially even further colonized) through memorialization, and how lived experiences at these sites (spaces) contribute to (or detract from) the (re)creation of indigenous places. Memorials cannot be effective without representing indigenized perspectives. Memorials must engage and connect visitors to a memorialized (modern) space to an indigenized reality or “place”. Observational studies explored how people notice these sites and memorials. Site characterization and description represent how these sites are memorialized and depict what aspects of Tongva environmental histories (if any) still remain at the sites. Through photographs, video, and field mapping we examined how these historic sites are juxtaposed on the modern urban landscape. Further, we examined why some sites appear to be recognized more than others. The diversity of sites allowed for the formulation of a comparative scale, ranging from undisturbed archaeological sites to forgotten, memorialized places. The scale can be employed in other cities to compare sites in terms of the degree of alteration, erasure, or representation.