Tongva Sacred Springs
Tongva Sacred Springs | |
---|---|
Native name Koruuvanga | |
University High School, Los Angeles | |
Coordinates | 34°02′44″N 118°27′40″W / 34.0456°N 118.461°W |
Reference no. | 522 |
The Tongva Sacred Springs are a group of
The springs are found at two separate locations on the campus. The larger group of springs is closed off from the rest of the campus and is under the care of the Gabrielino/Tongva Springs Foundation. For many years this area was referred to as the "horticultural" or "agricultural area" of the campus.[5] This group includes an "80 sq ft (7.4 m2) lagoon."[6] The other spring “feeds into a charming man-made waterfall” at the northeastern edge of the upper athletic field.[5] A third spring was located farther north, near Texas Avenue, but it ceased to flow during the 1940s when a local water company began drawing from the aquifer.[7] Water from all of the extant springs drains into the Santa Monica Bay.[5]
History
The name Kuruvungna, which means "a place where we are in the sun,"
The Tongva were described in an unpublished diary of
... as we arrived and set up camp, six very friendly, compliant tractable heathens came over, who had their little houses roofed with grass, the first we have been seeing of this sort. Three of them came wearing a great deal of paint; all of them, however, unarmed. They brought four or six bowls of usual seeds and good sage which they presented to our captain; on me they bestowed a good sized string of the sort of beads that they all have, made of white sea shells and red ones (though not very bright colored) that look to be coral, though of a very inferior sort.[8]
The name Serra comes from
Crespí renamed the springs "San Gregorio" while visiting the Tongva village at the springs with the Portola Expedition in 1769, but the expedition soldiers called them "El Berrendo" after wounding a deer there. Later, around the turn of the 19th century, the two springs began to be called "The Tears of Santa Monica" because they brought to mind the weeping eyes of the saint as she cried for her erring son. "Santa Monica", as an official place name, was first recorded in 1827 on a grazing permit, next in 1828 when the Rancho Boca de Santa Monica was granted to Marques and Reyes.
Later, in 1839, the name was used again for Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica when it was
The canyon, the ranchos, the city, the bay, the mountains, the boulevard, the airport and the freeway are all called after a former turn-of-the-19th-century name for Kuruvungna Springs.[12]
In the 1800s, the spring served as the water supply for the city of Santa Monica.[3]
University High School
Shortly after the
The source of the lower springs was left open, as it still is, so one could see the water bubbling up through the sand. The overflow fills a large pond with a small island before being directed into a storm drain. The pond was surrounded with manicured lawns and served as a gathering place for students and the setting for group graduation photos. However, the springs corner of the campus fell into disrepair in the 1980s and began to be used as a dump. After the Gabrielino Tongva Springs Foundation removed tons of trash from the site in the 1990s, the area around the springs was planted with tule reeds and other native plants.
In 1975, a grave containing a small skeleton and soapstone bowls was discovered by students and a science teacher from what archaeologists now believe to be a burial site.
In 1980 Indian Springs Continuation High School, which is housed on the part of the campus where the springs are, was opened.[13]
In 1992, developers proposed an underground parking lot one block north of the springs which would have cut off the spring's water. In response, tribal descendants, community members and teachers and students from the school founded a non-profit foundation, the Gabrielino/Tongva Springs Foundation, and after a two-year fight, the proposed parking structure was voted down.[8][10]
The foundation currently leases the site from the Los Angeles Unified School District in order to use the location for their monthly ceremony and guided tours, and received a $7,000 grant from Los Angeles' Environmental Affairs Department to enhance the area with different types of trees, vines and herbs.[8]
In 1992, the newly established Gabrieleno Springs Foundation held the first annual Life Before Columbus Day event.
In 1998,
California Historical Landmark
The marker at the site reads:[18]
NO. 522 SERRA SPRINGS - The Portolá Expedition of 1769 encamped at this spring, and it is reported that in 1770 Father Serra said Mass here to the Indians of this area. This spring was also the former water supply of the town of Santa Monica. The site is now the campus of the University High School.
The springs have a UCLA Archaeological designation of CA-LAN-382.[14] They are designated by California Historical Landmark #522.[19]
See also
- Encino Springs
- Tongva people
- Population of Native California
- Native Americans in the United States
References
- ^ California State Historical Landmarks in Los Angeles County Archived 2007-04-03 at the Wayback Machine at CERES
- ^ Greene, Sean; Curwen, Thomas (May 9, 2019). "Mapping the Tongva villages of L.A.'s past". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- ^ a b Motion (Department of Transportation) for installion of ceremonial street signs
- ^ Hoover, Mildred Brooke; Rensch, Hero Eugene; Rensch, Ethel Grace; Abeloe, William N. (revision) (1966). Historic Spots in California (3rd ed.). Stanford University Press. p. 146.
- ^ ProQuest 1973844031.
- ProQuest 1973121227.
- ^ The Chieftain (Yearbook), 1974 ed.
- ^ a b c d e Fisher, Cory (October 11, 1998). "Before Columbus: American Indians celebrate today the cultural heritage found near West Los Angeles springs". Westside Weekly. Archived from the original on October 20, 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ^ a b c "West Los Angeles Community Plan" (PDF). www.lacity.org/PLN. May 2001. pp. III-29–III-30. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 14, 2006. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ^ a b Carpenter, Susan (October 13, 2005). "LA School Uses Sacred Tongva Site To Celebrate Columbus Day". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 16, 2007. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ^ Koenig, Alexa; Stein, Jonathan (2005). "Lost in the Shuffle: State-Recognized Tribes and the Tribal Gaming Industry". The Berkeley Electronic Press. p. 8. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
- ^ Hancock, Ralph, "Fabulous Boulevard", 1949, Funk & Wagnalls
- ^ California Department of Education's California School Directory Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b "Annual "Life Before Coumbus Day Event"". Archived from the original on June 26, 2007. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ^ a b c Shapiro, Regina (October 21, 2005). "Heritage Celebrated". Wildcat. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved April 30, 2007.
- ^ a b c Roberts, Seth (October 13, 2006). "Before Columbus Day Festival Celebrates Indigenous Roots". Wildcat. Archived from the original on September 21, 2007. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
- ^ SB 1956 Amended Archived 2012-12-12 at archive.today
- ^ "California Parks, California Historical Landmark". Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
- ^ "Serra Springs". Office of Historic Preservation, California State Parks. Retrieved October 8, 2012.