Tongva: Difference between revisions

The '''Tongva''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|t|ɒ|ŋ|v|ə}} {{respell|TONG|və}}) are an [[Indigenous peoples of California|Indigenous people of California]] from the [[Los Angeles Basin]] and the [[Channel Islands of California|Southern Channel Islands]], an area covering approximately {{convert|4000|sqmi}}.<ref name="Harkin2004">{{cite book |editor1-first=M. E. |editor1-last=Harkin |editor1-link=Michael E. Harkin |title=Reassessing revitalization movements: Perspectives from North America and the Pacific Island |last1=Lepowsky |first1=M. |chapter=Indian revolts and cargo cults: Ritual violence and revitalization in California and New Guinea |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygqnKla4-wIC&pg=PA51 |year=2004 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |location=Lincoln, NE |isbn=978-0-8032-2406-3 |page=51, note 1 |access-date=19 August 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103114039/http://muse.jhu.edu/books/9780803203884 |archive-date=3 November 2013 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Strawther|first=Larry|title=Seal Beach: A Brief History|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|year=2014|isbn=9781625850355|chapter=The Basics}}</ref> In the precolonial era, the people lived in as many as 100 villages and primarily identified by their village rather than by a pan-tribal name.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last1=Dietler|first1=John|title=Forging Communities in Colonial Alta California|last2=Gibson|first2=Heather|last3=Vargas|first3=Benjamin|publisher=University of Arizona Press|year=2018|isbn=9780816538928|chapter="A Mourning Dirge Was Sung": Community and Remembrance at Mission San Gabriel}}</ref> During [[colonization]], the Spanish referred to these people as '''Gabrieleño''' and '''Fernandeño''',{{efn|Alternate spellings include ''Gabrielino'' and ''Fernardino''.}} names derived from the [[Spanish missions in California|Spanish missions]] built on their land: [[Mission San Gabriel Arcángel]] and [[Mission San Fernando Rey de España]].{{efn|The Spanish did not always differentiate among communities or ethnic groups. For example, the Spanish referred to both the Tongva in the [[San Fernando Valley]] and the nearby [[Tataviam people]], who spoke [[Tataviam language|a different language]], as "Fernandeño," because they were covered by that mission.}} ''Tongva'' is the most widely circulated endonym among the people, used by Narcisa Higuera in 1905 to refer to inhabitants in the vicinity of Mission San Gabriel.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54669648 |title=Reassessing revitalization movements : perspectives from North America and the Pacific Islands |date=2004 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |others=Michael Eugene Harkin, American Anthropological Association. Meeting |isbn=0-585-49966-7 |location=Lincoln |pages=51 |oclc=54669648}}</ref> Some people who identify as direct [[lineal descendant|lineal descendants]]s<ref>{{Cite web |title=KIZH Nation &#124; Gabrieleño Band Of Mission Indians – KIZH Nation |url=https://gabrielenoindians.org/ |access-date=March 13, 2023 |website=gabrielenoindians.org}}</ref> of the people advocate the use of their ancestral name ''[[Kizh]]'' as an [[Endonym and exonym|endonym]].<ref>{{cite web |year=2018 |title=Kizh not tongva |url=https://archive.org/details/kizh-not-tongva-9-27-17-1}}</ref>

Along with the neighboring [[Chumash people|Chumash]], the Tongva were the most influential people at the time of [[European colonization of the Americas|European]] encounter. They had developed an extensive [[trade network]] through ''[[te'aat]]s'' (plank-built boats). Their vibrant food and material culture was based on an Indigenous worldview that positioned humans as one strand in a [[web of life]] (as expressed in their [[Creation Stories|creation stories]]).<ref name=":13" /><ref name="Harkin2004" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":06">{{Cite book|last=Helvarg|first=David|title=The Golden Shore: California's Love Affair with the Sea|publisher=New World Library|year=2016|isbn=9781608684403|pages=20–22}}</ref> Over time, different communities came to speak distinct dialects of the [[Tongva language]], part of the [[Takic languages|Takic]] subgroup of the [[Uto-Aztecan languages|Uto-Aztecan language]] family. There may have been five or more such languages (three on the southernmost Channel Islands and at least two on the mainland).<ref name="Harkin2004" />