Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy
{{Short description|Indigenous land trust}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox organization
| name = Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy
| caption =
| status =
| purpose = Land return to the Indigenous peoples of the greater Los Angeles County area
| website = {{URL|https://tongva.land/}}
}}
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy is an Indigenous urban land trust that formed with the objective to return or repatriate land to self-identified Tongva descendants in the greater Los Angeles County area.{{Cite news |last=Ogilvie |first=Jessica P. |date=2022-10-10 |title=Why A Property Worth Millions Was Returned To The Tongva Tribe |language=en |work=LAist |url=https://laist.com/news/la-history/why-a-property-worth-millions-was-returned-to-tongva-tribe |access-date=2023-01-04}}{{Cite news |last=Valdez |first=Jonah |last2= |last3= |last4= |date=2022-10-10 |title=After nearly 200 years, the Tongva community has land in Los Angeles County |language=en-US |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-10/after-nearly-200-years-the-tongva-community-has-land-in-los-angeles-county |access-date=2023-01-04}}{{YouTube|id=23BS9wN1XSo |title=The Challenges and Opportunities for Rematriating Tovaangar - Wallace Cleaves}} It was inspired by the work of the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and has been associated with the Land Back movement.{{Cite web |last=Golden |first=Kate |date=2022-12-13 |title=How Indigenous People Got Some Land Back in Oakland |url=https://baynature.org/2022/12/13/how-indigenous-people-got-some-land-back-in-oakland/ |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Bay Nature |language=en-US}} The conservancy is notable for its part in the return of Tongva land in Los Angeles County for the first time in nearly 200 years.{{Cite web |last=Joseph |first=Jisha |date=October 11, 2022 |title=Los Angeles' first people, the Tongva community, have land in the county once again after 189 years |url=https://scoop.upworthy.com/los-angeles-first-people-tongva-have-land-in-county-after-189-years |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Upworthy}} The trust developed a kuuy nahwá’a or "guest exchange" program for people who live and work in the tribe's traditional homelands to financially support the land trust's goals.
Background
{{Main|Tongva#History}}
The Tongva experienced genocide and displacement from their lands known as Tovaangar since the arrival of settlers in the Los Angeles Basin area, which began with the Spanish mission period in the 18th century. The Spanish Empire founded Mission San Gabriel Arcángel in 1771, which became the site of displaced peoples and violence.
In the 19th century, following the American conquest of California in the Mexican–American War, soldiers and settlers carried out state-sanctioned genocidal massacres on the Indigenous peoples throughout the state known as the California genocide.{{Cite web |last=Dangelantonio |first=Matt |date=2021-10-06 |title=What To Know About Land Acknowledgment, And Why It's Deeper Than Just A Statement |url=https://laist.com/news/what-to-know-about-land-acknowledgment |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=LAist |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Adhikari |first=Mohamed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ht9dEAAAQBAJ |title=Destroying to replace: settler genocides of indigenous peoples |publisher=Hackett Publishing Company, Inc |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-64792-054-8 |series=Critical themes in world history |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |pages=72–115 |access-date=2025-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164810/https://books.google.com/books?id=ht9dEAAAQBAJ |archive-date=2023-03-26}} Indigenous peoples concealed their identities among Mexican communities to keep their communities and cultures alive. In 1852, treaties that would have ensured about one-half of the current area of Los Angeles County for the tribe received hostility from settlers, who lobbied to prevent the treaties from being ratified.{{Cite book |last=Bauer Jr. |first=William J. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/920944737 |title=The Oxford handbook of American Indian history |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |others=Frederick E. Hoxie |isbn=978-0-19-985889-7 |edition= |location=New York |pages=286–88 |oclc=920944737}}{{Cite web |title=Tongva Return the Land Fund |url=https://tongva.networkforgood.com/projects/174424-tongva-return-the-land-fund |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy |language=en}}
Without federal recognition, the Tongva remained without a land base and have been effectively landless in their own traditional homelands for hundreds of years.
Formation
File:Salvia apiana 1c.JPG plants in Southern California.{{Cite web |title=Designing for Green Justice: Centering Indigenous Land Access, Stewardship, and Return & Protect White Sage Campaign |url=http://www.artcenter.edu/academics/interdisciplinary-programs/designmatters/featured-courses/designing-for-green-justice-featured-course.html |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=ArtCenter College of Design}}]]
The Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy was established in 2021 and received nonprofit status in January 2022.{{Cite web |last1=Suozzo |first1=Andrea |last2=Glassford |first2=Alec |last3=Ngu |first3=Ash |last4=Roberts |first4=Brandon |date=2013-05-09 |title=Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy - Nonprofit Explorer |url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/871422866 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250407172634/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/871422866 |archive-date=2025-04-07 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2025-04-07 |title=Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy |url=https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/tongva-taraxat-paxaavxa-conservancy,871422866/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250407173201/https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/tongva-taraxat-paxaavxa-conservancy,871422866/ |archive-date=2025-04-07 |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=CauseIQ}} Its formation is part of an effort to return land throughout the traditional homelands of the Tongva to the tribe.
The objectives of the conservancy are to steward and heal the lands by returning native plants to areas that have been overrun by invasive species, to protect the theft and destruction of wild white sage plants, and to build community toward supporting tribal members and cultural practices.{{Cite web |last=Campus |first=Quaker |date=2022-11-28 |title=Tongva People and the Connection to Whittier College |url=https://thequakercampus.org/featured/tongva-people-and-the-connection-to-whittier-college/ |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=The Quaker Campus |language=en-US}} The trust has also developed a kuuyam nahwá’a or "guest exchange" program for people who live and work in the tribe's traditional homelands to support the land trust's goals.{{Cite web |title=Support the Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy |url=https://tongva.networkforgood.com/projects/159058-ttpc |access-date=2023-01-04 |website=Tongva Taraxat Paxaavxa Conservancy |language=en}}
History
The first land return was from a private resident of a {{convert|1|acre||adj=mid| property}} in Altadena, California, in October 2022.{{Cite web |last=Plevin |first=Rebecca |date=2025-01-19 |title=The Tongva's land burned in Eaton fire. But leaders say traditional practices mitigated damage |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-01-19/tongva-ancestral-land-burned-eaton-fire |access-date=2025-01-19 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} The return was notable for being the first time the tribe had land anywhere in Los Angeles County in nearly 200 years. A grant to restore the sage scrub ecosystem was awarded in 2023 by the Wildlife Conservation Board.{{Cite web |date=August 31, 2023 |title=Grant Award Leads to Historic Acquisition by California's First Black-led Land Conservation Organization |url=https://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/grant-award-leads-to-historic-acquisition-by-californias-first-black-led-land-conservation-organization |access-date=2023-09-01 |website=CDFW News |publisher=California Department of Fish and Wildlife |language=en-US}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.tongva.land/}}
References
{{reflist}}
Category:American people who self-identify as being of Tongva descent
Category:Land trusts in California
Category:Native American organizations
Category:Native American history of California
Category:Native American topics
Category:Non-profit organizations based in California