Tongva sweatlodge
Heritage Park in Santa Fe Springs CA. is a great place to take the family, bring a picnic lunch and learn a little something about the Gabrielino/Tongva people. They also have a full sized train “Kids can even ring the bell”. And a really cool museum.
The Lone Woman of San Nicolas lived alone on the island from 1835 to 1853.
If you’ve read “Island of the Blue Dolphins” by Scott O’ Dell you should be familiar with the story.
The story begins when a schooner under Captain Charles Hubbard carried away the Natives of San Nicolas Island except for one woman who boarded the ship but then realized her child or sibling was left behind, jumps into the sea to save the child. 18 years later she was found on the Island by Captain Nidever, she was found alone with a dog in a crude house made from whale bones and dressed in a skirt made from cormorant feathers.
She was taken to Mission Santa Barbara, she spoke only in sign language for the many Indians at the Mission could not understand her strange language. The Indians at Mission Santa Barbara were Chumash and the woman was from Gabrielino descent. Both tribes spoke very differents dialects.
The lone woman who was named Juana Maria was buried on a hill near the Santa Barbara Mission.
Malaga Cove
Malaga Cove just south of Redondo Beach, California was partially excavated by the Southwest Museum in 1936 and is also the site of the Gabrielino Indian village Chowigna as listed by Hugo Reid. Hugo Reid was a rancher who married a Mission Indian woman named Victoria. A pioneer Anthropologist he recorded primary information on the rapidly dying Tongva/Gabrielino culture.
stoneagepaths 