View source for Puvunga

{{Short description|Indigenous sacred site in Long Beach, California, US}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name =Puvunga Indian Village Sites and Boundary Increase
|  nrhp_type = hd    |  nocat = yes  
| image = Puvunga.jpg
| caption = The Puvunga site on the campus of Cal State Long Beach
| location = 
| nearest_city = [[Long Beach, California]]
| coordinates = {{coord|33.785|-118.121|type:landmark_region:US-CA|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = USA Los Angeles Metropolitan Area#California#USA
| area = 
| built = 
| architect = [[Tongva people|Tongva]]
| architecture = 
| added = January 21, 1974
| visitation_num = 
| visitation_year = 
| refnum = 74000521
| increase = May 22, 1982
| increase_refnum = 82000429
| mpsub = 
| governing_body = 
}}
'''Puvunga''' (alternatively spelled '''Puvungna''' or '''Povuu'nga''') is an ancient village and sacred site of the [[Tongva]] nation, the Indigenous people of the [[Los Angeles Basin]], and the [[Acjachemen]], the Indigenous people of [[Orange County, California|Orange County]]. The site is now located within the [[California State University, Long Beach]] campus and surrounding areas.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Loewe |first=Ronald |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/950751182 |title=Of sacred lands and strip malls : the battle for Puvungna |date=2016 |isbn=978-0-7591-2162-1 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=1–3 |oclc=950751182}}</ref> The Tongva know Puvunga as the "place of emergence" and it is where they believe "their world and their lives began".<ref name=":6">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/projects/la-me-tongva-map/|title=Mapping the Tongva villages of L.A.'s past|last1=Greene|first1=Sean|last2=Curwen|first2=Thomas|date=9 May 2019|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=19 June 2019}}</ref> Puvunga is an important ceremonial site and is the terminus of an annual [[pilgrimage]] for the Tongva, Acjachemen, and [[Chumash people|Chumash]].<ref name=":2" />

Before the arrival of European settlers, Puvunga extended far beyond the contemporary site that remains today.<ref name=":2" /> Its presence was first uncovered in 1952, and then in 1974, at the designated location, when trenching was done for the [[Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden]].{{clarify|date=May 2024}} The site was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 1974.<ref name=":2" /> In 1992, the university challenged its historic designation and threatened to forcefully build a [[strip mall]] on the site, which was blocked by [[direct action]] and intervention by the [[American Civil Liberties Union|ACLU]].<ref name=":2" /> In 2019, dirt and trash were dumped on the site by the university.<ref name=":5" />

The site is located near the Japanese Garden along the banks of a now channelized [[stream|creek]], about three miles (5&nbsp;km) from the [[Pacific Ocean]].<ref name=":2" /> The natural area is located near a parking lot at the edge of campus.<ref name=":2" /> There was a natural [[spring (water)|spring]] located a short distance from the [[Rancho Los Alamitos|Rancho Alamitos]] building that flowed until 1956 referred to as Puvunga Spring.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Woodbrige |first1=Sally |last2=Berner |first2=Loretta |last3=Young |first3=Pamela |title=Architectural Narrative: "Rancho Los Alamitos" |url=https://www.rancholosalamitos.com/aboutus/woodbridge_architectural_narrative.pdf |journal=Rancho los Alamitos |pages=2}}</ref> Another similar (but larger) Tongva site is [[Serra Springs (California)|Kuruvungna Springs]] on the grounds of [[University High School (Los Angeles, California)|University High School]] in [[Los Angeles, California|Los Angeles]].

== Etymology ==
Puvunga can mean "the place of the gathering" or "in the ball", depending on the source.<ref name=":2" />

== Significance ==
The site has been listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] since 1974 for its historical and cultural significance. It remains a ceremonial site for the [[Acjachemen]], [[Tongva]], and [[Chumash people|Chumash]] for intertribal gatherings. Puvunga also serves the endpoint of an annual pilgrimage that begins at the village site of [[Panhe]], now located in [[San Onofre State Beach|San Onofre]].<ref name=":2" />

The Tongva and Acjachemen remember the village as home to Wiyot, one of the First Beings who was their sacred leader.<ref name=":8" /> It is "the place of emergence" or where "their world and their lives began".<ref name=":6" /> In [[Tongva#Traditional narratives|Tongva traditional narratives]], it is also, a few centuries later, the birthplace of [[Chingishnish]], "the prophet or deity who appears at Puvunga after Wiyot, the creator, has been killed, and tells the assembly what they must do to feed themselves."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Loewe |first=Ronald |title=Of Sacred Lands and Strip Malls: The Battle for Puvungna |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2016 |isbn=9780759121607 |page=26}}</ref>

Rare bird species have been identified on the site by the [[Audubon Society]].<ref name=":2" />

== History ==

=== Regional trading and ceremonial center ===
[[File:ZedlerMarsh.jpg|left|thumb|The wetlands of Puvunga are now referred to as the [[Los Cerritos Wetlands]] (2018).<ref name=":10">{{Cite journal |date=May 2020 |title=Tribal Cultural Landscape |url=https://intoloscerritoswetlands.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Section-3.15-Tribal-Cultural-Resources.pdf |journal=Tribal Cultural Resources |pages=7}}</ref>]]
Puvunga once stood on a rounded knoll or small hill above the expansive wetlands (now known as the [[Los Cerritos Wetlands]]) of the [[San Gabriel River (California)|San Gabriel River]]. The [[Pacific Ocean]] came up to the bluff of the village, though it has since been pushed several miles west by settlers and commercial development.<ref name=":8" />

Puvunga was a large village that extended far beyond the remaining area associated with the village. It was a regional trading and ceremonial center for the [[Tongva]] and [[Acjachemen]]. Villagers used ''[[te'aat]]s'' to travel on culturally-important journeys out to villages on Pimu ([[Santa Catalina Island (California)|Santa Catalina Island]]) and other islands off the coast, now referred to as the [[Channel Islands (California)|Channel Islands]].<ref name=":8" />

Nearby coastal villages included: the very close settlement of Motuucheyngna (at modern-day [[Seal Beach, California|Seal Beach]]),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lewinnek |first=Elaine |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1226813397 |title=A people's guide to Orange County |date=2022 |others=Gustavo Arellano, Thuy Vo Dang |isbn=978-0-520-97155-4 |location=Oakland, California |page=190 |oclc=1226813397}}</ref> now sometimes referred to in archaeological terms as Puvungna East;<ref name=":10" /> [[Guashna]] (now at [[Playa Vista, Los Angeles|Playa Vista]]) located about twenty miles up the coast;<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Lepowsky |first=Maria |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/780446639 |title=The restless anthropologist : new fieldsites, new visions |date=2012 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-30497-7 |location=Chicago |pages=60–61 |oclc=780446639}}</ref> and the village of [[Lupukngna]], located down the coastline at the mouth of the [[Santa Ana River]].<ref name=":6" />

=== Colonization ===
[[File:Mission San Gabriel conceptual elevation - Rexford Newcomb 1916.jpg|thumb|260x260px|Villagers from Puvunga were brought to and labored at [[Mission San Gabriel Arcángel|Mission San Gabriel]] (pictured) between 1785 and 1805.<ref name="Society 1966 21–23">{{Cite book |last=Society |first=California Historical |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IIXjAAAAMAAJ |title=California Historical Society Quarterly |date=1966 |publisher=California Historical Society |pages=21–23 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":7" />]]
Like many other [[Tongva]] villages in the greater [[Los Angeles Basin]] area, village life at Puvunga deteriorated immensely with the arrival of Spanish missionaries and soldiers.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uR8QAQAAMAAJ |title=The Masterkey for Indian Lore and History |date=1972 |publisher=Southwest Museum |pages=85–87 |language=en}}</ref>

With the establishment of [[Mission San Gabriel Arcángel|Mission San Gabriel]] in 1771,<ref name="Society 1966 21–23"/> many people from surrounding villages were brought to the mission for [[Conversion to Christianity|conversion]] and for their labor. They worked on the grounds of the mission in conditions that were recognized as [[slavery]] by third-party observers at the time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Street |first=Richard Steven |title=Beasts of the Field: A Narrative History of California Farmworkers, 1769–1913 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=9780804738804 |pages=39 |quote=A clerk with the Jedediah Smith fur-trapping party spent considerable time observing his San Gabriel mission surroundings. He soon found himself unable to tolerate the site of the natives working in the nearby vineyards and fields. 'They are kept in great fear, and for the least offense they are corrected,' he confided in his diary. 'They are... complete slaves in every sense of the word.'}}</ref> Between 1785 and 1805, mission records noted numerous baptisms of villagers from Puvunga, indicating that the village was likely depleted shortly after.<ref name=":7" />

In 1822, [[Gerónimo Boscana|Geronimo Boscana]] referred to the village as Pubuna and located it{{clarify|date=May 2024}} within the Spanish land grant [[Rancho Los Nietos|Rancho de los Nietos]] established in 1784, which was eight leagues northwest of [[Mission San Juan Capistrano]].<ref name=":9" />

Many villagers likely died at the mission and [[Spanish missions in California#Death rate at the missions|many did not survive the mission period]].<ref name=":7" /> At Mission San Gabriel, there were a total of 7,854 baptisms (2,459 children) and 5,656 deaths (2,916 children) until [[Mexican secularization act of 1833|secularization]] in 1834, indicating a very high rate of death.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Guinn |first=James Miller |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xu81AQAAMAAJ |title=History of the State of California and Biographical Record to Oakland and Environs: Also Containing Biographies of Well-known Citizens of the Past and Present |date=1907 |publisher=Historic Record Company |pages=56–66 |language=en |type=Digitized eBook}}</ref> Children often died very young at the missions. One missionary at [[Mission San Gabriel]] reported that three out of every four children born died before age two.<ref name=":172">{{Cite journal |last=Singleton |first=Heather Valdez |date=2004 |title=Surviving Urbanization: The Gabrieleno, 1850–1928 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1409498 |journal=Wíčazo Ša Review |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=49–59 |doi=10.1353/wic.2004.0026 |jstor=1409498  |s2cid=161847670|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1844, [[Hugo Reid]] referred to the village as Pubugna and stated it could still be identified as existing at [[Rancho Los Alamitos]], which was a subdivision of Rancho de los Nietos.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Loewe |first=Ronald |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/950751182 |title=Of sacred lands and strip malls : the battle for Puvungna |date=2016 |isbn=978-0-7591-2162-1 |location=Lanham, MD |pages=117–118 |oclc=950751182}}</ref>

[[John Peabody Harrington]] identified the presence of [[shell middens]] in the Rancho Los Alamitos area. At the time, Harrington consulted three Indigenous informants, Jose de Los Santos Juncos, [[José de Grácia Cruz]], and a "very old informant" Guorojos. All three identified the site in Los Alamitos as the village, which they referred to as "Puvu'na" or "Puvu". Harrington's report of these events was published in 1933.<ref name=":9" />

=== Development and recognition ===
In June 1950, the City Council of [[Long Beach, California|Long Beach]] purchased a {{convert|320|acre||adj=mid| tract of land}} inside their municipal boundaries. The land contained a large portion of the historical village of Puvunga, and was used to build the campus of [[California State University, Long Beach|California State University of Long Beach]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-06 |title=1949–1955 |url=https://www.csulb.edu/historical/1949-1955 |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=www.csulb.edu |language=en}}</ref> On [[Christmas Eve]] of 1952, a burial site in Puvunga was discovered about a mile north of the [[California State University, Long Beach]] campus (then referred to as Long Beach State College) when workers of the L. S. Whaley Company uncovered two dozen ancestral remains and [[funerary objects]] during the construction of a housing development. In 1952, an article for the ''[[Long Beach Press-Telegram]]'' wrote that the "ruins might be part of Pubunga, an ancient 'holy city.'"<ref name=":2" />

In 1955, it was noted by Helen Smith Giffen that there were "shell debris littering the fields below the [[Rancho Los Alamitos|Los Alamitos]] ranch house [which] bear witness to the fact that this was once the site of an Indian ''rancheria'' [Puvunga]." She noted that there was still a "wonderful spring" which flowed at the location.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Giffen |first=Helen Smith |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NwUNAQAAIAAJ |title=Casas & Courtyards: Historic Adobe Houses of California |date=1955 |publisher=Biobooks |pages=77 |language=en}}</ref>

On the first official [[Earth Day]] celebration<!--- in 1970?--->, organic gardens were established on the {{convert|22| acres}} of Puvunga that were still undeveloped and available to the public.<ref name=":11">{{Cite web |title=History |url=https://www.friendsofpuvungna.org/history |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=Friends of Puvungna |language=en-US}}</ref> The garden site was used to grow various foods for personal consumption.<ref name=":2" />

[[File:Rancholosalamitos.jpg|left|thumb|Sites of Puvunga were also found at the nearby [[Rancho Los Alamitos]] site.<ref name=":2" />]]
In 1972, campus workmen uncovered portions of a burial at site LAn-235 on the western edge of campus. Funding for the 1973 excavation was provided by the City of Long Beach, Long Beach Historical Society, Rancho Los Alamitos Associates, and private donors. Tongva remnants unearthed included [[arrowheads]] and pottery [[Glossary of archaeology#potsherd|sherds]] in a style called Cerritos Brown ware.<ref name=":1">Getze, George. "PUVUNGNA PARTIALLY EXCAVATED: INDIAN HOLY VILLAGE UNCOVERED ARCHAEOLOGISTS BEGIN DIG ON INDIAN VILLAGE." ''Los Angeles Times (1923–1995)'', Apr 08, 1974, pp. 2-oc_a1''.''</ref> These remains were placed in CSULB's archaeology lab.

Archaeologists in 1974 wrote that the Tongva "abruptly abandoned the site in the early 1800s, only a year or so before the first white family took possession of the land".<ref name=":1" /><!---How convenient for them---> That same year, LAn-235 was placed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] to represent Puvungna "as a means of perpetuating the memory of these native peoples and their religion, and as an aid to the program of public education".<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=March 3, 1995 |title=Puvungna 1996 |url=https://home.csulb.edu/~eruyle/puvufly_9603_puvu96.html |access-date=2022-12-24 |website=Peter Carr Peace Center News (home.csulb.edu)}}</ref> Two other sites were included in the National Register: the adjacent LAn-234 and LAn-306, located just east of campus on the grounds of the historic [[Rancho Los Alamitos]].<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=National Register of Historical Places – California  (CA), Los Angeles County |url=https://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/CA/Los+Angeles/state7.html |access-date=2022-08-17 |website=www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com}}</ref>

In 1979, a reburial of an individual disinterred in 1972 occurred. After this reburial, campus workers erected a small engraved wooden sign at the site, which read "Gabrieleno Indians once inhabited this site, Puvunga, the birthplace of Chungicnish, law-giver and god."<ref name=":2" />

More than a dozen archaeological sites, spread over an area of about {{convert|500|acre|km2}} on and near the campus, have been identified as Puvungna village sites. A shopping center and apartments at 7th Street and [[California State Route 1|Pacific Coast Highway]], [[Long Beach Veterans Administration Hospital]], [[Rancho Los Alamitos]] and the college now stand atop the historic settlement "near the present-day mouth of the [[San Gabriel River (California)|San Gabriel River]] and the Cerritos Channel".<ref name=":1" />

=== Threats and disturbance ===
Despite its known cultural importance, in 1992, the university attempted to challenge Puvunga's designation as a historic site to construct a [[strip mall]] over the remaining grounds of Puvunga as well as over a nearby organic community garden that had been established on the first [[Earth Day]]. When gardeners organized to prevent a parking lot development intended for the strip mall site, campus officials ignored them. They moved forward with development, claiming that "no cultural resources" were on site.<ref name=":4" />

In response, the Tongva and others organized to stop the development and save the site from destruction. They initiated protests and filed a lawsuit that temporarily stalled any construction.<ref name=":4" /> The university's sudden hostile attitude toward the preservation of the site has been credited to a change in the university's leadership and the recent decline in California state support for public education,<ref name=":2" /> which had pushed universities to find economic revenue sources "to replace state support for higher education that [had] drastically eroded in the last two decades".<ref name=":8" />

As a result, [[direct action]] was initiated to prevent the site's development, including protest tent campsites and prayer vigils. In response, the university built a fence around the area and ordered, under threat of arrest, that protestors leave the site. This prompted the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] (ACLU) to get involved and file a [[preliminary injunction]] against the university. Raleigh Levine of the ACLU stated, "This case is about the [[First Amendment rights]] of the Native Americans to whom Puvungna is sacred. They have the right to freely exercise their beliefs without the state stepping in to pave over their place of worship and put a mini-mall on it."<ref name=":4" />

A short film of the event titled ''Sacred Lands, White Man's Laws'' was made available in 1994.<ref name=":4" />

In 1995, [[Robert Maxson]] became President of the university. He pledged to abandon all plans of commercial development on the land and to preserve it, maintaining the open space, as long as he was president. He kept his promise until he left office in 2006.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to Puvungna! |url=https://home.csulb.edu/~eruyle/puvuhome.html |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=home.csulb.edu}}</ref>

A burial site in the greater Puvunga area was [[Disturbance (archaeology)|disturbed]] in the construction of the neighborhood of Hellman Ranch in the adjacent city of [[Seal Beach, California|Seal Beach]]. The site is sometimes archaeologically referred to as Puvungna East or as the village of Motuucheyngna, because of its proximity to Puvugna and in acknowledgment of the large area the village once comprised. About 35 bodies were disturbed in the development of Hellman Ranch, along with numerous artifacts of the Tongva.<ref name=":10" />

In 2019, CSULB received backlash after dumping dirt and trash on the site.<ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=Jordan|first=Rachel|date=5 October 2019|title=CSULB under fire for dumping dirt, trash on sacred Native American grounds|url=https://abc7.com/native-american-tribe-cal-state-long-beach-csulb/5588837/|newspaper=Abc7 Los Angeles}}</ref> Local self-identified Indigenous groups, such as the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians ([[Acjachemen]] Nation), were not consulted in regard to the dumping. This resulted in a legal challenge by the tribe which halted the dumping in October 2019. The legal proceedings were stalled due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]]. Chairman of the tribe Matias Belardes commented on how the dumping reflected a shift in attitude from the university since the 1992 lawsuit:<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last1=Kazenoff |first1=Tess |last2=Gomez |first2=Savannah |date=25 May 2020 |title=CSULB dumping on Native American burial site |newspaper=LBCC Viking News |url=https://lbccviking.com/2020/05/csulb-dumping-on-native-american-burial-site}}</ref><blockquote>We’ve had a decent relationship since then [the 1992 strip mall incident] .... [We] find it disrespectful and disheartening. Ever since that lawsuit, it was thought that there would be a better understanding of what that site means to us. Somewhere along the way, there’s been a disconnect. Now we’re back to square one after all these positive things from the original lawsuit all those years ago. We thought we were past it already. It shouldn’t have come to this. The university should know the site's significance, what it means to the tribes, and what you can and can’t do on the property.<ref name=":0" /></blockquote>In response, six departments at CSULB are developing film and educational resources to teach the campus community about the significance of the site in an attempt to prevent future damage.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1200832053 |title=In and out of view : art and the dynamics of circulation, suppression, and censorship |date=2022 |others=Catha Paquette, Karen L. Kleinfelder, Christopher Miles |isbn=978-1-5013-5871-5 |location=New York |pages=226 |oclc=1200832053}}</ref>

In August 2020, the California Office of Historical Preservation criticized the university for damaging the site.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Echeverry |first=Sebastian |date=2020-10-03 |title=State conservation office chastises CSULB for dumping on Native American land |url=https://lbpost.com/news/puvungna-state-conservation-office-chastises-csulb-for-dumping-native-american-land/ |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=Long Beach Post News |language=en-US}}</ref> The following January, the university's president issued a message<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-01-13 |title=A Message about Puvungna |url=https://www.csulb.edu/news/article/a-message-about-puvungna |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=California State University Long Beach |language=en}}</ref> claiming that rumors of development on the site of Puvungna were untrue, but a report released three months later showed that the university did have plans of building another parking lot on the site.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=March 23 |first1=Sammi Desch |last2=Reply |first2=2021 at 8:35 am · |date=2021-03-16 |title=Documents show CSULB had intentions of creating parking lot on Puvungna despite claims made by administration |url=https://daily49er.com/news/2021/03/16/documents-show-csulb-had-intentions-of-creating-parking-lot-on-puvungna-despite-claims-made-by-administration/ |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=Daily Forty-Niner |language=en-US}}</ref> The same month, a number of organizations and tribal nations sent governor [[Gavin Newsom|Gavin Newson]] a letter requesting that he restore Puvungna.<ref name=":11" /> In August 2021, the Native American Heritage Commission started a formal investigation on the topic.<ref name=":11" /> One month later, a settlement was reached prohibiting the development of the land and allowing tribal nations to use Puvungna for their traditional activities.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Niebla |first=Crystal |date=2021-09-16 |title=Tribal leaders, CSULB reach settlement over Puvungna, sacred indigenous land |url=https://lbpost.com/news/puvungna-csulb-settlement/ |access-date=2024-01-30 |website=Long Beach Post News |language=en-US}}</ref> Under the terms of the settlement, removing the construction debris is not the university's responsibility.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bierend |first=Doug |date=2024-04-14 |title='Solar powered vacuum cleaners': the native plants that could clean toxic soil |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/14/native-plants-fungi-soil-bioremediation |access-date=2024-04-14 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

== See also ==

* {{Annotated link |Genga, California|Genga}}
* {{Annotated link |Puhú}}
*{{Annotated link |Yaanga}}
*[[Population of Native California]]
*[[Native Americans in the United States]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5e63zn6qaGY&ab_channel=ABC7 "Native American tribes continue to fight to protect parcel of land on CSULB campus" (2020)]

{{Tongva villages}}
{{California State University, Long Beach}}
{{Traditional Narratives (California groups)}}
{{Populations of Native California Groups}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in California}}
{{Former settlements of Los Angeles County, California}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Tongva]]
[[Category:Tongva populated places]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in California]]
[[Category:California State University, Long Beach]]
[[Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]
[[Category:History of Long Beach, California]]
[[Category:History of Los Angeles County, California]]
[[Category:Religious places of the Indigenous peoples of North America]]
[[Category:Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles County, California]]
[[Category:Populated places on the National Register of Historic Places in California]]