Land Acknowledgement
For thousands of years the Gabrieleños (also known as Kizh, Gabrielino, Tongva) developed a way of life uniquely suited to this area. Their reciprocal relationship with the environment provided food, water, clothing, and tools. They understood the natural climate cycles of flooding and drought and built their settlements accordingly.
It is important to acknowledge how Indigenous people have lived sustainably in virtually all landscapes on the continent for thousands of years, developing complex land management practices to maintain the rich biodiversity that sustained them. Many preservation and conservation movements imagine nature as a “pure” environment, free from human interference, which diminishes and erases the critical role that Indigenous people played and play in maintaining the health of our ecosystems.
Society is now paying the price for the erasure, genocide, and dispossession of Indigenous peoples as we see the devastating effects on our environment in a world that considers itself separate from nature.
We want to honor and acknowledge the Gabrieleños who lived and still live in this area. We are committed to raising awareness about their past and present stewardship and the integral role they should play in the future of Los Angeles.
Sources:
What are the Original People of Los Angeles County Called?
Original People of Los Angeles County
The Great Indian Migration - Los Angeles 1772-1840
“People have taken from and tended the land in California for more than 12,000 years. Indigenous people employed traditional resource management strategies to create useful landscapes that provided food, fiber, tools, and medicine. When European settlers came to California they found areas they described as tended gardens rich in wildflowers, edible bulbs, and carefully groomed grasslands.”
— UC Santa Cruz Native American Uses of California Plants - Ethnobotany