The Gabrielino/Tongva Nation is recognized as the original inhabitants of the Los Angeles basin. Their traditional lands once spanned over 1.5 million acres from the San Gabriel Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and San Bernardino/Riverside Counties. The tribe’s history is deeply rooted in the region, with archaeological evidence tracing their existence back to 6000 BC. They lived by hunting and gathering and had over 25 encampments throughout the San Gabriel Valley, including Hahamogna Watershed, Raymond Hill, the Arroyo Seco, and many others.

The Gabrielinos remain one of the least documented of Southern California Indians because by the time systematic studies of the region’s Indian history had begun, most of the Gabrielinos were already extinct. The only remaining traces of the Gabrielino/Tongva villages are names of places ending in –nga, which is so familiar in LA County. The ending denotes “place of” or “place where.” Cahuenga means “place of the mountain,” and Topanga means “place where mountains run out into the sea.”