by Laura Garber
Kimberly Morales Johnson, the Gabrieleno Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians tribal secretary, will speak about the Gabrieleno Tongva history at the Hermosa Beach Museum on Thursday, October 9, from 6-8 p.m.
The world the Tongvas call Tovaangar encompasses Los Angeles, the Southern Channel Islands, the expansive San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys, parts of Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino County and includes ‘Ongoova’nga, the Tongva name for Old Salt Lake in Redondo Beach where a power plant now covers the lake.
Johnson is pursuing a doctorate degree in Native American Studies at UC Davis.
During research for her dissertation on redefining Tovaangar through oral history she listened to interview cassettes from elders to uncover her tribe’s experiences during the Mission Period, including how they constructed makeshift homes and secretly maintained their culture.
“That is the real story, that’s the truth,” she said. “That’s why oral history is so important because there is more than one storyteller.”
One of the stories Johnson said has been passed down orally is about a chief’s effort to preserve Tongva culture.
“When he realized European settlers were coming to their land, the Chief was concerned about the culture dying out. So he said to the village, ‘These things are going to be lost if we don’t hide them somewhere. So where do we hide them?’ And they said, ‘Oh, hide them with the trees. Tell the trees. Hide them under a rock. Go talk to the rocks and hide them there. Bury them in the ground. Tell them to the ocean and they’ll come back.’
“Then an old lady said, ‘Chief, I know where to hide them. Hide them in the children. Hide the songs and stories in the children,’” Johnson said.
Since 2017, Hermosa fourth graders have learned about the Tongvas during field trips to the Hermosa Beach Museum from the esteemed, late educator and Native American advocate, Julia Bogany; and now Christina Salazar, a Gabrieleno Tongva elder.
“It’s a great way to create empathy and to teach about Indigenous culture today,” said Ryan Basford, the museum’s program and education manager.
Basford remembers his 4th grade California history lessons being taught from the Spanish perspective when they were “‘exploring’ and building the Camino Real, the path of the Missions,” he said. Now, these history lessons start with the Indigenous perspective, Basford said.
Johnson compares teaching early California history from only the Spanish perspective to teaching the Jewish Holocaust from only the German perspective.
“If we only learned the German side of the story, we would never have heard from the Holocaust survivors,” she said.
Johnson’s earliest memories center around the warmth of elders gathering together for backyard tribal meetings.
“Imagine a room full of grandmas and grandpas just wanting the best,” she said. She also remembers visits to ancestral gravesites with her father, a tribal chairman. As Los Angeles underwent expansive development in the ‘70s and ‘80s, developers uncovered many Gabrieleno Tongvan burial sites.
“I remember my father talking to the archaeologists. I remember seeing a lot of shells and that type of thing. I remember our phone ringing all the time.”
Johnson will be the first in her tribe to earn a doctorate.
“I felt, I’m going to get a seat at the table, but if I get a seat at the table, I want to have some letters behind my name,” she said.
“I’ve already told everybody it shouldn’t just be my name on that degree. It should be the whole Tribal Council’s name on that degree. They’ve helped me,” she said.
While pursuing her PhD, Johnson has utilized the California and National Archival database which has digitized many tribal documents. However, since the start of President Trump’s administration some online documents have disappeared.
“This has happened to [Native People] before; genocide, erasure, but we have overcome it, and I believe that we’ll overcome it again.”
“I’m fortunate to have made friends with some really great archivists who have downloaded and saved things on separate hard drives. That has really helped me out because those things are no longer readily available.
Johnson hadn’t always seen herself as a leader. She was a special education teacher, married to a firefighter and raising her family when she decided to go back to school for her PhD.
“Remembering the ancestors’ culture ties us all together,” she said. “It’s been an honor to bring people together for the sake of our ancestors.”
For more about Kimberly Morales Johnson’s talk on the Gabrieleno Tongvas, visit hermosabeachhistoricalsociety.org ER
