In my neighborhood of West Los Angeles, it where the story of Santa Monica began centuries before the arrival of Spanish explorers, Mexican ranchos and America’s Westward migration, back when the indigenous Tongva people inhabited our coastal plains. Today the most observable evidence of the local indigenous Tongva population can be found on the grounds of University High School in West Los Angeles.

 The Tonga people lived in about thirty villages throughout the Los Angeles area and on Catalina and San Clemente islands with about 500 dwellings in each settlement. The villages were identified by family lineage. When Spanish Portola expedition first encamped at the Tongva village of Kuruvungna in 1769 on their journey to establish the California missions, they described the people warming greeting them with gifts of sage, watercress, chia, and fresh water.
 By 1900 the Tongva language was disappearing, leaving only fragmentary records of the native tongue and culture. But fortunately, the Tongva were storytellers and passed down through the generations the tales that lessons taught, customs and beliefs, and how to understand the natural world.

 Today in the shadow of bustling West Los Angeles the springs once more are supporting a revival of Tongva heritage producing 25,000 gallons of fresh water daily. 
 There is a revival of indigenous Tongva customs now empowering a new generation. My paper will present this revival of knowledge and practices based at the Kuruvungna Springs where this community is cultivating native edible plants and maintaining the grounds in the most unlikely place in Los Angeles, Southern California, USA.