Transcript of Watch: L.A. Tribe performs land acknowledgement ceremony as part of racial healing event

Good evening, everyone, and thank you for being here. Thank you for the patience of coming into this beautiful studio and start with this important town hall. I'm Godvenegas, and I'm joined by Sinclaes and Kate Snow. Before we kick off, before we start off today, we'd like to start with a land acknowledgement and blessing. For that, we're joined by five members of the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, Gabrielino Tongva, who are standing right beside us, Mona Morales-Recalde, Chief Anthony Morales, elder Art Morales, Andrew Morales, and Toni Recalde. Go ahead.

. I am a descendant of the first people that inhabited this land, the San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians, Gavulino, Tongva. The territory of our people is what is commonly known as the Greater Los Angeles area, Orange County, and the four Southern channel Islands. We are the traditional caretakers of this landscape, known to our people as Tovongar. Living in community and in relationship with the environment for thousands of years. Our relationship with our land and water was at the center of our lives and spirituality. We continue to respect the practices of our ancestors by honoring all that Mother Earth provides. Provides. Our perspective is that Mother Earth provides natural relatives for subsistence and not currency. We walked on this land, tended this land, and survived in harmony with the respect to the balance of Mother Earth. Current day living is extractive of Mother Earth, viewing land, water, oil, and gold as a commodity, causing climate issues and imbalances. The issues we experience today, like housing, food uncertainties, did not exist pre-contact. Our people learned to live in harmony and in respect with each other and Mother Earth. Los Angeles and this county was a balanced world when the first people lived on this land.

We thought and lived in community at our core, each person and natural relative possessing its own natural gift that contributed to benefiting the tribe, not just an individual. Comparatively speaking to our current day, community is necessary. Our history is not well told and understood by many. Our history after colonization is troubling and complicated. We suffered and survived extermin efforts on this land. Indian boarding schools existed as an attempt to strip us from our culture, land, song, and dance. Despite these efforts in our language, we say,, which means we are here. We struggle for visibility in the busyness of this world and to see our imprint on this land on top of the concrete and lights that now occupy the unseated land that originally was documented and described as majestic and very lush in every respect. The landscape of our ancestral area is bountiful and beautiful. Our efforts to be visible are compounded by overpopulation nation and dense living. Our tribe, and like most California Mission tribes, is not federally recognized. This is our ancestral land, and the government does not recognize our tribe despite the atrocities that were imposed on us. Yet, Eqishem, we are here.

We do this work for our future generations to create visibility and awareness on our continued presence of Tovangar. Despite proposed assimilation efforts that were not inclusive of our ancestors, we continue to exist. Eq'shem, we are here. As we welcome you to our land, and we have this shared acknowledgement of this being Tongva land, we offer you a blessing and in healing.

. I'm Chief Redblood Anthony Morales of the Gamberlino San Diego Banner Mission, Indians. As Mona has mentioned, you are on one of the oldest villages of our ancestors that inhabited, which is today Los Angeles. Before there was a Los Angeles, it was a village of Yagna, which my ancestors inhabited. Again, I'd like to welcome all of you here to Yagna, to Los Angeles, to one of our original Indian villages of our ancestry that dated way back before there was a Los Angeles, which Los Angeles was founded 242 years ago, and we've been here way before that. Again, welcome all of you to Yagna, to Los Angeles. With me is my son, and he'll introduce himself.

. Again, my name is Andrew Gadi Yung Cloud, and I am a cultural leader of the Gabalino Sanguible Band of Mission Indians. At At this time, I'm going to do a prayer in my native language, and I'm going to do the offering of the Four Directions.., many hôpital, ecu-sim, ecu-sim, tu-hó-ida-hón. Tu-ta-mi-ga-r-ak-na, get-te-ma-as-su, tu-om-ma-to-ga-bar, pi-am-ma-mo-hú, ni-yok-chowit, n-yon-ak-we-whit. We-whit, hû-r-pars, padahat-tarahum. Hû-t-wech-ta-mang-ga, ta-va-gan-na, ba-na, kó-dó-ta-arum, a-tó-roid, mat-te-her-bit. Ni-yok-chowit, tu-i-par-ak-a-hine, hû-pias-ate-ahra. Many hôpital, many hôpital, hā-muk-puk-siem, hā-muk-puk-siem, hā-muk-puk-siem,. ʼawakana ba na kó dō da ta arum, ʼautau rōit, maté te hérvit. Niop, choit, trói par, ak, akahin. Huta piash, ate, arra. Me ne hōrida, me ne hōrida. Haramuk, pokushem, haramuk, pokushem, haramuk, pokushem, haramuk, pokushem, haramuk, pokushem, ekoshem, ekoshem, ha, te hovit.

We're going to close with an honor song. It's an honor song to our ancestors, everybody's ancestors, who's here tonight and who isn't here tonight. The interpretation of this song is, Oh, my ancestors, oh, my ancestors, listen to my heart. Oh, my ancestors, here is my heart.

. In the memory of my ancestors and your ancestors.

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