Monday, October 9, 2023

Happy Indigenous Peoples' Day (10/9)

Xochitl, Dhr. Seven, Ashley Wells, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Wisdom Quarterly
Tongaavar was full of Tongva ("The Land") villages of the indigenous locals
It was better in the olden days when the tallest buildings were called kizh or wigwams (not teepees), retaining the marvelous views of the future Los Angeles basin then known as Tongaavar.
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History (Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz)
We acknowledge that we are located on the traditional homelands of the Native Kizh, Tongva, and Gabrieleno American people.

We also recognize their neighbors in this region: the Tataviam (San Fernando Valley) and Chumash (Malibu) people. We are committed to developing an authentic relationship with this land and its remaining Indigenous inhabitants.

We further promise to keep an eye out for descendants of our lost warrior princess, Toypurina of California.

Toypurina: Cali's Joan of Arc
According to this book, we found one, a young girl directly related to the Native American "Joan of Arc," who was detained and forced to convert to the religion of the genocidal colonists in the San Gabriel Concentration Camp Mission.

It was there that she attempted to lead an Indigenous uprising, a revolution to win our freedom from European domination, before being caught and subjected to the worst punishment the invaders could come up with to impose -- forcing her to "marry" a white man and bear his blended children, which included forced relocation up north.

There's also an International Day of the World's Indigenous People on August 9th

What precious ways were lost.
Oh, Sacred American Indians, please forgive us for what we have done, for what they did, for what we are still doing, for what European empires were in the habit of doing, for what the Catholic Church looks like it will never stop doing. We owe reparations, repatriation of lands, restoration of lost languages and stories, but most of all honor and respect for your survival here for thousands of years before it was ruined. May the prophecies be merciful. May we honor our pledge to make things right again rather than rationalizations, living in ignorance, and bitter denial.

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