Showing posts with label mission. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mission. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 8, 2025

Decolonize: Junipero Serra toppled for good


Caltrans removes Junipero Serra statue from Interstate 280 rest stop on the Peninsula
(KPIX | CBS NEWS BAY AREA) Oct. 7, 2025: Caltrans has quietly removed a statue of [colonizer and Catholic saint] Junipero Serra from Interstate Highway 280 on the Peninsula, and the move is reigniting a debate over the 18th-century missionary's legacy. Brad Hamilton reports.
(Shalom World Conferences) Native Americans dare to desecrate saint

Junipero Serra statue vandalized at California mission
(KSBY News) Nov. 3, 2017: Junipero Serra statue vandalized at California mission (again). [Why would any Indigenous (American Indian) mind a legacy of rape, ethnic cleansing, erasure, and genocide? Come on! It's American history and the legacy of European invasion, colonization, and Spanish conquest. It's Manifest Destiny. It's the will of God against savages to promote and elevate the White Man who cometh onto these shores to plunder and elevate everything to his liking.]

Sunday, September 24, 2023

BS: US flies to asteroid, scoops, returns?

Pfc. Sandoval, Ashley Wells, Sheldon S., Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
It doesn't look real or capable of a billion+ mile flight. That's because it isn't. It's an artist's rendition because NASA won't release a non-CGI photo of the real thing, if there is a real thing.


We'll name it after Osiris then invent an acronym.
We call BS on "OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer) is a NASA (NAZIesque "Never A Straight Answer" organization) asteroid-study and sample-return mission.

We are supposed to believe that it just completed a miraculous primary mission of visiting an asteroid hurtling through the vacuum of empty space and collecting ground samples from 101955 Bennu, a carbonaceous near-Earth asteroid [12]?

The [coffee grounds worth of] material, allegedly returned on Sept. 24, 2023 [13], is expected to enable scientists on Earth to learn more about the formation and evolution of the Solar System, its initial stages of planet formation, and the source of organic compounds that led to the formation of life on Earth [14], because many different extraterrestrials could surely not have been involved in coming to this rock and setting things in motion or checking back in from time to time, mining gold and rare earth minerals, taking wives, leaving DNA, and whisking off to other projects in the galaxy.
  • Buddhism's Genesis account (the Agganna Sutta or "Discourse on Origins") suggests life began on Earth an incredibly long time ago, not naturally originating out of an organic broth in a soupy sea of carbon elements and amino acids necessary for life as we know it, by virtue of radiant space beings landing here, liking the sensual experience of things, and degrading -- devolving by devolution -- over the aeons (kalpas). It says nothing of "life" itself originating here. It's everywhere in the ten thousand directions of the universe (portion of the bubble like multiverse), inconceivably old, cyclical, expanding and contracting, chaotic and organized, not beginning but continuing. Those beings who alighted on this plane, because earth is described as a plane of concentric circle divided by insurmountable heights with different types of being currently inhabiting it, each group under their own sun and moon, with their own customs, appearances, lifespans, cultures, and habits, meeting by rulers who possess a special treasure that makes meeting possible -- a vimana or space vehicle capable of traveling from one world to another -- and, rightly speaking, it should be possible to call all of these beings "human," as they are all humanoids, and "earthlings," as they are all on the plane. Moreover, there are other planes below where other advanced beings abide. Just as there is all this life here that we are not generally aware of, as shown on some maps but not the official ones, there is life all over the solar system and elsewhere.
Burnt marshmallow that fell in the sand or Asteroid Bennu spinning in open space?
.
What does our Secret Space Program do, Semjase?
Afterward, its mission was extended to conduct proximity operations and in-depth study of asteroid 99942 Apophis as OSIRIS-APEX (Apophis Explorer) [15]. Oh, brother, allegedly extends.

OSIRIS-REx was launched on Sept. 8, 2016 -- though we never heard anything about that -- flew past Earth on Sept. 22, 2017 -- completely under our radar as media watchers -- and allegedly rendezvoused with Bennu on Dec. 3, 2018 [16].

It spent the next two years analyzing the surface to find a suitable site from which to extract a sample. Oh, brother! The media reported that it swooped in, extending an arm, scrapping off some random surface material from its pristine fingerprint of the early universe, like a sterile crime scene. The Big Bang sneezed dust, it landed on Bennu, rested there for billions upon billions of years, and we are the first to get our hands on it. Incredible. Unbelievable. BS.

On Oct. 20, 2020, OSIRIS-REx touched down on Bennu and successfully collected a sample [17, 18,19, 20]. OSIRIS-REx departed Bennu on May 10, 2021 [21, 22] and returned its sample to Earth on Sept. 24, 2023 [23], subsequently starting its new mission to study 99942 Apophis.

Sure, it did. Why not? There's a picture of it all burned up, sitting in the desert, except for that bright yellow spot. Why not?

The spacecraft [like a gnat in space, tinsel and fragile] will arrive at Apophis in April 2029, around when the asteroid is expected to encounter Earth.

Bennu was chosen as the target of study because it is a "time capsule" from the birth of the Solar System [24]. Oy vey 🙄, here we go.

Bennu has a very dark surface and is classified as a B-type asteroid, a sub-type of the carbonaceous C-type asteroids. Such asteroids are considered primitive, having undergone little geological change from their time of formation.

In particular, Bennu was selected because of the availability of pristine carbonaceous material, a key element in organic molecules necessary for life as well as representative of matter from before the formation of Earth. Organic molecules, such as amino acids, have previously been found in meteorite and comet samples, indicating that some ingredients necessary for life can be naturally synthesized in outer space [1].

There ya have it. What more is there to say? We must have a secret space program to do such missions, if they're done at all, because we do not have the technology in our open budget programs. If only NASA were a truthful and transparent organization.

The alleged billion-dollar price tag
The cost of the OSIRIS-REx mission is approximately US$800 million [25], PLUS the cost of the Atlas V launch vehicle, which is about another US$183.5 million [26]. And what with the OSIRIS-APEX extended mission costs, that's an additional US$200 million [15].

It is the third planetary science mission selected in the New Frontiers program, after Juno and New Horizons. The principal investigator is Dante Lauretta from the University of Arizona.

OSIRIS-REx was the first United States spacecraft to return samples from an asteroid; the earlier, similar Japanese probe Hayabusa returned samples from 25143 Itokawa in 2010, and Hayabusa2 allegedly returned from 162173 Ryugu in Dec. 2020. Oh, those pesky Japanese nontheistic Buddhists and atheistic scientists are ahead of us and have better engineers, STEM graduates, and math nerds? There's a surprise. More

OSIRIS-REx capsule NASA/Keegan Barber - This image or video was catalogued by NASA Headquarters of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) under Photo ID: NHQ202309240002. The sample return capsule from NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission is seen shortly after touching down in the desert, Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, at the Department of Defense's Utah Test and Training Range. The sample was collected from the asteroid Bennu in October 2020 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft. Photo Credit: (NASA/Keegan Barber)

Friday, October 28, 2022

The Unbearable Lightness of Being a NAZI

Journeyman, 6/7/16; TJDS; Pfc. Sandoval, Sheldon S., Ashley Wells (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
We act like Nazis and joined a fraternity in college to prove it. White privilege, Bro.

The Unbearable Lightness of Being a Nazi
(Journeyman Pictures) Happy Nazis (2008): The secret photographs that reveal how Nazi exterminators spent their free time. In January 2007 a photo album marked "Auschwitz: 21 June 1944" was made public. It revealed astonishing clues as to how the Nazi [insect, e.g., louse] extermination team enjoyed a life that they ruthlessly denied their [delousing] victims.


There are real Neo-Nazis in Ukraine's army
"They look almost like normal people. They are devils," says Auschwitz survivor Regina Speigel. The photos were taken at the height of the holocaust and have helped researchers identify key Nazis. Dr Josef Mengele, aka the "Angel of Death," is seen "smiling and laughing at this singalong during the most horrific period of murder in history. It's astonishing" (SBS Australia – Ref. 4134).

NAZI tactics are the norm in American policing in the US of A

ABOUT: Journeyman Pictures is an independent source for the world's most powerful films, exploring the burning issues of today. It represents stories from the world's top producers, with brand new content coming in all the time. On its channel are found outstanding and controversial examples of journalism covering any global subject that can be imagined that viewers want to know about.

Saturday, July 11, 2020

Kidnapped Hollywood "Glee" star? (video)

Clevver News; ET, July, 2020; Pfc. Sandoval, Crystal Q., Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


It doesn't add up. Tragic "accident" or sinister plot? First of all her name is Naya ("naiad") Rivera ("riverbank")? Who put the child back on the boat after swimming? Who goes swimming by jumping off a boat in a cold, deep lake rather than the sandy shore with lifeguards and buoys? Anything connected to Hollywood makes it all the more suspicious. People just leave their phone and purse behind in poorly parked cars on a hurry to go carelessly lollygag on a weekday? Mark this one suspicious, very suspicious.

Wednesday, May 27, 2020

SpaceX: Elon Musk pretends to launch 'nauts

KCAL Channel 9 News (CBS LA); Pfc. Sandoval, Seth Auberon, CC Liu, Wisdom Quarterly


SpaceX set to become first private company to launch astronauts into "space"
(KCAL TV/CBS) Elon Musk's Hawthorne-based SpaceX will seek to make history Wednesday afternoon and become the first private company to launch a crewed mission into space.

Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Native American-Mexican history of LA (video)

Iron Maiden; Xochitl (gabrielenoindians.org), Dhr. Seven, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly
British/United Kingdom band Iron Maiden perform their sympathetic "Run to the Hills" hit song.

The story is much more amazing. Native Americans lived in Los Angeles before this was Mexico and long before the USA came along. This was Tongavar, the world. We lived in peace with each other among ourselves and neighbors and even with the colonial Spanish, who arrived and said they "owned" it. How can anyone "own" land?

All remained well until over the centuries they started moving north with a series of concentration camps called the "California missions." Then the former British imperialists, calling themselves after the new continent they invaded for the British Empire, decided to wage a European-style war and take this colony from their neighbor, the Spanish Empire.

The new City of Los Angeles, which started in a dusty little town called San Gabriel at a fort/camp called the San Gabriel "Mission." The new city council's first decree was to set the price of Indian heads: five cents. To survive, the Tongva/Kizh, or "Gabrielenos" as they called us in Spanish, had to run for our lives, run far away, migrate south for safety, as the British band Iron Maiden expalins in "Run for the Hills."

Eventually we returned to find the land transformed and divided up by white men claiming to own land parcels, which was impossible. How can a person own the land? That's like a person trying to own the air that everyone breathes.

The massacre and unmarked grave mass burial of Native Americans by white invaders.
Nothing like a good Western to make you feel good about what was really a U.S. genocide.

Indigenous Peoples' History of US
Their proof was paper. And they asked us for our papers when we arrived back at our ancestral homes. "Where's the paper that says you can live here?" "Paper? We don't need no stinkin' paper." They said we did, and their judges agreed, so we were dispossessed of our land.

The severed heads of men, women, and children (braves, squaws, and babies) had earned their blood-soaked Christian hands good LA money. Then they began to enslave us by means of laws and foreign rules and many creative tricks. How empires move in and enforce slavery and exploitation with a relative few armed and trained men over peaceful natives is fascinating. It's still going on.

When they looked at our dark skins (which are darker than the half-white Mexicans, who are the product of mixed imperial Spanish and Native American ancestry), they asked, "Where are you from?" "'Where are we from?' What the [blank] are you talking about? We're from right here!" "You look Mexican. Did all y'all come from the South, from over the border? Did y'all cross the southern border?" "We didn't cross the border. The border crossed us!"

"Yeah, well, Injun folks, we're going to need you report to the concentration camp, I mean the Church Mission, for food and care, re-education, maybe a little rape, so you can stop speaking that stupid language of yours and get with the program. It's English-only now."

An American Genocide (Ben Madley)
Spanish, after all, is NOT the "native" language. That's the first European imperial language, the language of the invaders (los Conquistadors). English is the language of the enslavers, the second imperial language forced on us in the ongoing genocide.

How long ago do you suppose it became legal to practice our spiritual traditions and speak our actual native languages (like Nauhatl and the Tongva tongue)? It was not decriminalized until 1970.

So let's not be surprised that if everyone were made truly equal at this very moment, there would be nothing equal about the outcomes because one group has already put everything in their favor. It's like asking everyone to freeze, and when the whistle blows, the race will start. Never mind that you're all the way back there and we're up here, all the impediments will be removed and from this moment on we're all "equal."

Now open: "First Americans: Tribal Art from North America" (bowers.org)

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

LA City to vote on Indigenous Peoples Day

Chrissie M. Castro (323) 420-6844; Xochitl, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly


L.A. Native Community and Allies,

Come out for a historic Los Angeles City Council vote to establish "Indigenous Peoples Day" in the City of LA:
  • 8:45 AM, Wednesday, August 30, 2017
  • Los Angeles City Hall
  • 201 N. Los Angeles St.
Details: Wear native regalia, shawls, and bring hand drums. We are striving to get 500 indigenous peoples and allies at this City Hall meeting. Come out. Attend this historic vote. Bring family and friends. Share on social media.
 
We are kicking off the day with a rally at the City Hall forecourt at 8:45 AM. Then we'll all walk into City Council chambers for the meeting and vote at 9:45 AM.
PARKING
Where to park? Take Metro or carpool.
The city is offering free parking on a first come first served basis. Email the make, color, and license plate of your car to: william.ayala@lacity.org or call Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell’s office at (213) 841-2412.

Visitor's Parking Instructions
Parking is located in the City Hall East Garage. Enter through the LA GATE entrance at 201 N. Los Angeles Street. LA Gate entrance is located between Temple and First Streets. It can only be accessed by heading south on Los Angeles St. Pull to the right side of the parking booth and give your name to the parking attendant. After being issued a one day pass by the attendant take the spiral ramp down to the P-2 parking level.

To reach City Council chambers
Walk through the Van Pools to reach the elevators. Take the elevators to the 3rd floor. Walk across the bridge to City Hall. Go through security to obtain a visitor pass.

IF CITY HALL EAST PARKING IS FULL
Real history of the US (Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz)
Street parking is hard to find. Parking lots can be found, but they can be costly. A good option is to take advantage of the adjacent Civic Center/Grand Park stop on the Metro Red Line, or the slightly farther Gold Line stops at Union Station and Little Tokyo, or carpool with friends and family.
 
If parking off site, please remember:
One must go through security to obtain a visitor pass in order to be allowed in the building. Enter through City Hall’s public entrance off of Main St., between Temple and First.

Make sure to bring I.D. Go through metal detectors then take the elevator to the 3rd floor, and follow the crowd out to the forecourt to get to the rally.
 
(Although the rally is off of the Spring St. entrance, one can’t get a visitors pass from that side of the building, so one must enter on Main St.) THANK YOU. See you Wednesday morning!

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Indigenous dawn of San Gabriel Mountains, LA

Daniel Medina (kcet.org); Xochitl, Dhr. Seven, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
From modern city, the San Gabriels look like this. From up there, they look like that:
Looking west from the snow capped summit of Mount San Antonio | Photo: Augie Medina
Looking west from the snow capped summit of Mount San Antonio (Augie Medina)
 
The brilliant heritage of the San Gabriel Mountains above Los Angeles is largely unknown to millions of Southern Californians.

Etching a captivating relief into the horizons of LA each morning, they chart a rousing history that enriches the region's collective identity.

Far from a mere geological backdrop, these omnipresent mountains have fostered, threatened, and inspired generations of civilizations that have taken root in greater LA.

The historical and cultural impact of the San Gabriels on one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world is astonishing, yet few have heard their stories.



Jumakha-IndoWolf(Jumakha-IndoWolf, Feb. 28, 2015) Actual footage of Native Americans in the late 1800s-early 1900s. History (wiki)...

Land-god vs Sea-god and Mount Baldy
Indian pictographs on a rock near the confluence of the West and North Forks of the San Gabriel River in 1937. | Courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library
Native American pictographs on a rock near the confluence of the West and North Forks of the San Gabriel River in 1937 (Courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library)
 
One of the earliest indigenous people believed that the first chapter of the San Gabriel Mountains began on the highest summit in the range, Mount San Antonio, more commonly known as Mount Baldy.

In the creation legend of Mount San Antonio, published in George Hazen Shinn's Shoshonean Days, John Morongo, son of a Yuhaviatam leader in Morongo Valley, recounts a time when, "There was nothing; all was darkness."

Mount San Antonio, a.k.a Mount Baldy, at sunrise | Photo: Daniel Medina
Mount San Antonio, also known as Mount Baldy, at sunrise (Daniel Medina)
.
Then two quarrelsome brother deities, Sea-god and Land-god, worked together to beget land, sea, and animals. The brothers fell into discord, however, over their opposing visions for man's form.

The disagreement turned disastrous when Land-god decided to create man to his liking, while Sea-god was away:

An ancient footpath once led into the sylvan heights of Little Santa Anita Canyon via the West Fork of San Gabriel Canyon en route to Mount Wilson. | Photo: Daniel Medina
An ancient footpath once led into the sylvan heights of Little Santa Anita Canyon via the West Fork of San Gabriel Canyon en route to Mount Wilson (Daniel Medina).
 
It was believed that Land-god, from his position at the apex of Mount San Antonio, sculpted these ramparts that thwarted Sea-god. Around the same mountain, according to another legend, the Yuhaviatam people (called the Serranos by the Spanish invaders) came to settle, after following a "pure white eagle, the bird of their great Captain Kukitatc, (Land-god)" from the north.

The symbolic peak of Mount San Antonio marked an approximate boundary between Yuhaviatam territory, which primarily occupied the eastern end of the San Gabriels, and parts of the San Bernardino Mountains, and the expansive realm of the Tongva (called the Gabrielenos by the Spaniards) to the west.

Asuksangna and the San Gabriel River
Territory of the Tongva and Yuhaviatam relative to other Takic-speaking groups.
Territory of the Tongva and Yuhaviatam relative to other Takic-speaking groups, LA (wiki).
 
Mount San Antonio was also of vital importance to the thriving Tongva communities in the lowlands of the San Gabriel Valley.

One of the largest permanent villages, Asuksangna, was established near the gaping drainage of the San Gabriels' largest watershed, which collected the generous snow melt of Mount San Antonio.

In the looming shadow of the mountain, the San Gabriel River was born, and was the lifeblood of Asuksangna and other villages that dotted the valley south to the sea.
 
Yucca dominate the morning sky near Mount San Antonio | Photo: Daniel Medina
Yucca dominate morning sky near Mount San Antonio (Daniel Medina)
.
On a rise just south of San Gabriel Canyon, the thatched huts of Asuksangna, known as a kizh (keech), stood firm above the river, subject to extensive winter flooding in the wet winter months.

As spring warmed the foothills and mountain flora ripened, the Tongva would prepare to make their seasonal ascent, up ancient mountain footpaths, into cooler climates to construct summer and autumn camps.

The purpose of these seasonal migrations was crucial: to obtain enough food and material to ensure a sustainable, and ultimately survivable, winter down in the valley.
 
The <em>kich</em>,a Tongva family dwelling, that would have been located in permanent villages in the valleys | Photo: Daniel Medina
Kizh (keech), Tongva dwelling, located in permanent villages in valleys (Daniel Medina)
  
In the highlands, as well as below, the elements of nature -- from granite boulders to acorns -- were considered sensate [with feelings, able to sense]. All was kin to the human community.

Out of respect for these relations, hunting and gathering expeditions were always performed in moderation, taking only what was needed. On the game trails, men tracked animals in the thick maze of chaparral.

Tongva would head north into the San Gabriel canyon to reach higher elevations. | Photo: Daniel Medina
Tongva would go north into San Gabriel canyon to reach higher elevations (Daniel Medina)

.
Hunters preyed on bounding deer and rabbits, with arrow shafts fashioned from greasewood. Below in the San Gabriel River, fishermen hauled in steelhead trout, using nets woven with fibers from the towering yucca plants.
As the primary plant harvesters and processors, women played a pivotal role in the survival of their people. More than half of the average diet was comprised of vascular plants.

Women applied their honed ethnobotany skills to meet this demand, by scouring the parched chaparral slopes and canyon duff for major dietary staples. Stiff shrubs yielded precious mountain cherries and chia seeds.

Mortar holes found on the eastern terminus of the San Gabriels in the Cajon Pass. | Photo: Augie Medina
Mortar holes found on eastern terminus of San Gabriels in the Cajon Pass (Augie Medina)
.
Berries from the burgundy trunk of the indispensable manzanita were plucked to brew a sweet cider. Acorns, known as kwi, were collected in tightly woven baskets by women and children and ground to meal in granite mortar holes that can still be found today.
 
Great care was taken to manage this sustainable ecosystem. Fires were often deliberately set on elevated shrub lands to promote advantageous growth.

A common practice in California tribes, conflagrations would enhance the density of specific edible plant communities, increase the food supply for animals, and support the development of material used in construction and medicine.
 
Fires could lead to colorful blooms like these seen here in the foothills of the eastern San Gabriels. | Photo: Augie Medina
Fires lead to colorful blooms as seen here in foothills of eastern San Gabriels (Augie Medina)
.
In addition to guiding their ecosystem, the Tongva managed their economy by blazing well-worn trade routes into the mountains to barter with local tribes.

The people of Asuksangna followed a route that led up the West Fork of San Gabriel Canyon and scaled the mountains.

A complex system of footpaths led to major landmarks, like Mount Wilson, Red Box Saddle, Millard Canyon, and the camps of the Chilao back country.
 
Cider was made from Manzanita berries | Photo: Daniel Medina
Cider was made from manzanita ("little apple") berries (Daniel Medina)
.
These gathering sites set the stage not only for an exchange of goods, but also functioned as a place to swap songs, gossip, embrace distant family, and meet youth from other mountain areas.

Few groups continued north as well, crossing the entire transverse range and dropping into the blazing sands of the Mojave Desert.
 
The prosperity of Asuksangna would meet an ineluctable fate, however, when Mission San Gabriel laid its foundations a few miles downriver in 1775.

An empire of Spanish colonists would deliver destructive change to a society, that for so long thrived below the nourishing sanctuary of Mount San Antonio [modern Mt. Baldy].
dmnew
Author Daniel Medina
The majority of KCET's funding comes from individuals. In addition to many shows both streaming online and broadcasting on TV, KCET is dedicated to providing articles like this one. Many online journalism sites are moving to paid subscription models. KCET feels that it's important to continue to serve Southern California and beyond with coverage of arts and culture, news, and extra stories to support programs. Public media stations need support more than ever. Please, become a member today and help KCET continue to serve.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: KCET.org Site Editor Daniel Medina. I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley and enjoy exploring Los Angeles and learning about its origins.

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Native Los Angelenos: The Kizh Nation

Kizh Nation (gabrielenoindians.org); Xochitl, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly
Gabrieleno Indian Chief Ernest Perez Tautimez Salas, San Gabriel, Los Angeles
.
Toypurina and Nicolas Jose were LA Natives.
Known in colonial history books as "The San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians," the Kizh Nation [previously called the Tongva] were recognized by the State of California as the aboriginal tribe of the Los Angeles Basin.

The Kizh Nation: Gabrieleño Heritage
Kizh (Kitc, Keech) refers to the willow thatch houses of the indigenous people. Today there is a growing awareness of the enormous debt Los Angeles owes to the Gabrieleño Natives.

Although the city traditionally traces its cultural heritage to Spanish and American roots, it was the Gabrieleño who built and supported the missions, pueblos, and ranchos. It was the Gabrieleño who provided the goods and labor that enabled the first settlements to survive and prosper. Without them the history of Los Angeles would be very different.

“The First Angelinos”
William McCawley edited by Wisdom Quarterly
The San Gabriel Valley with foothills on the left and Caltech University in center.
.
No one knows how Toypurina looked
The Kizh Gabrieleños are the indigenous people of the Los Angeles basin.

They were enslaved to build the San Gabriel Mission as well as the Los Angeles Plaza Catholic Church. Their history has been threatened and nearly erased after many political attempts on both local and federal levels. This is a conspiracy that has run through the 20th century to avoid the thorny issue of repatriation.
 
The current chief and spiritual leader of the original documented Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians is Ernest Perez Tautimes Salas. He is the most recognized and most firmly documented direct lineal-descendant of Native ancestors of Kizh/Gabrieleño villages (rancherias) -- such as the villages of Sibangna Siba, Tameobit and Atongai or Tamet circa 1785 -- of any Native groups in Gabrieleño [Tongva] history.

In 1994, the State of California recognized the Gabrielino Tribal Council, "Gabrielino" -- without the use of the old term Tongva.

The original Gabrieleño tribe of  San Gabriel -- led by Chief Ernest P. Teutimez Salas -- and the Gabrielino Tribal Council gained nonprofit 501C3 status from the State of California in 1994 (incorporator and founder Ernest P. Salas).

Chief Salas is the great-great-grandchild of Nicolas Jose, a man of great power who had an important part in the rebellion at Mission San Gabriel.
 
The First Los Angeles Revolt 
Wisdom Quarterly Wikipedia edit
The San Gabriel Mission Playhouse once put on a production of Toypurina's story.
Warrior Toypurina, medicine woman, San Gabriel Mission (missionplayhouse.org)
.
Like other Native leaders, Toypurina [California's Joan of Arc] regarded the Spanish missionaries as a threat. Using the Japchivit ranchería as her base of operations, she persuaded six other villages to join a rebellion against Mission San Gabriel on October 25, 1785, with the intent of driving out all of the Spaniard residents. She, along with three other men including the "neophyte" Nicolas José -- who was angry that the Catholic friars forbade the mission Indians from holding their native dances -- spearheaded the rebellion. But they were unable to complete it. A Spanish soldier, who understood their Native language, heard people talking about the revolt and alerted the Catholic missionaries. "On the night of the attack, the Indians came to the mission armed with bows and arrows. Toypurina came to the mission unarmed but with the intent of encouraging the men to have the will to fight" (Hackel 2003). Toypurina and the other three men leading the revolt were captured, tried, and punished. When questioned about the revolt, Toypurina told the Spanish military judges that she had instructed Chief Tomasajaquichi of Juvit Village to tell the mission Indians not to believe the padres: "I commanded him to do so, for I am angry with the padres, and all of those of the mission, for living here on my native soil, for trespassing upon the land of my forefathers and despoiling our tribal domains." Governor Don Pedro Fages found Nicolas José and Toypurina guilty of being the principal leaders... More
Nicolás José
Faculty.humanities.uci.edu/tcthorne via GabrielenoIndians.org
One day our land will be white orange groves.
[Baptismal name] Nicolas Jose (1748-?) was a San Gabriel Indian, a man of great power, self-control, and an excellent leader. He was among a number of Natives who worked with the Spanish [European invaders and colonialists] then turned against them.

On September 27, 1774, 26-year-old Nicolás José was baptized by Father Pablo Joseph de Mugartegui at the San Gabriel Mission.

Nicolas was only the third adult male Gabrielino to be baptized at the mission. There are no historical records revealing if Nicolas had exercised any religious or political authority in his home of Sibapet (Hackel 2003).

However, soon after baptism, Nicolas exercised leadership and power in many ways. He became one of the first Indians to serve as a Gabrielino marriage witness and the only Gabrielino to serve as a godparent for the child of a Baja California Indian.
 
Fr. Junipero Serra knows how to rule slaves.
One remarkable achievement was in 1778-1779 when Nicolas was the mission’s first alcalde [a Spanish-style municipal magistrate]. However, a turn of events took place when according to [war criminal, slave driver, rapist, and "saint"] Father Junipero Serra, Nicolas provided “women to as many soldiers as asked for them” (Hackel 2005: 263). Nicolas was punished... More