Gabrielino Indians

Bill McCawley of Midway City has been fascinated by Southern California history since he was a kid growing up in Long Beach in the 1960s, a time when there were still wide open fields waiting to be explored by children hoping to find Indian arrowheads and dinosaur bones. He got his first real glimpse into the history of the area when he took a class at Cal State Long Beach taught by Frank Fenenga.

Long before the city of Los Angeles was officially incorporated, a Spanish priest and the Gabrielino-Tongva Indians came together to build Mission San Gabriel in 1771. A decade later, L.A.'s original settlers made the trek to Olvera Street from the mission -- a journey that allowed San Gabriel to lay claim as the birthplace of the Los Angeles region. As the city launches a yearlong celebration of its centennial, longtime community leaders are hoping to remind both newer residents and non-locals of that history.

North of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena's Arroyo Seco, this 250-acre site provides nature enthusiasts a quiet, secluded retreat. Hahamongna, which means "fruitful valley" or "flowing waters," was what the Gabrielino Indians called the area centuries ago.

Camila Lopez still recalls the oily smell of the greasepaint she carried to school when she played an Indian girl in the "Mission Play" in San Gabriel six decades ago. The paint was red. "Red, really red. We had to look like redskins," Lopez, 73, said. Lopez, whose complicated bloodlines trace back seven generations to Gabrielino Indians who lived and worked at the San Gabriel Mission, was blissfully unaware of the stereotype in 1947 -- the year she appeared in the drama, the grandest and most successful of the historical pageants that swept California in the early 20th century.

Remains of an American Indian woman and child have been unearthed in Malibu Creek State Park. A construction worker digging a trench for a sewer line, made the find, a California State University, Northridge archeologist who examined the remains said Monday.

Long before the city of Los Angeles was officially incorporated, a Spanish priest and the Gabrielino-Tongva Indians came together to build Mission San Gabriel in 1771. A decade later, L.A.'s original settlers made the trek to Olvera Street from the mission -- a journey that allowed San Gabriel to lay claim as the birthplace of the Los Angeles region. As the city launches a yearlong celebration of its centennial, longtime community leaders are hoping to remind both newer residents and non-locals of that history.

Bill McCawley has been fascinated by Southern California history since he was a kid growing up in Long Beach in the 1960s, a time when there were still wide open fields waiting to be explored by children hoping to find Indian arrowheads and dinosaur bones. He got his first real glimpse into the history of the area when he took a class at Cal State Long Beach taught by Frank Fenenga.

Camila Lopez still recalls the oily smell of the greasepaint she carried to school when she played an Indian girl in the "Mission Play" in San Gabriel six decades ago. The paint was red. "Red, really red. We had to look like redskins," Lopez, 73, said. Lopez, whose complicated bloodlines trace back seven generations to Gabrielino Indians who lived and worked at the San Gabriel Mission, was blissfully unaware of the stereotype in 1947 -- the year she appeared in the drama, the grandest and most successful of the historical pageants that swept California in the early 20th century.

Spiritual rites and modern development clashed when members of a Native American tribe condemned the way the Irvine Co. on Wednesday reburied ancient artifacts unearthed in 1994 during the building of a Newport Beach housing development. When the Irvine Co.

State Sen. Alan Robbins, City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter and a mammoth proposed development project in Marina del Rey all got caught up in the Indian wars Friday. At issue were charges that construction of Admiralty Place--a 2-million-square-foot residential and shopping complex proposed for land owned by investors, including Robbins, in Galanter's district--would dig into an ancient Indian cemetery.

For thousands of years, Gabrielino Indians say, they have lived in the Los Angeles Basin. They survived the Spanish missions, Mexican settlers and white developers. Now, a tribe that nearly disappeared is mired in a legal battle over who has the right to control its destiny -- and what role gambling might play in its future.

Ask Anthony Morales why he wants the federal government to recognize the Gabrielino Indians, and the tribal chairman speaks of social justice. Granting sovereign status to the Gabrielino-Tongva Nation would acknowledge that perhaps as many as 2,000 residents of Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties are descended from natives of the L.A. Basin, whose lands once stretched from the Channel Islands to Laguna Beach to the San Gabriel Mountains.

Veteran archeologist Frank McDowell arrived at Arco's Carson refinery in mid-September, ready to begin a routine excavation of a recently discovered Indian burial site. Instead, he found a mystery. In one of Southern California's most unusual--and possibly most significant--archeological finds is evidence of a human cataclysm that wiped out at least 50 Gabrielinos, including two unborn children, probably about 200 years ago.

North of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena's Arroyo Seco, this 250-acre site provides nature enthusiasts a quiet, secluded retreat. Hahamongna, which means "fruitful valley" or "flowing waters," was what the Gabrielino Indians called the area centuries ago.

Spiritual rites and modern development clashed when members of a Native American tribe condemned the way the Irvine Co. on Wednesday reburied ancient artifacts unearthed in 1994 during the building of a Newport Beach housing development. When the Irvine Co.

Bill McCawley has been fascinated by Southern California history since he was a kid growing up in Long Beach in the 1960s, a time when there were still wide open fields waiting to be explored by children hoping to find Indian arrowheads and dinosaur bones. He got his first real glimpse into the history of the area when he took a class at Cal State Long Beach taught by Frank Fenenga.

The centuries-old mystery surrounding a small, dark cave could threaten the future of a $1.26-billion toll-road project. For 362 days a year, the little cavern along the Eastern Transportation Corridor in the western foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains looks like a hundred other insignificant holes in the steep rocks. But for three days each December, local Native Americans say, a strange event occurs there that makes it a spiritual nexus. During the winter solstice Dec.

Bill McCawley of Midway City has been fascinated by Southern California history since he was a kid growing up in Long Beach in the 1960s, a time when there were still wide open fields waiting to be explored by children hoping to find Indian arrowheads and dinosaur bones. He got his first real glimpse into the history of the area when he took a class at Cal State Long Beach taught by Frank Fenenga.

The centuries-old mystery surrounding a small, dark cave could threaten the future of a $1.26-billion toll-road project. For 362 days a year, the little cavern along the Eastern Transportation Corridor in the western foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains looks like a hundred other insignificant holes in the steep rocks. But for three days each December, local Native Americans say, a strange event occurs there that makes it a spiritual nexus. During the winter solstice Dec.